Deathloop serves a fun, streamlined sampling of immersive sim goodness, though arguably doesn't quite deliver on the promise of its premise. What could have been an intricate and open-ended experience ultimately proves to be highly controlled, and thus nowhere near as player-driven as it could be. There being one single way to complete the perfect loop just feels overly restrictive. More than restrictive, it's not that satisfying to uncover the method, as every piece of the perfect loop puzzle is tracked as an objective, requiring little thought from the player to piece it all together.

This all said, while Deathloop isn't quite the masterpiece it could have been with its premise, I still dug this game a lot. While the overall game structure is restrictive, within the levels themselves the player has plenty of options for approaching objectives, making repeating these objectives on subsequent loops genuinely enjoyable. Environments are dense and full of life and detail, easily matching Arkane's high standard. Secrets abound, many of which I never quite got to the bottom of, and the way the story and interplay between characters are revealed in the various email exchanges and notes found throughout the interiors keeps intrigue at a high. The writing in general was very funny once I endeared myself to the unique cringe of each Visionary, and the dynamic between Colt and Julianna was both humorous and eventually quite touching.