Arkane has made an utterly satisfying immersive sim/fps hybrid. This game is definitely more about the action, but it still lets you explore the environment and fight enemies in vastly creative ways. Once you start creating your build, and unlocking permanent upgrades and weapons, the combat becomes so exciting, and the game legitimately becomes so hard to put down. An absolute goty contender.
Super fun, and it's gameplay "loop" is tight: 4 areas, 4 times of day, 8 enemies to kill - figure out how to kill them all and the game ends. Exploration is rewarded at every turn, gunplay and stealth is great.
I just wish it was all a little bit less shallow and maintained Prey's depth - powers are limited, it doesn't take long before you get endgame weapons and keep them between loops, at which point perks all feel a bit throwaway.
Super keen to see a sequel that expands on this concept, or sequel-DLC!
I just wish it was all a little bit less shallow and maintained Prey's depth - powers are limited, it doesn't take long before you get endgame weapons and keep them between loops, at which point perks all feel a bit throwaway.
Super keen to see a sequel that expands on this concept, or sequel-DLC!
AAA games aren't supposed to be this scrappy and smart!! What happened??
This review contains spoilers
Full disclosure, my save file got corrupted and I lost all my progress, so I did not reach the very end of the game. But I played nearly all of the game and killed all targets so I am considering it complete.
The story leaves a lot to be desired. I found myself caring very little about killing the targets since almost all the storytelling is environmental, and the setup of a twisting, mysterious plot never really pays off. The "Julianna is Colt's daughter" twist is weird and unearned. And, for all the freedom the game gives you along the way, there is only one correct way to kill everyone.
However, the vibes are impeccable and this is the first Arkane game where guns blazing actually feels like a viable strategy. I liked that I wasn't punished for playing in a non-stealthy way, and I found myself mixing the two strategies quite a bit.
The story leaves a lot to be desired. I found myself caring very little about killing the targets since almost all the storytelling is environmental, and the setup of a twisting, mysterious plot never really pays off. The "Julianna is Colt's daughter" twist is weird and unearned. And, for all the freedom the game gives you along the way, there is only one correct way to kill everyone.
However, the vibes are impeccable and this is the first Arkane game where guns blazing actually feels like a viable strategy. I liked that I wasn't punished for playing in a non-stealthy way, and I found myself mixing the two strategies quite a bit.
as soon as you realize the structure and ultimate solution are not nearly as freeform as the game suggests, it loses a lot if its appeal. i might return eventually, but for now i’m going to focus on the more refined narrative stuff i’m playing at the moment
God bless Arkane studios
As of writing, I have broken the Loop once in single player mode and have not played as Julianna.
UPDATE 10/17: A few days after I wrote this log Arkane patched in DLSS support. DLSS runs great, and it improves performance better than AMD FRS does. I've updated the rating to 4.5 stars. I think Deathloop should've shipped with DLSS support, and I'm still encountering some stability issues.
Arkane's press strategy of explaining the game every time they got inches in a publication told me they did not have faith in their creative vision. I guess that was just bad PR since this game is a fuckin laser-guided missile. It progresses in a strong early game-mid game-end game structure of exploration, stockpiling and arming, and plotting out the fastest, deadliest route through Blackreef possible. Colt starts as a bumbling vigilante and turns into the kind of vicious viper hitman that IOI so expertly depicted earlier this year. This is a power fantasy that FPSes have been striving for and missing for years.
I would have ranked this a full 5 stars if not for the PC port's technical issues. The stutter thing was a nonissue; it's a fake problem invented by gamers with too sensitive eyes. The real problems are AMD upscaling and stability of experience. The AMD upscaling available created, for me, a lot of visual problems, from pulsing blurriness to flickering scopes and shadows. I'm kind of baffled that Digital Foundry suggested turning it on for better performance; I would suggest the opposite. It'd probably be better to play at a lower output resolution and maximize whatever settings you want. As for stability, I encountered like a half-dozen crashes from some "authorization" error that was only resolved by turning off the Steam and Geforce overlays. I found several instances of slab abilities triggering visually but not effectively if I was moving or clicking too fast. Navigating menus too quickly (such as mass infusing items or swapping slabs too fast) would sometimes break the UI, requiring a restart. I don't think Deathloop was intended to be played fast on PC, which is a shame. Assassination games are at their best when the goal is to speedrun.
This dev team is largely the same that made Prey, and I loved Mooncrash, so I'm looking forward to a hypothetical challenge mode DLC. Colt's story really only covers the eastern half of Blackreef. There's a whole western half with named locations waiting to be looted for cool guns and Project Horizon lore.
UPDATE 10/17: A few days after I wrote this log Arkane patched in DLSS support. DLSS runs great, and it improves performance better than AMD FRS does. I've updated the rating to 4.5 stars. I think Deathloop should've shipped with DLSS support, and I'm still encountering some stability issues.
Arkane's press strategy of explaining the game every time they got inches in a publication told me they did not have faith in their creative vision. I guess that was just bad PR since this game is a fuckin laser-guided missile. It progresses in a strong early game-mid game-end game structure of exploration, stockpiling and arming, and plotting out the fastest, deadliest route through Blackreef possible. Colt starts as a bumbling vigilante and turns into the kind of vicious viper hitman that IOI so expertly depicted earlier this year. This is a power fantasy that FPSes have been striving for and missing for years.
I would have ranked this a full 5 stars if not for the PC port's technical issues. The stutter thing was a nonissue; it's a fake problem invented by gamers with too sensitive eyes. The real problems are AMD upscaling and stability of experience. The AMD upscaling available created, for me, a lot of visual problems, from pulsing blurriness to flickering scopes and shadows. I'm kind of baffled that Digital Foundry suggested turning it on for better performance; I would suggest the opposite. It'd probably be better to play at a lower output resolution and maximize whatever settings you want. As for stability, I encountered like a half-dozen crashes from some "authorization" error that was only resolved by turning off the Steam and Geforce overlays. I found several instances of slab abilities triggering visually but not effectively if I was moving or clicking too fast. Navigating menus too quickly (such as mass infusing items or swapping slabs too fast) would sometimes break the UI, requiring a restart. I don't think Deathloop was intended to be played fast on PC, which is a shame. Assassination games are at their best when the goal is to speedrun.
This dev team is largely the same that made Prey, and I loved Mooncrash, so I'm looking forward to a hypothetical challenge mode DLC. Colt's story really only covers the eastern half of Blackreef. There's a whole western half with named locations waiting to be looted for cool guns and Project Horizon lore.
Fun but pretty lacking when compared both to Arkane's other games and other studios in the genre. Story isnt very fluid, combat is overly simplistic and theres not a lot to explore.
What I love about Arkane's games is that everyone will play them differently, that's magical. Deathloop wants you to play it in a very relaxed way where you don't stress about perfection and it mostly works. The movement and traversal here feel INCREDIBLE. I love the vibe. Structurally the game is brilliant until the last third, where it gets very repeditive as you advance the last few questlines, but the final loop is a real masterclass of chaos, as as you get closer to the end, the game slowly ramps up in difficulty too. The game's story also is entertaining, but I wish went further or that we got more of it.
This game possibly has some of the best npc dialog ever. I love it all.
This game possibly has some of the best npc dialog ever. I love it all.
very interesting game that I think has 85% of an all timer runthrough in it. Unfortunately the concept doesn't carry it all the way through, but the part at the end that feels a bit tedious is very short. Replay value is also skimpy. However, the craft of the game is exceptional. While people may want more rpg/immersive sim stuff like being able to find out lore nonstop, this game instead creates its lore through audio and visual design. Very unique styling and exquisite vibes. Put on a good pair of headphones and listen to the directional audio of the footsteps of your pursuers while some cool music plays in the distance and also Julianna comes to kick your ass. It feels great and left me wanting more, and I am pretty optimistic that this will be a game we look back on as the foundation of a lot of "deathloop-likes" that deliver on the promise of this game.
prey was tpab.
this is DAMN.
this is DAMN.
Majoras mask had a baby with dishonored and that baby grew up to be Jesus
no me ha gustado nada
In the brief:
-amazing loot system, i love how much it rewards taking risks and exploring the four levels
-coolest art direction in arkane's extremely impressive catalogue, in my opinion. art deco meets cerebral bourne-esque thriller is a winning combo
-guns look really good, shooting felt great
-performance was immaculate
-i got the bad ending by accident ):
-the hitman style kills that started in dishonored do not feel as elaborate or fun to pull off as they were there, in fact most of my kills of the targets were direct combat where i barrel stuffed them with a shotgun or smg
-the magic feels wonkier and less accurate than it did in dishonored, esp shift/blink which has never felt as responsive as it did in dishonored 1
-cherami leigh's character was so attractive i started smoking cigarettes again
-amazing loot system, i love how much it rewards taking risks and exploring the four levels
-coolest art direction in arkane's extremely impressive catalogue, in my opinion. art deco meets cerebral bourne-esque thriller is a winning combo
-guns look really good, shooting felt great
-performance was immaculate
-i got the bad ending by accident ):
-the hitman style kills that started in dishonored do not feel as elaborate or fun to pull off as they were there, in fact most of my kills of the targets were direct combat where i barrel stuffed them with a shotgun or smg
-the magic feels wonkier and less accurate than it did in dishonored, esp shift/blink which has never felt as responsive as it did in dishonored 1
-cherami leigh's character was so attractive i started smoking cigarettes again
Great pvp
Wish i had more agency over runs
Plays great
Easy to break but in a good way?
Wish i had more agency over runs
Plays great
Easy to break but in a good way?
If you like clockwork level design, shoot this game directly into your veins.
On the surface, it involves a lot of backtracking to try and figure out the core objective of the game -- but the levels are so intricately laid out, dense with stuff to do, and genuinely interesting to scope out at different times of day that you won't mind going back and forth. Almost every time I ran through a loop, I was finding something new; an objective, a secret, a weapon, a fun bit of dialog, an alternate means to do an objective I thought I already knew how to do.
The only place this really stumbled for me was the third act, where fetch quests to kick the final event into gear felt like a bridge too far. For two thirds of this game, I relished every run; combing the map for trinkets. For the final third though, I was sort of ready to end it and got frustrated with the repetition. It feels like the new textbook example of how the line between good and bad pacing is razor sharp. It really felt like one specific mission was just over the line for me, and took the wind out of my sails. Other criticisms are relatively minor; boneheaded AI and some stuttery performance are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. The audio visual package is very strong, and while the story isn't top tier, it's a fun, pulpy time loop romp.
On the surface, it involves a lot of backtracking to try and figure out the core objective of the game -- but the levels are so intricately laid out, dense with stuff to do, and genuinely interesting to scope out at different times of day that you won't mind going back and forth. Almost every time I ran through a loop, I was finding something new; an objective, a secret, a weapon, a fun bit of dialog, an alternate means to do an objective I thought I already knew how to do.
The only place this really stumbled for me was the third act, where fetch quests to kick the final event into gear felt like a bridge too far. For two thirds of this game, I relished every run; combing the map for trinkets. For the final third though, I was sort of ready to end it and got frustrated with the repetition. It feels like the new textbook example of how the line between good and bad pacing is razor sharp. It really felt like one specific mission was just over the line for me, and took the wind out of my sails. Other criticisms are relatively minor; boneheaded AI and some stuttery performance are relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. The audio visual package is very strong, and while the story isn't top tier, it's a fun, pulpy time loop romp.
Legit the most fun game I've played this year. I wouldn't say this is Arkane's best title, but it's easily their tightest mechanically. Just shooting and moving around is a pure joy in a way that nothing else in their back catalog has reached.
The ending sucks but that's pretty typical of Arkane too lol, as long as you can accept that this game is about the journey and not the destination you'll be good.
Also Julianna Blake can stab me any time.
The ending sucks but that's pretty typical of Arkane too lol, as long as you can accept that this game is about the journey and not the destination you'll be good.
Also Julianna Blake can stab me any time.
For starters Deathloop needed more development time. Even as of the writing of this review the game still has game breaking bugs like the sniper rifle crashing the game if an enemy at Dorsey mansion at upptam evening is killed with it. (This has been patched but it is something that atleast should have been targeted in a day one patch or in the first few patches, or just have been caught sooner). This unfinished feeling also permeates the game in the form of ever present jank, simple AI, and very small levels.
Deathloop is a game which undermines its central mechanic at every turn. It is a game based on a time loop that has no real time timer, tells where to go and how to do things at every turn, and lets you keep items you find after death meaning you don't have to go resource scrounging in your final run. For a company as prestigious as Arkane the mechanics here are quite janky, the four levels all small with a few paths, and the variety sorely lacking. In stealth enemies won't even turn around if you run up behind them or notice when their comrades drop sometimes. In action enemies rarely flank and can easily be camped in doorways with a shotgun. There is a difficulty mechanic where the more visionaries you kill the smart enemies get, but all i noticed for it was that in the final area it seemed like there was an infinitely respawning number of enemies.
Another strange mechanic is the fact that the player is limited to only two powers at a time. What this means is that you only have one power because you will always want blink equipped for easy movement, and juking enemies in combat. Other powers like karnisis (a long ranged kick) become useless when you realize you can just blink up to an enemy and kill them. The invisibility is useless compared to just teleporting out of sightlines; making the only other useful power the link one.
The levels are all very small with the 4 times of day just changing a few object placements and locking or unlocking doors. Its less of an immersive sim where you are choosing different approaches and methods and more of a simple choice of "do I kill everyone starting at the left or right?". Rooftop based approaches are almost always superior due to the bad, and while some visionaries have multiple ways to kill them the final loop only has one correct way that is told to you.
Juliana as a mechanic is also undercooked. If you play in offline mode Juliana will simply stand in front of you shooting meaning she is easy pickings with a shotgun. With a real human player it mostly devolves into a high level Juliana wiping a low level colt as she has far better guns and usually a sniper rifle while a low level colt has none. A high level colt being able to quickly kill a camping Juliana, or if both characters are high level it turns into either a game of who can get the melee instant kill animation the fastest or who can shoot the most explosive bullets the fastest.
The story is just uninteresting. The characters are one dimensional joke dispensers. The central mystery isn't even a mystery (the meaning of the time loop is explained very early on), and the ending is the most shallow, pandering piece of nonsense I have seen since Bioshock Infinite. Way to leverage games people actually like in a petty way to drum up interesting in this drab lore. The Bioshock Infinite infinite comparisons go deeper. Both are games with period piece aesthetics, simplified combat from their predecessors, stories which use high concept sci fi to hide the fact that they are convoluted nonsense, and were critically praised on launch.
Deathloop is Arkane's Bioshock Infinite. I can't even give the game the "good idea bad execution stamp" because Arkane already made a way better timeloop game, Prey: Mooncrash. Do yourself a favor and play that instead.
Deathloop is a game which undermines its central mechanic at every turn. It is a game based on a time loop that has no real time timer, tells where to go and how to do things at every turn, and lets you keep items you find after death meaning you don't have to go resource scrounging in your final run. For a company as prestigious as Arkane the mechanics here are quite janky, the four levels all small with a few paths, and the variety sorely lacking. In stealth enemies won't even turn around if you run up behind them or notice when their comrades drop sometimes. In action enemies rarely flank and can easily be camped in doorways with a shotgun. There is a difficulty mechanic where the more visionaries you kill the smart enemies get, but all i noticed for it was that in the final area it seemed like there was an infinitely respawning number of enemies.
Another strange mechanic is the fact that the player is limited to only two powers at a time. What this means is that you only have one power because you will always want blink equipped for easy movement, and juking enemies in combat. Other powers like karnisis (a long ranged kick) become useless when you realize you can just blink up to an enemy and kill them. The invisibility is useless compared to just teleporting out of sightlines; making the only other useful power the link one.
The levels are all very small with the 4 times of day just changing a few object placements and locking or unlocking doors. Its less of an immersive sim where you are choosing different approaches and methods and more of a simple choice of "do I kill everyone starting at the left or right?". Rooftop based approaches are almost always superior due to the bad, and while some visionaries have multiple ways to kill them the final loop only has one correct way that is told to you.
Juliana as a mechanic is also undercooked. If you play in offline mode Juliana will simply stand in front of you shooting meaning she is easy pickings with a shotgun. With a real human player it mostly devolves into a high level Juliana wiping a low level colt as she has far better guns and usually a sniper rifle while a low level colt has none. A high level colt being able to quickly kill a camping Juliana, or if both characters are high level it turns into either a game of who can get the melee instant kill animation the fastest or who can shoot the most explosive bullets the fastest.
The story is just uninteresting. The characters are one dimensional joke dispensers. The central mystery isn't even a mystery (the meaning of the time loop is explained very early on), and the ending is the most shallow, pandering piece of nonsense I have seen since Bioshock Infinite. Way to leverage games people actually like in a petty way to drum up interesting in this drab lore. The Bioshock Infinite infinite comparisons go deeper. Both are games with period piece aesthetics, simplified combat from their predecessors, stories which use high concept sci fi to hide the fact that they are convoluted nonsense, and were critically praised on launch.
Deathloop is Arkane's Bioshock Infinite. I can't even give the game the "good idea bad execution stamp" because Arkane already made a way better timeloop game, Prey: Mooncrash. Do yourself a favor and play that instead.
I am a fan of Groundhog Day scenarios in video games, my favorite of all time is all about a repeated three day cycle. So when Arkane, who developed the fantastic Prey, announced a time loop game I was interested but hesitant because it looked a lot more like Dishonored than it did Prey, which I didn’t care as much for. Glowing reviews got me to try this game sooner rather than later and I can say I am happy to have played it because it is a great game but it definitely has some shortcomings that hold it back from reaching its full potential.
The premise is great, you play Cole, a man who wakes up with no memory but sees messages written in the air telling him clues about his goals and past. He is on an island filled with masked lunatics and being run by a group of 8 prominent individuals, some scientists, some artists all batshit insane. He is in radio communication with Julianna who wants to hunt him down and kill him, this is where he discovers that if he dies he loops back to the beginning of the day. The goal is spend the day traveling through four different locations on the island which can be visited at one of four different times of day and piece together what’s happening, why it’s happening and how to break the loop. Ultimately the goal becomes killing all 8 of the visionaries in one day, how to do that becomes the main quest line.
Deathloop starts off extremely intriguing and I enjoyed slowly building up Cole from being basically naked with no skills and weapons to a badass super powered death machine. Gameplay is similar to dishonored and prey, there is plenty of sneaking around, scavenging for weapons and health. Some levels have mines, cameras, turrets all of which can easily be hacked with a tool you always carry around. Enemy variety is not great, everyone is the same kind of person just with different load outs. So one guard might have a better shotgun than another but they all can be killed with a simple headshot. The only enemies to have special powers are the assassination targets, the visionaries, they each have one of the powers you can steal off their dead body.
So the first 5-10 hours feels like there is a proper balance to sneaking and having to fight if you are caught. The world is dangerous as enemies can swarm Cole when alerted. Each new gun and power allows you to go deeper and explore more without risk of death. Guns come in the usual varieties and have different perks depending on its rarity level. You can also install mods that are found around the world by solving side quests or killing the visionaries. Personal mods can be found as well and these allow skills like extra health, silenced walking, being able to breathe toxic gas and so on. Every time a loop is completed you lose your inventory unless you infuse the item you want using residuum which is an energy source you absorb all over the world. Residuum is found on glowing objects around the world or by killing the visionaries or Julianna. You can then infuse the power, gun or mods you want so they stay on your inventory for all time, that’s how progress is made.
The best upgrades are the powers which are heavily borrowed from Dishonored. There is the shift which is basically the teleport from dishonored. Karnesis which lets you force throw enemies around, always a fun choice. Invisibility, a power that links enemies together so if one dies all linked dies, and a shield buff round up the powers. Each of these have extra mods that can gathered by killing the ones with the power over and over. It’s great fun to use these powers as it opens up the game a ton. Shift alone let’s you find far more hidden routes into certain locations. The shield buff is super overpowered as you can turn that baby on and not get hurt as you just run around murdering everything in your path, oh and once you get the mod where inflicting damage keeps refilling the magic bar you become unstoppable. Throwing enemies around is always fun, can even be a stealthy alternative to kill who’s in your way.
Basically as you can surmise once you have all these powers stealth doesn’t really seem like a good option anymore and the game gives you ZERO incentive to be stealthy. So at a certain point when your Cole is maxed out which will happen WAY BEFORE the game is over, you can basically Rambo through every level no problem. I actually really like the gunplay in this game, it’s snappy, fast paced, and the moves compliment the action very well but the enemies just don’t provide enough of a challenge. They do nothing but run at you or just take shots from afar. Every once in a while they throw a grenade. The only real danger is being overwhelmed by numbers, that’s it. This becomes a problem because it means the game becomes extremely repetitive in the combat department, the main obstacles to get around a level become more a nuisance rather than a legit challenge. This is a game where you will repeat levels over and over, I guess it’s good in a way that you don’t have to worry about being perfect every single time you play a level but at the same time a challenge would be nice.
The wild card Deathloop has is the online invasion mechanic. As I mentioned Colt is in contact and constantly hunted by Julianna, someone who clearly knows what is going on and has a long history with you. Death doesn’t really mean much in this island so they have fun gloating about killing each other. If you play offline Julianna will invade your game controlled by basic enemy AI. The fun comes when you go online and another player will come into your game as Julianna and throw a huge wrench into your plans. The rules are simple, when she shows up she sets up a radio antenna that locks the exit of the level. As Colt you need to hack the antenna and escape or kill her. This introduces a great twist as now the Julianna player knows Colt has to reach the antenna so they can set traps and scout that area. As a Colt player I need to decide should I go after the antenna or just go about my business and maybe lure her out.
There are many factors in Colt’s favor in these encounters, for one he can die three times in any one mission before he fails, Julianna gets one life. It takes much much longer to build up Julianna than it does Colt so most of the time Colt will be much more powerful. I think the system works, if Julianna was too powerful the game would be a nightmare, imagine having a set plan and then this person just enters your game, wipes you out and now you need to start the day all over again. I have had well over 20 invasions and died once (and it was a worthy death, this guy was really good), this is fine, I don’t want to die but it’s always exciting when this unknown threat enters. Finally this super easy game becomes somewhat interesting and a wrench is thrown into my plans. Granted most of the time the invader is terrible but every once in a while you match wits with a strategic player and now you are both setting traps, sniping each other in a big cat and mouse game across a whole level, when you have a good match it’s brilliant.
As Julianna there are some issues, mainly the wait to connect to a match. When you pick to invade you first enter a loadout screen while it tries to connect. Unlike Cole who gains skills by finding them in the world, Julianna only gains skills by ranking up, and it takes many many invasions to grow. Problem is it can take 5 minutes or more to connect sometimes, no one is going to sit there waiting that long for something with no real reward. Now I love invading others, it’s a great rush and there is zero pressure on you, if I die as an invader nothing happens, I just invade someone else. The Colt player has a bunch to lose and that makes it fun knowing you are making it a nightmare for them. The enemies in the level only react to Cole so I make sure to use them as my ally. I have only won 3 times out of like 15 but hey I have fun trying to hunt. If only it was easier to find matches, I assume many players just turn the setting offline (offline is default as well) as they don’t want to risk the death.
The best aspect of the game is exploring the game world and piecing together all the mysteries of the island and how to get the perfect run. There are secrets everywhere, I constantly was uncovering something new that I wanted to immediately figure out when and where do I solve the puzzle. For instance there was a hidden room in a cave and inside was a man behind a glass that traps you in the room and feeds gas to kill you. Now that you know this you can plan ways to sabotage him on a later run. There are mysterious doors that require a certain phrase to open. You learn through files that there is a hidden radio broadcast in the morning, so if you find a radio you get some strange code which if you are observant you will figure out what it’s referencing. There are a bunch of mini games to try out at different points in the game and ways to cheat them by messing with them earlier in the day.
I loved exploring every inch of these locations at every time of day. The game keeps things interesting by having certain locations open only at certain times. Visit Updaam at noon and one of the visionaries opens this big castle like area that he turned into a deadly game of cat and mouse. One of the psychos is doing an experiment in the afternoon so you can infiltrate the lab and try to kill her in different ways, deus ex style. There is a massive party that opens up at the end of the day again offering really fun opportunities to kill the target there.
Figuring out when to and how to kill everyone is great fun BUT I feel the game wanted the battles with the visionaries to be like boss battles but many times the first time I encountered them the encounter ended up being very sloppy. The problem is they can be killed just like anyone, so sometimes i would just run around their area and shoot them in the face a few times and down they go. The game keeps a log (in the style of a string chart) of how to set up the perfect day, each visionary has its own section and for a few of them that sloppy encounter would unlock parts of the chart I didn’t do. All of a sudden I realized I was supposed to first find some code, and manipulate computer to lure them out or something but instead I skipped all that and bullied my way to them. Some of them have these elaborate traps and again I feel I broke the game by not doing what the devs wanted me to do, so I bypassed them. In later runs I would purposefully do what the chart said just to see what was supposed to happen but it would have been nice if the game made it so it was more clear. Also these targets should have been elaborate boss battles, but as I said you can easily cheese or brute force kill them. Also it’s a damn shame that this game doesn’t allow the player to figure out how to kill everyone on their own, it’s dictated by the game and that one route must be followed.
The quest menu needs to be criticized because it’s horrible. The chart for the main targets works well, there is also one for special weapons of which there are only four. For side quests though trying to keep track of everything you find is such a mess. Everything you find gets added to a list that is broken down by location and time. Problem is many quests require going to multiple locations at different times so trying to remember which point on the list matches with another gets annoying. Compound that with some quests having codes and key info in many of the files, these files are all thrown together in one giant list that can’t be filtered. So if you need a code from a file from earlier you just need to go file by file and hope to find it. The grand majority of side quests give you a high end weapon or mod, which by about hour 10 you will have all the mods and guns you ever need, so all rewards from side quests become utterly pointless. Thankfully I enjoyed many of these quests, I love secrets and mini games but it’s a shame it doesn’t contribute anything unique.
The story of Deathloop is mostly told through files which is a shame because there seemed to be plenty of opportunity for fleshed out characters and a mystery with solid answers. Instead every character is just a caricature of some generic egomaniac. The visionaries do almost nothing but a few lines of being a clear arrogant ass; you learn more through audio recordings. The only meaningful relationship in the entire game is Colt and Julianna and even that is just playful banter back and forth with a little twist by the end. There are so many mysteries brought forward by the game, where are they, how did the time loop start, why can Colt remember each day and other can’t, what’s going on in the outside world, when are they and so on. Some clues are given but there isn’t ever much revelations and the ending is pathetic, almost a non ending. The voice acting from Cole and Julianna is good stuff, almost like a grindhouse style banter, I laughed at a lot of their exchanges. It’s a damn shame so little is done with them.
Graphically Deathloop has the same art style as all Arkane games, it’s more cartoonish then realistic. The game runs smoothly on a ps5 but nothing really stands out. Even the levels are kind of bland, you’d think a game that has you replaying the same levels a ton of times would make them visually memorable. The music isn’t memorable in any way and you will hear the same alert music over and over and over, if never changes. Throughout my play this game froze on me about 6 times, I don’t know why, it’s annoying especially when you lose the progress you did in that level. At least the game is meaty, I spend a good 20 hours to do mostly everything.
Deathloop is a great game marred by some aspects that hold it back, mainly the difficulty balance with how rewards are given out and some poor menus that make tracking quests annoying. It has the spirit of a Deus Ex like game, exploring the locations are a thrill and with so many mysteries abound I was enthralled. The combat and skills are fun to mess around with but I wish the enemies had better variety and AI. The online invasions are the extra ingredient that makes it memorable in ways that say something like Dishonored wasn’t for me. Arkane has something here, with more freedom and complex enemies Deathloop could be very special, for now though it’s a fun game that’s absolutely worth a shot if the premise intrigues you.
Score: 8.0
The premise is great, you play Cole, a man who wakes up with no memory but sees messages written in the air telling him clues about his goals and past. He is on an island filled with masked lunatics and being run by a group of 8 prominent individuals, some scientists, some artists all batshit insane. He is in radio communication with Julianna who wants to hunt him down and kill him, this is where he discovers that if he dies he loops back to the beginning of the day. The goal is spend the day traveling through four different locations on the island which can be visited at one of four different times of day and piece together what’s happening, why it’s happening and how to break the loop. Ultimately the goal becomes killing all 8 of the visionaries in one day, how to do that becomes the main quest line.
Deathloop starts off extremely intriguing and I enjoyed slowly building up Cole from being basically naked with no skills and weapons to a badass super powered death machine. Gameplay is similar to dishonored and prey, there is plenty of sneaking around, scavenging for weapons and health. Some levels have mines, cameras, turrets all of which can easily be hacked with a tool you always carry around. Enemy variety is not great, everyone is the same kind of person just with different load outs. So one guard might have a better shotgun than another but they all can be killed with a simple headshot. The only enemies to have special powers are the assassination targets, the visionaries, they each have one of the powers you can steal off their dead body.
So the first 5-10 hours feels like there is a proper balance to sneaking and having to fight if you are caught. The world is dangerous as enemies can swarm Cole when alerted. Each new gun and power allows you to go deeper and explore more without risk of death. Guns come in the usual varieties and have different perks depending on its rarity level. You can also install mods that are found around the world by solving side quests or killing the visionaries. Personal mods can be found as well and these allow skills like extra health, silenced walking, being able to breathe toxic gas and so on. Every time a loop is completed you lose your inventory unless you infuse the item you want using residuum which is an energy source you absorb all over the world. Residuum is found on glowing objects around the world or by killing the visionaries or Julianna. You can then infuse the power, gun or mods you want so they stay on your inventory for all time, that’s how progress is made.
The best upgrades are the powers which are heavily borrowed from Dishonored. There is the shift which is basically the teleport from dishonored. Karnesis which lets you force throw enemies around, always a fun choice. Invisibility, a power that links enemies together so if one dies all linked dies, and a shield buff round up the powers. Each of these have extra mods that can gathered by killing the ones with the power over and over. It’s great fun to use these powers as it opens up the game a ton. Shift alone let’s you find far more hidden routes into certain locations. The shield buff is super overpowered as you can turn that baby on and not get hurt as you just run around murdering everything in your path, oh and once you get the mod where inflicting damage keeps refilling the magic bar you become unstoppable. Throwing enemies around is always fun, can even be a stealthy alternative to kill who’s in your way.
Basically as you can surmise once you have all these powers stealth doesn’t really seem like a good option anymore and the game gives you ZERO incentive to be stealthy. So at a certain point when your Cole is maxed out which will happen WAY BEFORE the game is over, you can basically Rambo through every level no problem. I actually really like the gunplay in this game, it’s snappy, fast paced, and the moves compliment the action very well but the enemies just don’t provide enough of a challenge. They do nothing but run at you or just take shots from afar. Every once in a while they throw a grenade. The only real danger is being overwhelmed by numbers, that’s it. This becomes a problem because it means the game becomes extremely repetitive in the combat department, the main obstacles to get around a level become more a nuisance rather than a legit challenge. This is a game where you will repeat levels over and over, I guess it’s good in a way that you don’t have to worry about being perfect every single time you play a level but at the same time a challenge would be nice.
The wild card Deathloop has is the online invasion mechanic. As I mentioned Colt is in contact and constantly hunted by Julianna, someone who clearly knows what is going on and has a long history with you. Death doesn’t really mean much in this island so they have fun gloating about killing each other. If you play offline Julianna will invade your game controlled by basic enemy AI. The fun comes when you go online and another player will come into your game as Julianna and throw a huge wrench into your plans. The rules are simple, when she shows up she sets up a radio antenna that locks the exit of the level. As Colt you need to hack the antenna and escape or kill her. This introduces a great twist as now the Julianna player knows Colt has to reach the antenna so they can set traps and scout that area. As a Colt player I need to decide should I go after the antenna or just go about my business and maybe lure her out.
There are many factors in Colt’s favor in these encounters, for one he can die three times in any one mission before he fails, Julianna gets one life. It takes much much longer to build up Julianna than it does Colt so most of the time Colt will be much more powerful. I think the system works, if Julianna was too powerful the game would be a nightmare, imagine having a set plan and then this person just enters your game, wipes you out and now you need to start the day all over again. I have had well over 20 invasions and died once (and it was a worthy death, this guy was really good), this is fine, I don’t want to die but it’s always exciting when this unknown threat enters. Finally this super easy game becomes somewhat interesting and a wrench is thrown into my plans. Granted most of the time the invader is terrible but every once in a while you match wits with a strategic player and now you are both setting traps, sniping each other in a big cat and mouse game across a whole level, when you have a good match it’s brilliant.
As Julianna there are some issues, mainly the wait to connect to a match. When you pick to invade you first enter a loadout screen while it tries to connect. Unlike Cole who gains skills by finding them in the world, Julianna only gains skills by ranking up, and it takes many many invasions to grow. Problem is it can take 5 minutes or more to connect sometimes, no one is going to sit there waiting that long for something with no real reward. Now I love invading others, it’s a great rush and there is zero pressure on you, if I die as an invader nothing happens, I just invade someone else. The Colt player has a bunch to lose and that makes it fun knowing you are making it a nightmare for them. The enemies in the level only react to Cole so I make sure to use them as my ally. I have only won 3 times out of like 15 but hey I have fun trying to hunt. If only it was easier to find matches, I assume many players just turn the setting offline (offline is default as well) as they don’t want to risk the death.
The best aspect of the game is exploring the game world and piecing together all the mysteries of the island and how to get the perfect run. There are secrets everywhere, I constantly was uncovering something new that I wanted to immediately figure out when and where do I solve the puzzle. For instance there was a hidden room in a cave and inside was a man behind a glass that traps you in the room and feeds gas to kill you. Now that you know this you can plan ways to sabotage him on a later run. There are mysterious doors that require a certain phrase to open. You learn through files that there is a hidden radio broadcast in the morning, so if you find a radio you get some strange code which if you are observant you will figure out what it’s referencing. There are a bunch of mini games to try out at different points in the game and ways to cheat them by messing with them earlier in the day.
I loved exploring every inch of these locations at every time of day. The game keeps things interesting by having certain locations open only at certain times. Visit Updaam at noon and one of the visionaries opens this big castle like area that he turned into a deadly game of cat and mouse. One of the psychos is doing an experiment in the afternoon so you can infiltrate the lab and try to kill her in different ways, deus ex style. There is a massive party that opens up at the end of the day again offering really fun opportunities to kill the target there.
Figuring out when to and how to kill everyone is great fun BUT I feel the game wanted the battles with the visionaries to be like boss battles but many times the first time I encountered them the encounter ended up being very sloppy. The problem is they can be killed just like anyone, so sometimes i would just run around their area and shoot them in the face a few times and down they go. The game keeps a log (in the style of a string chart) of how to set up the perfect day, each visionary has its own section and for a few of them that sloppy encounter would unlock parts of the chart I didn’t do. All of a sudden I realized I was supposed to first find some code, and manipulate computer to lure them out or something but instead I skipped all that and bullied my way to them. Some of them have these elaborate traps and again I feel I broke the game by not doing what the devs wanted me to do, so I bypassed them. In later runs I would purposefully do what the chart said just to see what was supposed to happen but it would have been nice if the game made it so it was more clear. Also these targets should have been elaborate boss battles, but as I said you can easily cheese or brute force kill them. Also it’s a damn shame that this game doesn’t allow the player to figure out how to kill everyone on their own, it’s dictated by the game and that one route must be followed.
The quest menu needs to be criticized because it’s horrible. The chart for the main targets works well, there is also one for special weapons of which there are only four. For side quests though trying to keep track of everything you find is such a mess. Everything you find gets added to a list that is broken down by location and time. Problem is many quests require going to multiple locations at different times so trying to remember which point on the list matches with another gets annoying. Compound that with some quests having codes and key info in many of the files, these files are all thrown together in one giant list that can’t be filtered. So if you need a code from a file from earlier you just need to go file by file and hope to find it. The grand majority of side quests give you a high end weapon or mod, which by about hour 10 you will have all the mods and guns you ever need, so all rewards from side quests become utterly pointless. Thankfully I enjoyed many of these quests, I love secrets and mini games but it’s a shame it doesn’t contribute anything unique.
The story of Deathloop is mostly told through files which is a shame because there seemed to be plenty of opportunity for fleshed out characters and a mystery with solid answers. Instead every character is just a caricature of some generic egomaniac. The visionaries do almost nothing but a few lines of being a clear arrogant ass; you learn more through audio recordings. The only meaningful relationship in the entire game is Colt and Julianna and even that is just playful banter back and forth with a little twist by the end. There are so many mysteries brought forward by the game, where are they, how did the time loop start, why can Colt remember each day and other can’t, what’s going on in the outside world, when are they and so on. Some clues are given but there isn’t ever much revelations and the ending is pathetic, almost a non ending. The voice acting from Cole and Julianna is good stuff, almost like a grindhouse style banter, I laughed at a lot of their exchanges. It’s a damn shame so little is done with them.
Graphically Deathloop has the same art style as all Arkane games, it’s more cartoonish then realistic. The game runs smoothly on a ps5 but nothing really stands out. Even the levels are kind of bland, you’d think a game that has you replaying the same levels a ton of times would make them visually memorable. The music isn’t memorable in any way and you will hear the same alert music over and over and over, if never changes. Throughout my play this game froze on me about 6 times, I don’t know why, it’s annoying especially when you lose the progress you did in that level. At least the game is meaty, I spend a good 20 hours to do mostly everything.
Deathloop is a great game marred by some aspects that hold it back, mainly the difficulty balance with how rewards are given out and some poor menus that make tracking quests annoying. It has the spirit of a Deus Ex like game, exploring the locations are a thrill and with so many mysteries abound I was enthralled. The combat and skills are fun to mess around with but I wish the enemies had better variety and AI. The online invasions are the extra ingredient that makes it memorable in ways that say something like Dishonored wasn’t for me. Arkane has something here, with more freedom and complex enemies Deathloop could be very special, for now though it’s a fun game that’s absolutely worth a shot if the premise intrigues you.
Score: 8.0
The distilment of the immersive sim to its barebone essentials, and yet, AND YET, it works wonderfully well. I find it absolutely fascinating how the roguelike trend has unearthed further potential from myriads of game genres, and this one right here has to be one of the very best. Deathloop fails quite a bit in the narrative department -- its tone is all over the place, none of the characters feels the least bit likable, and it ends with a bit of a wet fart --, but holy shit, is it enjoyable to fuck with.
This review contains spoilers
It's not quite the "explore the maps and work everything out by yourself" game that many were expecting. It's more of a "explore the maps and you'll find things the game will then tell you how to use". I don't mind it too much. At first it seemed way too hand-holdy, but honestly by the end of the game there's just SO MANY notes, audio logs, eternalist conversations etc that I doubt most people would be able to piece this game together by themselves.
It's also hard to tell exactly how much the game tells you where to go. Through exploring I found a ton of things that the game made notes of, which were then later important parts of a quest. Would the game have told me where to find this step 4 part of the quest if I hadn't found it before, or would I have still had to look for it myself? You just find so much stuff out of order that should feel rewarding, but instead it makes you think "did I really find it myself, or did I just find it earlier than the game would tell me where it is?". It's that kind of thing that makes it hard to judge exactly how immersive this game truly is.
Gameplay is extremely fun though. After a slow tutorial, you start being able to customise your loadout. There's not a whole ton of stuff to unlock, but it's always nice finding a new trinket that fits your playstyle, and the slabs are consistently exciting to get. The problem comes from how limited the loadout slots are. There's only 3 weapon slots, so chances are you'll find your preferred weapons early enough that every other weapon will just be left on the ground since you have would have sacrifice one of your main weapons (for the rest of the run) in order to pick up this new weapon and infuse it.
The game does seem to hint at a different loadouts for different missions idea, but I found using a versatile loadout that kinda does a bit of everything but master of nothing worked for 90% of the game, only requiring to be changed for specific trophies or optional missions.
I did really like the maps. After playing through them all so many times they felt like home. The little touches done between times of day to make the maps feel different are nice, but honestly the majority of the time it still feels like the exact same map as any other time of day, just with enemy placements switched and certain quests only being available now. There's a few exceptions, the one that comes to mind off the top of my head is the complex at night which strips away most enemies and instead turns the level into a booby trapped obstacle course.
The one thing I wish maps had more of was environment variety. I get that the plot of the game kind of requires a lot of laboratories and big imposing areas full of science equipment, but the most fun places to explore were always the one-offs, like Charlie's live action role playing game, or, well, most of Fristad Rock. I wanted way more of that.
The visionaries had some effort put into developing them and making them stand out, but most of it falls into "tell don't show" as it comes in the form of notes, email chains etc. I do appreciate the ones that they put the personalities into the actual locations they're at though, like, again, Charlie's role playing game, or Aleksis's mask party. I guess that's a problem that goes hand in hand with the idea that most of the visionaries had to be scientists though, since labs are where you'll find a lot of them.
I also wish more of them stood out from regular enemies, rather than just being slightly stronger versions. Wenjie is the only one who gets any kind of real mechanic implemented into her battle, as she's cloned herself so you have to kill all the clones. For other characters it's just a case of fight/stealth your way to them and then kill them. So the worst visionaries are by far the ones that have no mechanics AND are just in boring lab locations (like Fia or Egor). If you wanna know anything about them other than "they're scientists" you really need to look for it.
Basically I found the game super fun to play, it's fast paced, full of fun details, a ton of content spread across relatively small maps, and I even grew to enjoy Colt and Juliana's banter. It just feels like it missed its full potential.
Also the online mode is garbage. It uses the concept of invading other players games to try and kill them, but like...most people are going to play in single player mode to avoid losing all their progress from having someone invade their game and kill them. I really can't think of a worse thought out mechanic in my life. Nobody WANTS to have other players come and reset them back to the start of the day, devs?? Why would you think people wouldn't just turn that off as soon as possible?
It's also hard to tell exactly how much the game tells you where to go. Through exploring I found a ton of things that the game made notes of, which were then later important parts of a quest. Would the game have told me where to find this step 4 part of the quest if I hadn't found it before, or would I have still had to look for it myself? You just find so much stuff out of order that should feel rewarding, but instead it makes you think "did I really find it myself, or did I just find it earlier than the game would tell me where it is?". It's that kind of thing that makes it hard to judge exactly how immersive this game truly is.
Gameplay is extremely fun though. After a slow tutorial, you start being able to customise your loadout. There's not a whole ton of stuff to unlock, but it's always nice finding a new trinket that fits your playstyle, and the slabs are consistently exciting to get. The problem comes from how limited the loadout slots are. There's only 3 weapon slots, so chances are you'll find your preferred weapons early enough that every other weapon will just be left on the ground since you have would have sacrifice one of your main weapons (for the rest of the run) in order to pick up this new weapon and infuse it.
The game does seem to hint at a different loadouts for different missions idea, but I found using a versatile loadout that kinda does a bit of everything but master of nothing worked for 90% of the game, only requiring to be changed for specific trophies or optional missions.
I did really like the maps. After playing through them all so many times they felt like home. The little touches done between times of day to make the maps feel different are nice, but honestly the majority of the time it still feels like the exact same map as any other time of day, just with enemy placements switched and certain quests only being available now. There's a few exceptions, the one that comes to mind off the top of my head is the complex at night which strips away most enemies and instead turns the level into a booby trapped obstacle course.
The one thing I wish maps had more of was environment variety. I get that the plot of the game kind of requires a lot of laboratories and big imposing areas full of science equipment, but the most fun places to explore were always the one-offs, like Charlie's live action role playing game, or, well, most of Fristad Rock. I wanted way more of that.
The visionaries had some effort put into developing them and making them stand out, but most of it falls into "tell don't show" as it comes in the form of notes, email chains etc. I do appreciate the ones that they put the personalities into the actual locations they're at though, like, again, Charlie's role playing game, or Aleksis's mask party. I guess that's a problem that goes hand in hand with the idea that most of the visionaries had to be scientists though, since labs are where you'll find a lot of them.
I also wish more of them stood out from regular enemies, rather than just being slightly stronger versions. Wenjie is the only one who gets any kind of real mechanic implemented into her battle, as she's cloned herself so you have to kill all the clones. For other characters it's just a case of fight/stealth your way to them and then kill them. So the worst visionaries are by far the ones that have no mechanics AND are just in boring lab locations (like Fia or Egor). If you wanna know anything about them other than "they're scientists" you really need to look for it.
Basically I found the game super fun to play, it's fast paced, full of fun details, a ton of content spread across relatively small maps, and I even grew to enjoy Colt and Juliana's banter. It just feels like it missed its full potential.
Also the online mode is garbage. It uses the concept of invading other players games to try and kill them, but like...most people are going to play in single player mode to avoid losing all their progress from having someone invade their game and kill them. I really can't think of a worse thought out mechanic in my life. Nobody WANTS to have other players come and reset them back to the start of the day, devs?? Why would you think people wouldn't just turn that off as soon as possible?
Buggy and kind of dissapointing in the end but a fun experience nonetheless.
Este juego es puro Arkane, la sublimación de todo lo que han estado "practicando" con la saga Dishonored junto y un poco más. Al principio me daba miedo que acabase siendo un poco más de lo mismo, pero en seguida te das cuenta de que no, en cuanto des la primera alarma y dispares contra cualquiera de los matones enviados en tu busca por los Visionarios. Aquí no hay una forma buena y otra mala de avanzar, hay un objetivo que llevar a cabo y hazlo de la forma que prefieras. Sé un asesino silencioso o un loco con dos ametralladoras, es lo de menos.
Como puntos negativos, sí he notado que la historia está un poco peor llevada que en los Dishonored, pero es lógico, cuando le echas a la olla viajes en el tiempo suele pasar. También he notado un poco de desbalance en algunos de los poderes que tienes a tu disposición, como el de Caos que está completamente roto cuando la que lo usa es Julianna.
En términos general, me quedo con que es un juego prácticamente histórico y que, sin duda, se encuentra entre los GOTY de este 2021. Un gran trabajo.
Como puntos negativos, sí he notado que la historia está un poco peor llevada que en los Dishonored, pero es lógico, cuando le echas a la olla viajes en el tiempo suele pasar. También he notado un poco de desbalance en algunos de los poderes que tienes a tu disposición, como el de Caos que está completamente roto cuando la que lo usa es Julianna.
En términos general, me quedo con que es un juego prácticamente histórico y que, sin duda, se encuentra entre los GOTY de este 2021. Un gran trabajo.
Holy shit this game is great. Some absolute banging gunplay. The characters and setting are fantastic. Only gripe is the AI and how its not the smartest out there
Really unique idea! Great music, amazing voice acting. Really enjoyed it! About 15 hours.
Really nails progression. Wherein some other games the game gets progressively harder, this game gets progressively easier as you learn more about the map, and gather new guns and information in a good way. Invasions can create some really unique scenarios in combat, and areas where I had trouble in at the start become playgrounds at the end where I clear the whole room by sliding, shifting, and quickly switching weapons, it makes you feel like you mastered the game, and that perfect run you need at the end was so good.
Deathloop represents my favorite game design philosophy: Think about an interesting concept and implement it with mastery.
Arcane proves again its mastery in this kind of game, creating another world that feels super satisfying to explore, very well-balanced progression, and fun gameplay.
Great soundtrack , visually and aesthetically stunning, and great implementation of gun feedback on the Dualsense controller.
Arcane proves again its mastery in this kind of game, creating another world that feels super satisfying to explore, very well-balanced progression, and fun gameplay.
Great soundtrack , visually and aesthetically stunning, and great implementation of gun feedback on the Dualsense controller.
i liked the loop part
If you liked Dishonored, this is that taken to the logical next level. It's pretty good, but I came out feeling a bit disappointed.
One of the most mid-tier Arkane games, in my opinion: it feels like they sacrificed some of the restraints of morality and cut out depth along with it. It's still fun, I love Colt, the style, and especially the music, but it doesn't come close to Prey or Dishonored.