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
