GamingPickz
Game vs game · side by side

Arx Fatalis vs Dishonored

Arx Fatalis is an action-RPG horror game from Arkane Studios (2002) while Dishonored is an action-adventure FPS game from Arkane Studios (2012).

Arx Fatalis

2002 · Arkane Studios

7.1GamingPickz Score

$4.99

Steam: Very Positive

Dishonored

2012 · Arkane Studios

8.5GamingPickz Score

$9.99

Steam: Overwhelmingly Positive

What each one is

Steam files Arx Fatalis under Action-RPG and Horror. In contrast, it files Dishonored under Action-Adventure and FPS.

Arx Fatalis

This critically acclaimed first-person RPG from Arkane Studios takes the player on an amazing journey into the fantasy world of Arx. Arx is wrought with turmoil, brought to the brink of destruction by a violent war.

Description from its Steam store page

Dishonored

Dishonored is an immersive first-person action game that casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. With Dishonored’s flexible combat system, creatively eliminate your targets as you combine the supernatural abilities, weapons and unusual gadgets at your disposal.

Description from its Steam store page

At a glance

Arx FatalisDishonored
GamingPickz Score7.1/108.5/10
Steam ratingVery Positive (88%, 2,634)Overwhelmingly Positive (98%, 88,064)
Critic aggregate77/10091/100
Price$4.99$9.99
Install size
Steam Deckplayableverified
Released20022012
DeveloperArkane StudiosArkane Studios

Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.

Arx Fatalis vs Dishonored, point by point

Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.

  1. Genre and premise

    Arx FatalisAction-RPG horror game
    DishonoredAction-adventure FPS game

    What each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.

  2. How it plays

    Arx FatalisRPG, First-Person, Dark Fantasy
    DishonoredStealth, First-Person, Assassin

    The tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.

  3. Reception

    Arx FatalisScore 7.1 · 88% on Steam · 77 critic
    DishonoredScore 8.5 · 98% on Steam · 91 critic

    The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.

  4. Content and scale

    Arx Fatalis2,634 reviews
    Dishonored88,064 reviews · 5 add-ons

    Reach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.

  5. Price

    Arx Fatalis$4.99
    Dishonored$9.99

    Read live from Steam and subject to change.

  6. On a Steam Deck

    Arx FatalisPlayable
    DishonoredVerified

    Valve's own Deck compatibility rating.

Dishonored takes 2 of the marked rounds to 1. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.

The two on the grid

Compare the whole catalogue

Arx Fatalis and Dishonored on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.

2 games have both

01000100PlayersPopularity

Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.

Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.

  • Multi-platform
  • Xbox

Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.

See the whole grid

How positions are decided

No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
  • Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
  • Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
  • No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
  • A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
  • Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.

Which to pick, by what you want

  • The higher-rated of the two: Dishonored (GamingPickz Score 8.5)
  • The cheaper right now: Arx Fatalis ($4.99)
  • Better on a Steam Deck: Dishonored (verified)
  • The safer bet by weight of reviews: Dishonored (88,064 reviews)

What they have in common

Both are tagged by Steam players with:

RPGFirst-PersonImmersive SimAtmosphericFantasySingleplayerAdventureAction

Where they differ

Arx Fatalis is also

Dark FantasyClassicUndergroundDungeon CrawlerExplorationHorror

Dishonored is also

AssassinSteampunkMultiple EndingsDarkDystopian FPS

Tags players apply to one game and not the other.

Difficulty and who each is for

By the tags players apply, Arx Fatalis is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. Dishonored is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.

System requirements, side by side

Arx FatalisDishonored
Minimum GPU
Minimum CPU3.0 GHz dual core
Minimum RAM3 GB
Install size

Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Arx Fatalis · Dishonored.

Accessibility features

Steam store pages declare 0 accessibility features for Arx Fatalis and 6 for Dishonored. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

If you like one, also try

Common questions

How different are Arx Fatalis and Dishonored in scope?

Arx Fatalis has drawn 2,634 Steam reviews. Dishonored has drawn 88,064 Steam reviews and ships 5 add-ons.

Is Arx Fatalis or Dishonored better?

By the GamingPickz Score, Dishonored rates higher (8.5 to 7.1). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.

Which is cheaper, Arx Fatalis or Dishonored?

Arx Fatalis is cheaper right now at $4.99, against $9.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.

Do you rank one above the other for a fee?

No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.

How we compare, and what we will not do

The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.

More on each