Copied from Steam review:
When I first learned about this game, I was immediately interested. "Outer Wilds" was my favorite game of 2019, and proved how effective, fun, and rewarding the "information-centered time loop" genre can be. I've been craving for another dip into those waters, and while "Deathloop" definitely did a great job working within it's core gameplay "loop", it was a tad too hand-holdy for my taste. Also, the abrupt and lackluster ending left an emptiness that soured the experience quite a bit upon completion. Yet even with that sour taste, "Deathloop" was still an incredibly enjoyable experience through and through.
In the roughly 15 hours it took me to finish the game, this was my experience:
First 2 hours: "This is intriguing, but confusing. Not completely sure if it's for me, though I'll stick with it."
3rd hour: "Jeez, I'm starting to get exhausted. However, I'd feel bad if I stopped now. Let me push just a little further."
4th-6th hour: "Okay, I'm starting to get this. Everything's still pretty disorganized in my head but I see what I gotta do."
7th hour: "Okay! Things are clicking and everything's becoming digestible. Now the fun truly begins."
8th-14th hour: "YES! I dig this. It's all coming together. I've mastered the combat and know each level's layouts; things are feeling good. I see the end in sight and I'm not gonna stop till I get there."
Final hour: "Man! What a rush!! I figured it all out, and here we are. The final piece! And....... mmm. That's it? Really??"
I do recommend this game as the sum of its parts are fantastic! The art direction, voice acting, characters, and hands-on gameplay mechanics are all superb. But as a time-loop puzzle at its core, the constant waypoint following disincentives any true problem-solving, and the ending doesn't serve the world or our actions justice. The journey, though incredibly easy, is fun, but none of it feels meaningful by the end. However, I wouldn't let that stop you from giving this game a shot. If you can work past the clutter that is the first few hours, you'll find a highly enjoyable and unique game that I'm sure you'll have a fun time with. Personally I just wish there was a little more depth to the story before the credits rolled. The build up is incredible, yet not having the proper payoff makes the mystery lose much of its weight.
TL; DR
Fun game and cool world to play in! Though the lack of true problem solving makes this feel more like a sub-linear fps than an "Outer Wilds" like experience. If you can go in without those expectations you'll find a highly enjoyable game worthy of all its critical praise; even with its disappointing ending.
I played this on an RTX 3080 and Ryzen 9 3950x. With a few performance support settings turned on, I still often encountered heavy frame drops upon initially loading in to levels which made the game unplayable (would go away after about a minute of waiting though). I also experienced 3 crashes for random and unknown reasons and a few immersion-breaking (but not game-breaking) bugs. However, the rest of the game ran near-flawlessly. I know many reviews are talking about performance issues though so make sure you keep an eye out to what works with your system.
When I first learned about this game, I was immediately interested. "Outer Wilds" was my favorite game of 2019, and proved how effective, fun, and rewarding the "information-centered time loop" genre can be. I've been craving for another dip into those waters, and while "Deathloop" definitely did a great job working within it's core gameplay "loop", it was a tad too hand-holdy for my taste. Also, the abrupt and lackluster ending left an emptiness that soured the experience quite a bit upon completion. Yet even with that sour taste, "Deathloop" was still an incredibly enjoyable experience through and through.
In the roughly 15 hours it took me to finish the game, this was my experience:
First 2 hours: "This is intriguing, but confusing. Not completely sure if it's for me, though I'll stick with it."
3rd hour: "Jeez, I'm starting to get exhausted. However, I'd feel bad if I stopped now. Let me push just a little further."
4th-6th hour: "Okay, I'm starting to get this. Everything's still pretty disorganized in my head but I see what I gotta do."
7th hour: "Okay! Things are clicking and everything's becoming digestible. Now the fun truly begins."
8th-14th hour: "YES! I dig this. It's all coming together. I've mastered the combat and know each level's layouts; things are feeling good. I see the end in sight and I'm not gonna stop till I get there."
Final hour: "Man! What a rush!! I figured it all out, and here we are. The final piece! And....... mmm. That's it? Really??"
I do recommend this game as the sum of its parts are fantastic! The art direction, voice acting, characters, and hands-on gameplay mechanics are all superb. But as a time-loop puzzle at its core, the constant waypoint following disincentives any true problem-solving, and the ending doesn't serve the world or our actions justice. The journey, though incredibly easy, is fun, but none of it feels meaningful by the end. However, I wouldn't let that stop you from giving this game a shot. If you can work past the clutter that is the first few hours, you'll find a highly enjoyable and unique game that I'm sure you'll have a fun time with. Personally I just wish there was a little more depth to the story before the credits rolled. The build up is incredible, yet not having the proper payoff makes the mystery lose much of its weight.
TL; DR
Fun game and cool world to play in! Though the lack of true problem solving makes this feel more like a sub-linear fps than an "Outer Wilds" like experience. If you can go in without those expectations you'll find a highly enjoyable game worthy of all its critical praise; even with its disappointing ending.
I played this on an RTX 3080 and Ryzen 9 3950x. With a few performance support settings turned on, I still often encountered heavy frame drops upon initially loading in to levels which made the game unplayable (would go away after about a minute of waiting though). I also experienced 3 crashes for random and unknown reasons and a few immersion-breaking (but not game-breaking) bugs. However, the rest of the game ran near-flawlessly. I know many reviews are talking about performance issues though so make sure you keep an eye out to what works with your system.