'Deathloop' is tedious, repetitive, and not nearly as funny or as clever as it thinks it is. First off, the dialogue made me instantly hate every character. Reminded me of 'Sunset Overdrive,' another game where I even hated (especially hated?) the player character. Everyone in 'Deathloop' speaks in the same excessively obscene, nihilistic voice and it grated on me so severely, that I would mute the game whenever I had to repeat scenes.

Speaking of repetition, I guess you can expect it in a time loop game, but even still, I think this was needlessly repetitive. For one example, you need four passwords to access a hangar. So you go to one area, find and charge two batteries, start two generators, flip a switch. Then leave that area, go to another, find the building now accessible from the flipped switch. Go in, hunt for the password. Leave the area. Loop the day. Time for password #2! So go back to that one area, charge the two batteries again, start the two generators again, flip another switch. Then leave that area, go to another, access the building now accessible from the flipped switch. Find the second password. Leave the area. Loop the day. Two down, two to go! Is this fun? Not to mention, fail on any of these steps and you need to restart the entire process.

And whose brilliant idea was it to have Julianna randomly pop into these stealth missions to not only try to kill you but also to call everyone's attention to your position. Like, who thought this would be additive in a stealth game like this? On top of it all, because massive progress may be lost by dying in a loop, game-crashing bugs are completely unexcusable. And yet they plague the PS5 version of this game to the point where the game is nearly daring you to abandon it. Add the bugs to the decidedly last-gen visuals and the whole package feels like it was dumped into market before it was ready.

I'd forgive it all if there were likable characters or if the story clicks into place and becomes something that transcends the trail of clues you uncover. But there weren't. And it doesn't. I anticipate the clever comebacks to my opinion, like 'get good' or 'you didn't understand it.' But the game isn't hard. Certainly not the puzzle that it should be, instead the game holds your hand along the one path you must travel to the credits. And I fully understand the story and didn't find it interesting. The concept of a time loop game is a good one, but not like this. Not like this. Two stars for the halfway decent play controls.