Deathloop (2021)

I’ve never been a fan of roguelikes—especially not roguelike FPS games—but that’s probably because most of them didn’t have the budget to make the idea work. Deathloop tries to do what Hades did before it: combine the replayability of a roguelike with strong storytelling and striking art direction. This time, it’s all wrapped in a stylish 1960s aesthetic that somehow still feels fresh.

At its core, Deathloop is a stealth shooter. You can mark enemies, they have alert meters, and you get a silenced nail gun early on. It checks all the boxes. For some reason, though, Arkane decided to skip body disposal entirely—maybe they didn’t want players lugging corpses around. Unlike most stealth shooters, weapons come in different quality tiers, adding a light looter-shooter element to the mix.

As the name suggests, Deathloop is essentially Groundhog Day with guns. Each day is divided into four segments, and every time you die—or reach the end—you wake up on the beach again. You play as Colt, an amnesiac former head of security who’s now trying to break free from the time loop. To do that, he needs to eliminate all eight of his ex-colleagues, known as Visionaries, in a single day.

The shooting feels fantastic. Every weapon looks distinct yet instantly understandable, and the gunplay has real punch. There’s even a jamming mechanic—something I haven’t seen since Far Cry 2—probably included just to stop you from mowing down enemies like it’s Far Cry 6.

What I appreciate most is that Deathloop doesn’t punish you for getting caught. Unlike Dishonored, which heavily encouraged stealth, here you can go loud without feeling like you broke the game. Often, you can fight your way out and keep going, no problem.

That said, Deathloop does make me feel a little dumb sometimes. The idea that I’d be able to craft some perfect, time-bending plan to assassinate all eight Visionaries in one day feels like a bit much.

There’s also a familiar issue with the game’s arsenal. Early on, Julianna drops me an elephant rifle that fires explosive rounds—and honestly, you never need another gun after that. It one-shots enemies from such a distance they don’t even hear it, and it’s still deadly up close. Later, I thought the sniper rifle from the promo art wasn’t in the game, but it shows up in a very Hitman-style mission where snipers ambush you as you collect a package. By that point, I already had a Metal Gear Solid-like invisibility power that lasted indefinitely as long as I stood still—completely broken, but hilarious.

And then there’s the twist: Julianna isn’t Colt’s ex-lover—she’s his daughter. A neat touch, but one that lands softer than it probably should have.

At first, I thought I’d need to experiment to find the perfect order to kill all the Visionaries, but the game eventually hands you the solution. There’s really only one way to do it. Still, pulling off the final sequence is satisfying—except for one thing. Maybe I out-leveled the content, but by the end, most Visionaries stopped dying from a single headshot. What should’ve been clean, elegant kills often turned into messy firefights.

I originally DNF this game after the prologue because some of the systems didn't seem like they'd work for me. Ended up giving it another chance and I'm glad I did. I really ended up loving it once it got going.

The art design I loved from the start. It's Dishonored with COLOR. Each of the districts are unique in both art direction and layout, making them fun to explore. And, as with all Arkane games, exploration is all part of the fun.

The music is insanely good. It has all the vibes.

Combat feels great. It takes the Arkane formula and improves upon it.

All of the characters are unique. There's plenty of notes, terminal entries, voice recordings, and conversations that tell you all about them and the world as a whole. In fact, the world itself is its own character. The mystery is all part of the story, and trying to understand what is going on and how this all happened is just as interesting as your main goal of breaking the loop.

The most surprising part for me was I actually liked the looping mechanic. I thought that would be an annoyance at best, but it ended up being really fun. Learning each district, seeing the changes at different times of day, and experimenting made for a unique and enjoyable experience.

If anything about the game intrigued you, or you're an Arkane fan, you should give it a chance; it may surprise you.

I’m a big Arkane fan. I posted on this site earlier in the year about how I love the studio and the way they design their games. Up until Deathloop, my experience with Arkane was overwhelmingly positive: I greatly enjoyed both Dishonored and Dishonored 2, clearly liked the DLC-type release that was Death of the Outsider, and absolutely loved both Prey and its awesome roguelike DLC Mooncrash.

I preface with all this to wonder if both Arkane studios are losing their edge. Most of us will know that they have been in somewhat of a downward trend. Over the past few years, the teams seem to have lost most of the staff who were involved in the games I mentioned above (though mainly on the Prey side of things), and if the last recent games are any indication, the good-old Arkane juice seems to be gone. I won’t talk about Arkane Austin’s latest maligned effort - Redfall - because I haven’t played it yet. But I can certainly talk about Deathloop, and how it left me with such an underwhelming feeling, especially since so many seem to have drooled over it on release.

There’s something off about this game. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s an overall feeling more than a specific thing that makes me say this. I can easily verbalise what I specifically don’t like about Deathloop. In fact, I can do it very quickly: the UI and menus are atrocious, extremely busy and visually chaotic; the story (both in narrative and environmental storytelling) is about as well laid out as a plotless film, and the ending, even with the extra added cutscene, isn’t enough to wrap it up in a satisfying way; most characters are unlikeable or, at the very least, incredibly forgettable, and dialogue and humour almost never land; AI can be quite dumb quite often; the way the weapon system works is so convoluted that it’s almost a turnoff; some abilities, like Shift, are really hit and miss, directly affecting fast-paced mobility; level design feels confusing, lacks the solid verticality some abilities demand, and even though areas become more familiar the more you go through them, they never feel truly ‘comfortable’; Devouring of the Lambs is likely the worst, most frustrating and pointless mission Arkane has ever designed; stealth, purportedly one of the game’s main aspects, is a crapshoot - sometimes it works, sometimes it really, really doesn’t; the grindhouse-style aesthetics don’t seem fully realised.

But there’s something more abstract that makes me feel weird when I think about Deathloop. Again, it’s hard to explain since it’s an emotional reaction rather than a logical one. Ultimately though, I think the main issue at hand is twofold. One aspect is that this is way too long a title in its current state. Being a timeloop, roguelike-type shooter, there isn’t enough in it to keep it interesting or fresh in exploration, content, narrative or mechanical hook, making it feel overly repetitive and, at times, even downright boring as a consequence. The other aspect is that Arkane themselves have already done this better in Mooncrash. Prey’s DLC is a much better example of this type of loop game, and even though I understand Deathloop was made by the Lyon team, not the Austin one, it still feels like a clear devolution of what came before it.

I do, however, want to make one thing clear: while I wholeheartedly think Deathloop is far from the masterpiece it was made out to be by gaming media, I don't think it’s a bad game either. There’s a whole world between a title you consider incredible and one you consider incredibly underwhelming, but still good. To me, Dethloop falls on the latter end of the spectrum.

A big contributing factor towards that is the gunplay, which is probably Arkane’s best to date, with a Bioshock feel to it that is really cool to experience, at times ‘forcing’ a degree of addictiveness into a game that otherwise offers very little to get addicted to. Guns aren’t particularly memorable or original, but they are satisfying to use and be tactical with. Another thing I enjoyed was movement. Dishonored’s influence is beyond obvious here, from jumping to vaulting and sliding, and it greatly adds to the overall enjoyment especially in a more in-your-face playstyle. Powers are also straight out of Dishonored’s playbook, and even though not all of them are as effective or useful to use as I would’ve liked, they still add quite a satisfying dimension to the game, with a couple of them being creative beyond what featured in previous Arkane games. The residuum mechanic (a material you find and use to infuse your gear and thus keep it permanently between loops) is useful because it encourages level exploration - however, an issue here is that, because the game is longer than it should be, you will soon find yourself with more residuum than you know what to do with. Despite my issues with the writing, dialogue and characters in this game, Colt and Julianna’s performances are top notch, and I couldn’t talk about the game without shouting them out. Finally, the invasion mechanic (where Julianna invades your current loop to kill you) is really cool if you use its PvP mode, since it adds a layer of tension to your playthrough that is otherwise nonexistent.

I am left with mixed feelings about this game after beating it. I often struggle to come to terms with the timeloop mechanic, so yes, this was a game that was very tough for me to get into. When I did, it started to grow on me, only to quickly start feeling repetitive again, devolving into this ‘been there, done that’ experience that almost feels at odds with itself. Above it all, in the end, Deathloop never wraps up its narrative or motivations in a cohesive way, even with the extra end content, which is a central point of the entire ride because of how it directly affects payoff. At the same time however, a key aspect in evaluating your personal thoughts about it will come down to what you yourself value in games. If nothing else, Deathloop’s gameplay is, for the most part, its main calling card, and certainly good enough to merit a playthrough in order to make up your own mind about it. And to me, that’s exactly the type of game Deathloop is: good, not great. Being an Arkane game, I guess I was just expecting a lot more than good. 7/10

Deathloop is a pseudo-looter shooter and stealth FPS, but it often plays like an RPG or adventure with such a free roaming world with lots to explore. The game really has a lot of interstiing, fresh and often even good, ideas. Deathloop is the answer we want to see when we get tired of old genres or titles that rehash out the same kind of old ideas. It also has really fantastic design and retrofuturism style (at least i liked it.) reminiscence of Fallout 4

The game is a bit similar to other arkanes recent games. Like Prey its a fairly nice big world to explore with connected levels (though unlike prey its more rigid in how you explore or go do things) Its also fun to do lolts of stealth killing spree type shit as well as ninja batman rooftop acrobatics like Dishonored, (and lets not forget Prey: Mooncrash which brought about the Roguelike elements which no doubt inspired the main idea for this game.)

Unfortunately the game has flaws. The main mechanic (that of looping a certain amount of times, and making incremental roguelike progress by 'saving' your gear) is really fun and awesome at first, if a bit nonintuitive in some aspects (it was not clear to me what I should even focus on first, and how various investing strategies might play out) a limited response per loop also added a slight amount of challenge without being too punishing.

But the game is in many ways leaving a lot to be desired. You get really powerful in this game between farming abilities and going after equipment, however if you make mistakes you can wipe really easy. Because of this, a player should simply play things by the book and slowly snipe and camp kill everyone in a level with a combination of a sniper rifle and a suppressed pistol and the cloaking mod (with the upgrade that doesn't spend energy if you dont mood, you're basically more of a badass than Predator) I found really no incentive to explore equipment or other builds having found this very powerful combination (though i did briefly try them just for the heck of it, a heavy MG or shotgun is good for when you mess up and must fight a Loop Guardian)

Making mistakes in this game, results in losing a quite annoying level of time, be it losing equipment (and having to go get it again) because you didn't upgrade it, couldn't upgrade it or simply goofing some objective (I fucking hate that level with the costume party) means you gotta repeat, yet another day. and often do the same things...

So, this sort of game play was a mixed bag. What was fresh and fun at first became quite tedious and not as rewarding to play in the last half of the game. And to top it all off this game has one of the most unsatisfying endings in a while. (Maybe I was foolish to think that the ending of this zany wacky ride could actually make the whole thing make sense, but I was lol)

IMO, its worth playing (all the more so if you like the games I mention) but I can't say that it was worth finishing. I'm hesitant to give it a mere three, but with that stinker of an ending it feels like sensible recourse.

Soy fan de Arkane, desde que probé Dark Messiah... Encontré en su jugabilidad tan libre y adaptable al jugador (como todo immersive sim) algo muy placentero y rejugable, y eso que no rejuego prácticamente nada.

Deathloop es un muy buen juego, notable, pero alejado del sobresaliente típico de la compañía como con los Dishonored o (el maravilloso) Prey. Ha habido debate sobre si traiciona los immersive sim y reduce sus elementos a lo mínimo y si es tan libre como podría o prometía. La realidad es que la libertad sigue ahí pero esta vez está bastante más limitada, pues en lo que refiere a la "solución" final del bucle solo hay una opción (aunque puedes aproximarte siempre a tu gusto a ella). Pero realmente la libertad en estos juegos siempre estuvo acotada, y aquí no es diferente, podemos hacer las cosas con libertad hasta que toque terminar el juego y solo quede una opción correcta.

Aun así, no perdono que no se permitieran más opciones creativas para romper el bucle, y es que en general la parte narrativa del juego es lo más flojo. Especialmente la parte final que es bastante decepcionante. No hay una historia en sí que merezca la pena contar, hay un transfondo en el que ocurre todo que tampoco se desarrolla mucho y se queda en un sinsabor...

Pero en lo que respecta a lo jugable Deathloop es placentero de jugar, y combina bastante bien el shooter y los poderes. En esto último carece de tanta diversidad y de la posibilidad de dejarnos usar tantos a la vez como en Dishonored, pero cierto es que el equilibrio del juego es muy delicado. Si que me ha gustado como poco a poco te vas volviendo más poderoso e imparable y pasas a poder hacer los niveles en apenas dos minutos, en esto juega gran parte la repetición obligada de los mapas (que también tiene sus contras).

En general, es un juego muy divertido, algo repetitivo si... pero en esa repetición de alguna manera te incita a probar cosas nuevas: nuevas armas, nuevas aproximaciones, otros poderes... La esencia de Deathloop al final es "pruébalo todo hasta que des con la tecla" y su propuesta es ser un immersive sim mucho más directo y menos libre que los demás, con un resultado bastante disfrutable.

*more like 3.5, id give it 7.5/10 on a larger scale

so. Arkane. what the heckie happened here

Before I launch into criticisms: Deathloop is a good game, it's a game worth playing, it's intriguing, it's mysterious, it's ooh la la, it's a PS5 exclusive (for now) and really what else do you have to play on that giant wi-fi router?

Anyways, my criticisms are coming from a place of disappointment more than anything else. This game had so much going for it to me, love the clockwork orange vibe, love complex temporal manipulation plots, love a hard talkin no nonsense bad ass assassin (Julianna, not u Colt!).

Loading up the game i was excited, ooh this island looks big! okay time for the tutorial! Oh it's just. text boxes, okay um anyways. Great finished the tutorial! can't wait to discover the rest of the island... oh it's just those 4 zones I already went to ok. o the game is just travelling to zone X at time A to pick up a note and then travelling to zone B at time Y to find another note then travelling back ad infinitum. Now this could still have been fun, I would still have had a grand time doing this, but then I think abt the gameplay and i-

• since the update to improve AI, stealthing it is way more difficult - you can't use loud weapons without alerting the entire map, enemies see you through walls, aether is useless

• the gunplay is bad. im sorry! this is more of an issue imo because it was billed as Arkane's GUN game and it feels like im playing Fallout 3 with VATS disabled - also because stealth has become more annoying, so now it's easiest to just rip your way through killing everyone

• Colt. iykyk, iygiyg, iydyd. i have literally never been more uninterested in a main character x

• the script. now. believe me you, the performances are great (Julianna's in particular, I honestly didn't like Colt's) but the script is... something! It also makes even less sense after certain story revelations, and even dips into weird accidental incest jokes

• the alleged setting. the sixties? lies and buffoonery! these people are ripped straight out of the 21st century, from Harriet's instagram adjacent self help bullshit, Aleksis' whole Alpha male incel complex, Fia literally just being Ariana Grande

• the motivation. 'break the loop!!!' okay but for why? also if colt said i' am gonna break this damn loop' one more time like WE GET IT ITS A TIMELOOP ITS A DEATHLOOP ITS A LOOP TO BE BROKEN

• the visionaries. so in theory these would be the bosses of the game, except they're just milling abt waiting for u to murder them. also, sure. these people have personalities, but the characterisation (even with the audio logs and notes) just isn't there for me!

• lack of options. play hitman instead if you wanted to come up w multiple cool and unique ways of assassinating ppl

• the multiplayer. immediately no. immediately no.

• minor, but: the transition between zones feels clunky (an in-game MENU, REALLY?), and the constant signing me into the Bethesda servers every loading screen was very unnecessary!

Deathloop has so much potential but it let me down in some way on nearly every front and hopefully they patch it to make stealth more viable again, because despite the rootin tootin shootin trailers, that's obviously how the game was meant to be played

PS: did any of u ever play singularity back on ps3/xbox 360? tbt but that's all i thought abt while playing this x

Deathloop is a fine-tuned synthesis of great ideas from past stealth and adventure games whose unique execution makes its particular brand of fun stand apart from its influences. While some of its individual components could have been much improved, it's overall some of the most fun you can have with a game released on current-gen consoles, and beats out Prey as my favorite Arkane Studios game.

Like I always do when given the opportunity, I played this primarily as a stealth + hacking title, but I never felt pressured by the game to stick 100% to one approach or the other. The set of special powers you get allows you to define your own way to play, to some extent. I stuck to the Shift power, which lets you warp around like crazy, as well as another power that let you become momentarily mostly invisible. My game then felt pretty similar to something like the stealth in the Batman Arkham or Marvel's Spider-Man games, as I'd pop down from a high place to take out each enemy one-by-one before moving on. Lots of fun.

Zipping around with these powers is extremely satisfying, but something even more unexpectedly satisfying (to an extent) is how it feels when you do the same level again. The game has you revisiting locations repeatedly, which I worried would be a drag, but there was something fun about coming back to an area equipped with new abilities and full knowledge about enemy patterns, where it was rewarding to storm through them in a fraction of the original time. The game also tangibly rewards this with important upgrades that make it not feel like a waste of time.

You'd think you would be revisiting locations even more than you actually do, with the premise the game sets up. In reality, though, even though you can choose the order to do some things, the game is quite hand-holding and deliberate in its progression. This is particularly true in comparison to titles like Outer Wilds. There is not that much really to "figure out" on a broad scale, but you still have to solve problems within individual missions and still get this satisfying sense of slowly filling in a puzzle and seeing different threads connect with one another. There's just a bit of wasted potential there in my view as it could have been a bit more free-form, given the game is already pretty forgiving and easy to get through.

One way I find this game lackluster in comparison to somewhat similar titles like say a BioShock game, Deus Ex, or even Cyberpunk 2077, is that most of the actual environments are rather bland. Sure, what you do in those places is fun, thanks to quality level design, and there are a few colorful and fun places out there, but most of the hubs and big levels where you actually spend a majority of your time are uninteresting. To make it a bit worse, all those areas are totally disconnected from one another and separated by a main menu between missions where you pick where you want to go at what time. I didn't feel much of a sense of place, or connectedness, or awe in this game as a result.

I think that somewhat boring setting combined with a lacking story will lend the game a certain forgettable feel in the long run that doesn't live up to other cool aspects of its style or other similar modern games. I'd have to agree with many people that the game particularly just doesn't stick its landing. The string of objectives I completed in my final session with the game had me scratching my head at their repetitive nature, disappointing story revelations and pacing, frequent technical issues of poor audio mixing of its excellent VO cast in key conversations, and just overall lack of drama or challenge. Still, it was rewarding to complete one perfect loop at the end.

On the whole, this is a satisfying and fun experience, occasionally dragged down by some drawn-out or less exciting fetch-quest-esque objectives, but overall pretty focused and immediate to get into. I found it refreshing and would definitely consider it one of the year's best titles. It will win some GOTY awards, and I think of it as a Shadow of Mordor-type GOTY. While not my personal pick since I found Resident Evil Village significantly more exciting and memorable, it deserves big props for executing a fresh-feeling, dynamic game structure with real confidence and quality across most aspects of its experience.

Deathloop is an interesting experience focusing on the idea of repetition and mastering your knowledge of each level. You'll find yourself reading a boat load of notes and listening to copious amounts of audio logs all to help uncover the mystery of deathloop.

As the name suggests, you'll be repeating the same day over and over until you break the loop. This means you will have plenty of time to explore the 4 districts within the game. Each district boasts tons of rooms, caves, and streets to explore along with plenty of enemies to kill. The game helps you along by marking 'leads' and objectives for you to investigate and you will no doubt, if you're like me, be spending hours hunting down a single scrap of paper for the next clue. The amount of time and prep work that goes into some of the objectives is impressive and you'll definitely have a lot to sink your teeth into.

The way this game works is mostly based off finding notes and clues helping to build the lore of the world. There are little to no cut scenes and you'll mostly find yourself either murdering, traversing, or uncovering clues. If you love piecing together puzzles and uncovering secrets about characters and events then you'll love this game as it's almost a mini detective series in itself.

There is a small multiplayer section to this game called 'invasions' which involves a random person entering your game, much like in watch dogs, trying to hunt and kill you. This feature can be turned off but an AI version of Julianna will still enter and hunt you down. It's a nice feature for those that enjoy a competitive edge and obviously the stakes are high as you could lose all of your gear if you haven't infused it (spent xp to save it from disappearing after the day resets).

The combat and overall gameplay is very reminiscent of dishonoured. The abilities feel great and picking your arsenal before each level is always fun. Building up your assortment of guns and perks / trinkets is interesting letting you mix and match the likes of speedy reloading with increased damage resistance etc. Aiming does feel horrendous with a controller at least at launch and I'd strongly recommend increasing sensitivity and changing input type from 'direct' to 'filtered'.

The game is relatively short sitting somewhere between 20 - 40 hours depending on whether you go for all the side stuff (and there is a lot). I have to say that I wasn't too impressed by the main story that follows colt and Julianna, but I did enjoy the narrative surrounding the island, the loop, and the other visionaries.

Overall I'd say if you like your classic assassination target games like hitman and assassins creed then you'll enjoy this experience. Just be prepared to read a lot of lore and don't go in expecting it to be game of the year like others have suggested it is.

PROS

• Bright art style and boisterous tone invite you into the game world to do some killing
• Excellent character writing and voice acting, you really get to know the cast despite there being almost no cutscenes
• Extremely creative narrative structure utilizes a Groundhog Day-esque day loop gimmick to fantastic effect
• Open-ended story progression and mission design lets you pick your own path forward
• Huge variety of weapons, powers, gadgets, and upgrades to play the game according to your own style
• Integration of multiplayer into the single-player campaign creates some fun moments of unpredictable chaos
• Outstanding level design will have you discovering new details on every visit
• Loaded with optional content and secrets to uncover for the diehard explorer
• Deep lore provides a wealth of context for the core plot

CONS

• Controls can feel a bit slippery at times
• Weird, abrupt, unsatisfying ending

4/5

Unique premise and delivers through and through.

I played the game on PC and was lucky enough to have no issues with performance.

The moment-to-moment gameplay is kinetic and fun - very "Dishonored with guns" - and satisfying to pull off fun manouveres with the skills that you have. The way they built the processes of getting more guns, perks and abilities through each loop is very well paced and gives you goals to work towards. Every loop you can feel like you are making progress, and you get to dictate what that progress is.

The story is also fantastic! I love what they've done here. They have intertwined story, gameplay and premise so beautifully. The premise of the loops is integral to not only the gameplay (which it completely dictates), but the story as well, which itself is solid and well delivered via knowledge you gain over many runs (lot's of reading logs). On top of this are two main characters that are so likeable, witty and human in their writing and acting - they really carry this thing.

The overarching gameplay is where I have a couple of issues. Number 1: I think objective markers should be disabled by default. I played with them off, as having them on made the game far too linear for my liking. It's doable to make your way around to locations without objective markers, but not as easy as I would have liked (more environmental clues would be nice). Occasionally you will have to turn them on to find things. Number 2: I wish the game would not spell out the final loop instructions as clearly as they do. I managed to get out a pen and paper and sat down to think over and write down my planned sequence of events before the game told me what to do - but having the game tell me exactly what to do felt a little too dumb for my liking.

Last thing to touch on is the online. It is so, so good. I highly recommend playing this in online mode, if you can stomach the nerves. When the game tells you you've been invaded and you know that the Julianna is a real player, that's when you get that real sweaty palms gameplay - especially if you have a lot riding on that loop (getting invaded on your last loop is a ride). In single player mode the invasions are very lack-luster. Having said that, I completed the game close to release and Juliannas were fairly easy to beat up, save a few very clever ones. It may be that if Julianna is too strong the mechanic becomes frustrating, but time will tell. This will also depend on the strength of your internet connections.

My recommendations - turn off objective markers, keep some notes of your planned final loop, and play online to fully enjoy this fantastic game.