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Play the first three ‘Dishonored 2’ missions for free and keep your progress

Video game releases have begun to slow down as publishers prepare for the inevitable onslaught of games arriving this fall, and it’s the perfect opportunity to catch up on games you missed from 2016. If you have not tried Dishonored 2, Bethesda is giving you the chance to play a large chunk of it for free.

Beginning on Thursday, all Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam users will be able to download a trial version of Dishonored 2, granting access to the game’s first three missions. These can be played as both new protagonist Emily Kaldwin or original Dishonored hero Corvo Attano, and any progress you make during the trial period will carry over should you choose to purchase the full game.

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Three missions might not sound like a whole lot of content, but Dishonored 2 only contains nine missions in its entirety. The first of these is essentially a tutorial, but the third mission, “The Good Doctor,” is one of the best in the game. Its dark, disease-infested setting bears more resemblance to the original Dishonored than the rest of the game, and its non-lethal solution gives the player a great idea of what to expect from later missions.

The Dishonored 2 free trial kicks off on Thursday for all platforms, and no end-date has been announced, so we expect the trial to be available indefinitely. If you’re willing to spend a little cash and want to see what the series is all about, check out Dishonored: Definitive Edition. Though its visuals aren’t as crisp as the sequel’s, the city of Dunwall and characters like Samuel and Sokolov still make it a delight to play, and its famous masquerade mission is an absolute masterpiece. It is included in new copies of Dishonored 2: Limited Edition as a digital download.

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