Humanity has always had a fascination with time, and this year especially, the fascination has ratchetted up another level with an array of time loop games; Returnal, 12 minutes, and now Deathloop have all released this year, with different takes on the never-ending day. So how does Arkane Lyon tackle a now well-explored idea with Deathloop? For me, it’s the best execution of such a concept that I’ve experienced in creative media. That said, a couple of technical setbacks mean the game is just short of hitting the ‘perfect’ status that only a handful of titles in history ever achieve.

Break The Loop

Deathloop takes place on the island of Blackreef, a former fishing colony turned science experiment and never-ending party run by the the AEON Program’s “Visionaries”. Crashing the party is protagonist Colt Vahn, a rugged, wisecracking amnesiac whose search for answers surrounding the loop and his memory loss brings him to one solution: Kill all the Visionaries, break the loop. The premise is simple, but where many games would move through the plot with a level of linearity, Arkane Lyon makes progressing through Deathloop much more like a solving a puzzle. As Colt, the player has to take out all 8 of the Visionaries in a single day, if any of them survive, then the day “loops”; Colt wakes on the same beach, on the same day, but with a fresh opportunity to break the loop.

Thankfully, there isn’t any sort of strict time limit here, there’s no big timer in the corner of your screen counting down the seconds to the next loop. With Deathloop, Arkane Lyon have opted to deal with the plot’s sense of urgency using knowledge, instead of getting players to run through the game before the clock hits zero. In order to set up the “Perfect Loop”, players will first have to observe each of the Visionaries, their schedules, and their agendas. With Colt’s targets spread across 4 times of day and 4 locations, information becomes your greatest tool.

For example, Egor Serling’s routine involves him making a scientific breakthrough at The Complex in the Afternoon, using that information, you could then confront Egor and eliminate him. Alternatively, you could tamper with Egor’s experiment at noon, and leave him with no reason to not attend a fellow Visionary’s party at Updaam in the evening. It’s the player’s ability to utilise information that ultimately contributes to creating the aforementioned Perfect Loop. Making such a unique approach to advancing the story is one of Deathloop’s defining factors. It took me around 20 hours and more than a dozen loops before all the pieces finally fell in place, allowing me to trigger a cascade of death across Blackreef.

Hunter? Or Hunted?

As Colt begins to construct the Perfect Loop, one Visionary isn’t willing to sit back and let him break the cycle. Hunting you down is Julianna, a rival assassin hell-bent on protecting the loop and killing Colt. This is where Deathloop can get even more interesting, as Julianna can be controlled by another player. When another player invades your game as Julianna, what unfolds next is an elaborate game of Cat and Mouse. Your proficiency with the game’s weapons and abilities will only take you so far, as using both map knowledge and wit become just as important. When facing the right opponent, these encounters can provide some of Deathloop’s most tense and thrilling moments.

Of course, for those who’d prefer not to be interrupted by other players, Julianna can also be controlled by AI, just don’t expect to be fighting an evenly matched adversary. Those who opt to play in single player mode will find that Julianna’s AI can be beaten fairly easily with an aggressive approach; rushing your foe and stunning her with a swift kick will leave your rival helpless. This exploitable AI trickles down to the regular enemies as well, with narrow peripheral vision and short attention spans mean that stealth is only difficult when enemies are together in large numbers.

Arsenal from the Aether

Throughout your time on Blackreef, you’ll come across a modest array of weapons ranging from pistols and nail guns, to LMGs and sniper rifles. You’ll also have the opportunity to find more unique firearms such as the Strelak Verso, which can operate as either 2 pistols, or combine into a rifle for longer range engagements. All weapons are also able to be equipped with trinkets that provide perks such as faster reloading or improved range, allowing you to further enhance your loadout.

Complementing your firepower are supernatural abilities known as slabs, which act essentially the same as the Outsider powers you use in Dishonored. For instance, the Shift slab functions identically to Dishonored’s Blink ability, providing short range teleportation, Aether provides you with invisibility, and Karnesis allows you to throw people around like ragdolls.

For those concerned about losing their hard-earned gear at the end of a loop, the game gives players the opportunity to protect their weapons, abilities and trinkets from the loop by using Residuum. Residuum acts as a currency in Deathloop, and can be earned by killing a Visionary or absorbing it directly from anomalies across Blackreef. When you prepare your loadout, you’ll have the chance to use residuum for infusion, permanently unlocking gear for use in future loops.

Technical Talk

While Deathloop has been heavily advertised for PS5, I decided against playing on Sony’s next-gen console in favour of playing on PC. Obviously I can’t comment on how the game utilises Dualsense features like the adaptive triggers or haptic feedback, but I can share my experience with both bugs and load times. For example, on PC, I was surprised at the 20-25 seconds it took to load into a level despite running the game on an SSD. From what I’ve seen, the game loads roughly 4-5 times faster on PS5, perhaps this is more of an optimisation than anything else, but certainly interesting.

During my time with the game, I also noticed some issues with stuttering; on multiple occasions, I would notice the game go from a locked 60 FPS, down to as low as 38 FPS. Another stutter problem exists with camera movement when using a mouse. The only other issue I encountered came in the opening hours, when the game completely froze for 10 seconds. This happened multiple times across a 5 minute period before completely disappearing. This could potentially be a rare bug which exists in the game’s early portion, but it’s worth mentioning.

Verdict

Even with some technical setbacks, Arkane Lyon has delivered a confident shooter infused with both the studio’s signature DNA, and a level of 60’s panache that Austin Powers would be proud of. Putting together the pieces to complete the perfect loop feels like solving a Sherlock Holmes-esque crime, or better yet, being the mastermind behind it. Deathloop proudly stands out from Dishonored and Prey, while also respecting and continuing the studio’s long running reputation for incredible game design.