Dishonored’s first downloadable add-on pack is all about challenging your skills

I like Dishonored, but all of those words and happenings in the narrative are just a bit too much for my attention span.

Well, publisher Bethesda has the cure to that which ails me with its upcoming downloadable content for the first-person stealth action game. Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials strips the game down to a series of 10 challenge maps where the plot doesn’t matter. The DLC debuts Tuesday for $4.99 on PlayStation 3 and PC and for 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360.

As the gameplay trailer demonstrates, players must combine their character’s weapons, gizmos, and special powers to eliminate targets. It compares players against one another on leaderboards that measure point totals. It’s actually quite similar to this year’s breakout Xbox Live Arcade title, Mark of the Ninja.

Dishonored is one of the year’s few big-budget games to introduce a new intellectual property. The designers at developer Arkane Studios set the action in the fictional city of Dunwall that they modeled after late 19th century London. It stars hero Corvo Attano as he attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the Empress that he serves.

Of course, Dishonored is really all about sneaking around and stabbing, like, everybody.