Immersive-Sim, Search-Action, or Metroidvania - All are probably apt-enough descriptions for game like this, especially since the studio behind it has so much of their past Dishonored and even Prey DNA blaringly present throughout many of it's avenues - And yet, unexpectedly I find myself being most emotionally recalled to playing and replaying endless Super Mario World levels as I stocked up on extra lives, Yoshis, and powerups, or trying to perfect a run through the robot masters in any given Mega Man title when I play Arkane Lyon's "DEATHLOOP".
(Henceforth) Deathloop is a clever and stylish shooter packed to the rim with gimmicks that may have been better served with brevity. The premise of "Groundhog's Day With Guns" as a video game is certainly tantalizing, and one or both of Arkane's studios are clear picks for the task even prior to Deathloop's actualization. There are moments where the game shines and lives up to this premise, though I'm not sure they quite stuck the landing.
First, the positives - Deathloop's production design from the art direction to the music is intentful, impactful, and fun. The game only really has one song that I can recall outside of the Bond-esque credit sequence, but the dynamic implementation of it and its different contexts makes it exciting and memorable. Weapons are weird, probably nonsensical in mechanical design, and fit right in with the highly accessorized 1960's plastic fashion aesthetic that permeates Blackreef Isle. The between-levels UI pulls from some of the worst offenders in the AAA space as far as functionality goes but stylistically its all cohesive and blends the game's 3D world with the fun 2D animatics after each main objective. Take a drink for every time I draw comparison to another Arkane game, but if the drab smog and dust of the Dishonored franchise tired you out as much as it did me, Deathloop is a breath of fresh air.
What becomes a little more stale a bit too quickly is much of the core gameplay; Despite the game's own insistence that you "Play Your Own Way", I was surprised at how much more restrictive Deathloop's sandbox really is in practice. Each level has alternate routes and secrets like you would expect, and much of the game can be played "out of order", like the aforementioned Mega Man robot masters, but the initial promise of a timeloop puzzle where you manage daylight and have to manipulate your assassination targets is pretty much immediately reduced to there being only a single path forward that the game is not in the slightest shy to tell you about.
In Prey or Dishonored, one conceivably could not play and see all the game had the offer on a single playthrough - There were just too many options that were mutually exclusive. This is vital to that Immersive-Sim experience, and what lends the sheer amount of player agency and emergent moments that practically define the sub-genre. Deathloop's primary gimmick is an interesting experiment in that sense, as it brings that meta-game aspect into the primary experience. For better or for worse, this feels like a move not to ensure that the average player will get to see everything the developers worked on - Though that's probably a nice bonus - but rather a move to force players to feel confident enough to experiment around, while also enabling more players to enjoy this type of game in the "correct way". These goals are admirable, however I think it speaks for itself as to why that doesn't work out as much in practice. At least, not for myself, who was elated by Prey 2017's open-ness and environment of fear and uncertainty, and the much greater amount of pay-off that solving problems in that title brought. For the type of player who is maybe new to the sub-genre or is only interested in watching the credits roll a single time, no matter the game, this probably works out just fine.
One aspect that motivates the loop mechanic and is ultimately counterintuitive to what its goals may be is the game's punishment for failure. In previous titles, the onus is on the player to save and reload how they
I suspect that Arkane Lyon actually achieved more or less 100% what they set out to do. Given the context of not just Arkane, but Bethesda and Zenimax as a whole, I can't help but wonder how many of these decisions were made with the influence of financial pressure. Prior to Deathloop, the first Dishonored game seems to have been the only big hit in Arkane's library, with Prey notably underperforming. Combined with a shift to the ever present GaaS model and hyper aggressive monetization schemes, Zenimax's willingness to shop out timed exclusivity deals for Sony's new console before being bought out by Microsoft shows that they may not have had the cushiest of cash piles. Integrated tech demos for the DualSense gimmicks aside, I don't believe or feel that Arkane's vision was compromised by Sony or higher up Zenimax, but it does feel markedly different in approach.
On a technical level, Deathloop Ideally looks fantastic in motion, but maybe the game's most fatal flaw is the horrendous PC version performance. Even on a contemporary high-end machine, most if not all settings had to be knocked down a few notches to maintain a solid 60 frames per second, but most grievous is the seemingly common issue of stuttering and freezing found, regardless of what your video settings are at. This effect usually subsides after you've spent a minute or two in a newly loaded map, but will often rear its ugly head when transitioning between indoor and outdoor areas.
The TL:DR - Deathloop is a fun, but ultimately shallow ride that gives the player all the answers, never really lets the player screw up and snowball into interesting scenarios, and somehow paradoxically forces you to “Play Your Way” instead of just… Letting you play? Probably a whole lot more approachable, but not nearly as satisfying or replayable as the rest of the studio's games.
(Henceforth) Deathloop is a clever and stylish shooter packed to the rim with gimmicks that may have been better served with brevity. The premise of "Groundhog's Day With Guns" as a video game is certainly tantalizing, and one or both of Arkane's studios are clear picks for the task even prior to Deathloop's actualization. There are moments where the game shines and lives up to this premise, though I'm not sure they quite stuck the landing.
First, the positives - Deathloop's production design from the art direction to the music is intentful, impactful, and fun. The game only really has one song that I can recall outside of the Bond-esque credit sequence, but the dynamic implementation of it and its different contexts makes it exciting and memorable. Weapons are weird, probably nonsensical in mechanical design, and fit right in with the highly accessorized 1960's plastic fashion aesthetic that permeates Blackreef Isle. The between-levels UI pulls from some of the worst offenders in the AAA space as far as functionality goes but stylistically its all cohesive and blends the game's 3D world with the fun 2D animatics after each main objective. Take a drink for every time I draw comparison to another Arkane game, but if the drab smog and dust of the Dishonored franchise tired you out as much as it did me, Deathloop is a breath of fresh air.
What becomes a little more stale a bit too quickly is much of the core gameplay; Despite the game's own insistence that you "Play Your Own Way", I was surprised at how much more restrictive Deathloop's sandbox really is in practice. Each level has alternate routes and secrets like you would expect, and much of the game can be played "out of order", like the aforementioned Mega Man robot masters, but the initial promise of a timeloop puzzle where you manage daylight and have to manipulate your assassination targets is pretty much immediately reduced to there being only a single path forward that the game is not in the slightest shy to tell you about.
In Prey or Dishonored, one conceivably could not play and see all the game had the offer on a single playthrough - There were just too many options that were mutually exclusive. This is vital to that Immersive-Sim experience, and what lends the sheer amount of player agency and emergent moments that practically define the sub-genre. Deathloop's primary gimmick is an interesting experiment in that sense, as it brings that meta-game aspect into the primary experience. For better or for worse, this feels like a move not to ensure that the average player will get to see everything the developers worked on - Though that's probably a nice bonus - but rather a move to force players to feel confident enough to experiment around, while also enabling more players to enjoy this type of game in the "correct way". These goals are admirable, however I think it speaks for itself as to why that doesn't work out as much in practice. At least, not for myself, who was elated by Prey 2017's open-ness and environment of fear and uncertainty, and the much greater amount of pay-off that solving problems in that title brought. For the type of player who is maybe new to the sub-genre or is only interested in watching the credits roll a single time, no matter the game, this probably works out just fine.
One aspect that motivates the loop mechanic and is ultimately counterintuitive to what its goals may be is the game's punishment for failure. In previous titles, the onus is on the player to save and reload how they
I suspect that Arkane Lyon actually achieved more or less 100% what they set out to do. Given the context of not just Arkane, but Bethesda and Zenimax as a whole, I can't help but wonder how many of these decisions were made with the influence of financial pressure. Prior to Deathloop, the first Dishonored game seems to have been the only big hit in Arkane's library, with Prey notably underperforming. Combined with a shift to the ever present GaaS model and hyper aggressive monetization schemes, Zenimax's willingness to shop out timed exclusivity deals for Sony's new console before being bought out by Microsoft shows that they may not have had the cushiest of cash piles. Integrated tech demos for the DualSense gimmicks aside, I don't believe or feel that Arkane's vision was compromised by Sony or higher up Zenimax, but it does feel markedly different in approach.
On a technical level, Deathloop Ideally looks fantastic in motion, but maybe the game's most fatal flaw is the horrendous PC version performance. Even on a contemporary high-end machine, most if not all settings had to be knocked down a few notches to maintain a solid 60 frames per second, but most grievous is the seemingly common issue of stuttering and freezing found, regardless of what your video settings are at. This effect usually subsides after you've spent a minute or two in a newly loaded map, but will often rear its ugly head when transitioning between indoor and outdoor areas.
The TL:DR - Deathloop is a fun, but ultimately shallow ride that gives the player all the answers, never really lets the player screw up and snowball into interesting scenarios, and somehow paradoxically forces you to “Play Your Way” instead of just… Letting you play? Probably a whole lot more approachable, but not nearly as satisfying or replayable as the rest of the studio's games.