In Deathloop, Arkane adds a handful of action, chaos, and funky vibes to their supremely polished immersive sim formula. It results in a roguelike action FPS that doesn't really feel like any other roguelike. It's not Arkane's finest work, but it's certainly one of their most interesting.
In order to break of the titular loop, Colt, which is the character you play as, need to kill 8 people (visionaries) in a single day. After midnight, the loop resets, but you will be able to carry some of your progression through a mechanic introduced not long after the intro. That's not the big problem though: the visionaries are scattered throughout different places in the island the game is located in, and they also only show up at particular times. It's your job to figure out how to get them out of their routines, and this is done by following quest lines for each visionary, which you'll start by finding important information as you traverse the island. You will also need to build your arsenal on the way, as the enemies can be pretty deadly if you don't come at them with your best. Killing each visionary rewards you with their special power, which includes the classic Arkane short teleportation, temporary invisibility, and a few more. There are also special weapons you can get by doing special quest lines.
All of these things tie directly to the loop structure of the game, and it makes every new loop feel just different enough from each other. The quest lines adds a sense of focus that roguelikes tend to lack. The game also gives you a lot of freedom in order to progress in the way you want to. Because of this, the loop never feels like a limitation. It becomes a playground that you can manipulate, but also manipulates you back. Obviously the game can feel repetitive when you're stuck at a particular point due to one reason or another, but getting through those moments is part of the loop experience. Thankfully the game can be generous with directions, if you want.
As for the combat, you can skip the stealth for the most part because it's not going to be engaging enough. The enemy AI are absurdly stupid, and easily to get around. Instead, you should just blast through most enemy encounters. They'll deal decent damage to you if you're not careful, and there can be a lot of them. Ammunition are mostly a non-problem since you can pick them up instantly from many enemies. The difficulty can be all over the place, with messy combat flow (too many enemies in a room or getting damaged from too many directions), and the added randomness of online invasions from other players can add to the frustration, but it's not a deal-breaker.
The story and lore of what's really going on in the island is pretty interesting, but it never became the thing that I was playing the game for. The soundtrack is simply amazing, with funky bangers all around, and the transitions between different tracks are very smooth.
Overall, Deathloop is a vibrantly violent game that encourages brutal head-on combat, but also supports smart on-the-fly planning. Arkane still has ways to go in making this action-focused gameplay formula as polished as their previous work, but it could be the start of something truly spectacular.
In order to break of the titular loop, Colt, which is the character you play as, need to kill 8 people (visionaries) in a single day. After midnight, the loop resets, but you will be able to carry some of your progression through a mechanic introduced not long after the intro. That's not the big problem though: the visionaries are scattered throughout different places in the island the game is located in, and they also only show up at particular times. It's your job to figure out how to get them out of their routines, and this is done by following quest lines for each visionary, which you'll start by finding important information as you traverse the island. You will also need to build your arsenal on the way, as the enemies can be pretty deadly if you don't come at them with your best. Killing each visionary rewards you with their special power, which includes the classic Arkane short teleportation, temporary invisibility, and a few more. There are also special weapons you can get by doing special quest lines.
All of these things tie directly to the loop structure of the game, and it makes every new loop feel just different enough from each other. The quest lines adds a sense of focus that roguelikes tend to lack. The game also gives you a lot of freedom in order to progress in the way you want to. Because of this, the loop never feels like a limitation. It becomes a playground that you can manipulate, but also manipulates you back. Obviously the game can feel repetitive when you're stuck at a particular point due to one reason or another, but getting through those moments is part of the loop experience. Thankfully the game can be generous with directions, if you want.
As for the combat, you can skip the stealth for the most part because it's not going to be engaging enough. The enemy AI are absurdly stupid, and easily to get around. Instead, you should just blast through most enemy encounters. They'll deal decent damage to you if you're not careful, and there can be a lot of them. Ammunition are mostly a non-problem since you can pick them up instantly from many enemies. The difficulty can be all over the place, with messy combat flow (too many enemies in a room or getting damaged from too many directions), and the added randomness of online invasions from other players can add to the frustration, but it's not a deal-breaker.
The story and lore of what's really going on in the island is pretty interesting, but it never became the thing that I was playing the game for. The soundtrack is simply amazing, with funky bangers all around, and the transitions between different tracks are very smooth.
Overall, Deathloop is a vibrantly violent game that encourages brutal head-on combat, but also supports smart on-the-fly planning. Arkane still has ways to go in making this action-focused gameplay formula as polished as their previous work, but it could be the start of something truly spectacular.