Dishonored was one of last year's most unexpected and rewarding titles. Its blend of careful stealth mechanics and, failing that, slick swordplay made for one of the most memorable gaming experiences of 2012. But it was the world of Dishonored that made it stand apart the most. The carefully crafted blend of high fantasy and bizarre, whale oil powered technology was one of the more darkly fascinating gaming landscapes in recent memory, but if the original title had one failing it was that it just didn't show us enough.

Dishonored's first story-based DLC, 'The Knife of Dunwall,' marks the return of both the mechanics and the world we loved so much before, and it seems as if developer Arkane really listened to the feedback as the game's world is more alive (in its weird, slowly dying sort of way) and twisted than ever. For the first time in the game you'll get to play as Daud, the assassin who killed the Empress at the beginning of the base title, and explore the whale oil extraction facilities that power this dark fantasy world. The resulting journey is visually and atmospherically compelling enough that it should be considered a requirement for fans of the original.

'The Knife of Dunwall' begins with a tour of the largest whale oil extraction facility in Dunwall. Run by the black-hearted Rothwhile, this facility slowly steals the humanity of all who work in it - Rothwhile's methods force employees to chop up living whales piece by piece using large circular saws. The longer a whale lives, the more oil can be extracted from it, so they're subjected to days, sometimes weeks of torture before finding the mercy of death. It is, as you may have gathered, a grim establishment and the perfect place to dispense a little justice.

Disturbing as it may be, the facility allows for some of the most striking visuals in the entire game. Walking under a massive whale suspended from the ceiling by a series of harnesses or fishing around inside the hollowed-out carcass of one of the creatures in search of a Bone Charm is not an experience you're likely to soon forget. Like most environments in Dishonored, the whaling facility is also a hub world in and of itself, and allows for several ways to complete your objectives. When it comes to many of the expansion's core objectives you won't find quite as many options as you're perhaps used to having, but the core decisions of sneaking, platforming or fighting do still inform the bulk of the gameplay.

As you move about the world, propaganda and thinly-veiled threats will blast out through loudspeakers situated around the facility. It adds to the expansion's oppressive atmosphere, but I couldn't help feeling the whole thing is starting to get played out, especially after the tour de force that was BioShock Infinite and its incredible use of environmental storytelling.

The core story of this expansion, perhaps like the story of the game itself, ultimately left me feeling a little empty. Events aren't too terribly complex, and although Daud speaks of repenting and redeeming himself, I was never quite sure what exactly made him want redemption in the first place. After all, he's a professional assassin and he's killed dozens of people before. Why start caring about the victims now? Quibbles aside, the story is enough to push the expansion forward and little more. It does what it needs to and sits back to let the player muck around in the game's decaying urban playground, which has always been the true draw of this style of gameplay.

At a cool ten bucks, 'The Knife of Dunwall' had me worried about its length before it released. The trend lately, it seems, is to release DLC that can be completed easily enough in an hour or two, and when dealing in such complicated worlds and mechanics a campaign of that length would be a snack that only served to rile up my hunger. Straightforward as it is, the story of this DLC does at least last much longer than has become the standard, especially if you go after all of the game's collectibles, which is practically a requirement since they all add to Daud's skillset. Sure you can complete it in around two hours if you really sprint through the thing, but playing properly should yield a solid four to five hours of play.

Aside from bringing in a series of fantastic new environments and telling a new story, 'The Knife of Dunwall' also tweaks a few of the skills and mechanics that the original game had in place. Instead of summoning a pack of hungry rats, for example, Daud summons an assassin. It's much less stealthy and kind of killed the way I played the original game, forcing me to re-evaluate some of the game's mechanics. At the same time, the assassin can be very helpful in the heat of combat.

Then there's the Void Gaze ability, which highlights important objects and enemies just like Corvo's vision ability did. Here, however, you'll have to upgrade Void Gaze with Runes in order to see enemies through walls and highlight hidden Bone Charms and Runes. In its default state, Void Gaze will only make the controller vibrate when you look in the direction of a collectible. It's far from useful until upgraded.

Finally, the Blink ability has been updated so that Daud cannot scale over ledges while holding a body over his shoulder. It makes sense and encourages more creative disposal of bodies, even as it does make the gameplay a little more challenging.

Speaking of challenging, 'The Knife of Dunwall' introduces a new enemy type in the whaling facility and they're quite the fighters. You've probably seen these hulking brutes in the DLC's promotional screenshots, but they're even tougher than they look. They wear armor that can shrug off bullets and arrows, meaning that you'll have to pump a solid five or six projectiles into them before they keel over. Their circular saws deal huge amounts of damage in mid to close range combat, and the machine guns that they for some reason have mounted beneath the saws can cut you down at range. Oh, and you can't take them down from behind like you can other enemies. They're frankly a little ridiculous, and they appear in such numbers that it can really put a damper on some of the exploration.

Enemy balancing and story simplicity aside, 'The Knife of Dunwall' is one of the strongest pieces of DLC on the market. It's a lengthy, meaty trip through a world equal parts abhorrent and wonderful that's packed to the gills with new content. If you weren't a fan of Dishonored's brand of freeform sneaking, there's nothing here that will change your mind. But if you've wanted to see the game's compelling world fleshed out or desired new powers to play around with, consider this DLC a must-have. This knife is satisfyingly sharp.

Score: 8.5/10

This DLC was reviewed on PC