Deathloop is a classic timeloop game, expertly refined through the lense of Arkane Lyon’s effortlessly cool writing and game design. A must play.
Deathloop is the latest game from Arkane Lyon, a first person shooter based around breaking a timeloop and uncovering the mysteries within.
As Cole Vahn, you’ll wake up on a beach with no memory. You’ll quickly learn about the time loop and the things you need to do on the island of Blackreef. Then it’s up to you to take apart a whole island of people who decided reliving the same day over and over was better than existing in linear time.
The island of Blackreef is unstuck in time. Both literally and figuratively. Architecture not far off the industrial revolution setting of Dunwall melds with Soviet era bunkers and communication arrays, or 80s Malibu beachfront property. The entire population of AEON scientists and backers is bedecked in seventies style and colours. And of course, this is all against a frigid coastal backdrop of black craggy cliffs and dark seas.
It’s a riot of colour, intent and design that immediately throws the player off balance. Take all of that and change the design or layout for each area during each of the four parts of the repeating day and you’ve got an incredibly memorable setting that’s a joy to play in.
Deathloop is being described in some areas as a roguelike/lite, but I really don’t think the analogy works. What it’s actually closer to is something like Majora’s Mask. You have a set amount of time to accomplish the story before the timeline resets. But you can carry your knowledge back to the start. Progress in Deathloop is not about the experience of getting more powerful gear, acquiring mastery of the combat loop to facilitate reaching the end of the game. Those things are great, and make up a part of the game that’s still fun! The first person combat is mostly a very satisfying blend of powers and simplified gunplay against hordes of scientists/artists/arseholes while you dance around them as a finely honed combat veteran.
Because this is still the team and tools that built Dishonored and Prey. This time it’s just a system built around using a small set of player options.
Only 8 weapons that vary in quality and supplementary effects randomly. Plus five abilities that you have to kill visionaries to earn, and then kill them again to upgrade. These weapons and abilities can be further upgraded to bring them between loops, which means you can develop a suite of preferred tools. However, even on top of these limited tools, limited ammo on hand encourages scavenging and fighting within levels. Plus without upgrades, the weapons of the enemy are just as effective as yours. You are constantly tempered in your combat.
But the overall reason that the roguelike analogy falls apart is mostly because if you only do those things, you can’t actually complete the game.
What Deathloop is actually about is mastery of the environment and the narrative. In much the same way as the best routes through levels in Arkane’s Dishonored series, the setting and story unfold through your investigation of items, text and audio logs and overhearing characters.
You learn. Develop plans. Experiment with what happens in area A at noon if you mess with something earlier in the day.
The enemies are there, and the ultimate goal is to kill the eight visionaries, but without understanding the world and design behind the levels and the characters of the visionaries, you can’t break the loop.
Which is for the best really, as this is where Arkane’s work is at its best.
Deathloop is built around those visionaries, this world and Cole/Julianna. All of whom are spectacularly presented. I think even beyond the usual stellar Arkane documents and audio logs, this game really stands out because of the duelling conversations of Colt and Julianna. Every time you enter an area there is a new set of traded barbs between the two. The voice acting/direction and characterisation is perfect, and somehow even in a repeating timeloop I never got tired of them.
Overall though, Deathloop is deeply, deeply funny. Cole’s Voice Actor imbues him with the weariness of a man who is completely exhausted from dealing with uncovering the timeloops structure. But always in a way that is charming and earnest. A “well someone’s got to do it” attitude. Meanwhile, Julianna is the ultimate know it all, watching from afar and holding all the cards. Beyond these two, Deathloop has a lot of DNA shared with Hitman. It’s a playground filled with toys where your targets are unrepentant arseholes. Unpicking the relationships and backstories for the various visionaries leaves you in no doubt that whatever you’re about to do to them is entirely justified. This sense of unravelling the mystery applies to the wider narrative behind Blackreef and the Loop as well, and never fails to hit the right mark.
There is UTTER JOY in realising something subverts the loop or connecting some previously unremarkable piece of information.
After I killed one of the visionaries, I returned to the scene and something material was different about the scenario. There was a lightbulb moment where everything just slid into place, and I could see the next steps in the plot so clearly.
It’s a feeling the game is designed around. The preparation and menus allow you to consistently plan out what’s next on your list. Either follow a flow chart style quest line, or consult the dozens of notes and audio files you’ve picked up.
It’s a sense of connecting all the notes on the pegboard with string, piecing the story and plan together. Then that perfect moment when you step back and see how it all fits. The story is precision engineered so that everything comes together for the player naturally. The main thrust of the story will always fall in your path, but additional context can be gained from exploring and side narratives.
Because ultimately, Deathloop is a linear narrative, presented and played in a non linear fashion. The objective, killing the 8 Visionaries, and the difficulty in doing so. Because you need to kill all 8 Visionaries in one loop. They’re scattered across 4 maps and only able to be seen in parts of 4 time settings. So the only way to solve the problem is to ensure that everything in the game is done in a set order. Which means working out how to move the visionaries around till they are all in a neat row.
As a result, there’s really only one solution to the overall problem. The joy of Deathloop comes in figuring that overall solution out until you can execute it flawlessly.
In fact, one of my few criticisms is that the ending for the game simply felt too easy. It features Cole at the apex of his skills, supported by a player who knows the maps, targets and plan like the back of their hand. Barring your fixed changes, the loop doesn’t change. Once the experimental phase of Deathloop is over, all that’s left is mastery over Blackreef.
And Julianna.
Cause there’s one extra hand spinning round that clock, as Julianna will occasionally seal the escape routes from a map. Then try to murder you. The fun part? If you’ve got the option turned on, this Julianna will be a human player.
With a specific set of powers and one life to spend, Julianna breaks into your timeline to send you back to the start of the loop. With the power to take on the appearance of any NPC and a human level map knowledge and movement skill, she’s a serious threat.
I’m a big proponent of asymmetric design like this, and it gave rise to some of my favourite moments in Deathloop. Sniper battles across rooftops in Uphaam. A tense stealthy fight past a pile of mines and tripwires in the complex. Julianna is a spoiler in the best way. Just as you start to get comfortable with the routine of your run, she’s there to spin you on your heels and make you think.
Excepting when you’re completely outclassed on a skill level, these invasions rarely feel unfair. Cole gets three lives for Julianna’s one. Cole will be entering an area by choice, while Julianna has to adapt quickly to wherever she appears. More than any weapon skill, these fights are determined by your familiarity with Blackreef and your ability to think on your feet.
Even better, the game is completely comfortable with rewarding you significantly for beating her. Progression can be completely subverted with the luck of taking down an appropriately geared up Julianna. If she turns and you get hold of her power up (and get away) that’s a run against a visionary you no longer need to make. In one instance, a weapon I had lost to poor platforming in a previous run was then dropped by Juliana in the very next loop.
It even works from a story perspective, Cole is infuriated by the presence of Julianna, and constant invasions play into the narrative perfectly. She’s a spoiler, turning up as you make progress within a loop. It’s why the threat of her invasions work so well. Dying is easy. Losing progress is hard.
It’s going back to my earlier point. Deathloop has the mechanics of a first person shooter, a really good one. But the joy of this game isn’t primarily perfect headshots and expertly used abilities. It’s those moments where you suddenly have clarity. When the narrative becomes clear after you break into a specific area. Working out how to effortlessly take out a visionary by exploiting their weaknesses. When you outthink a Julianna that stands between you and so much progress in a given loop.
Deathloop doesn’t just want you to play well. It wants you to play smart.