Deathloop Review

Over the last decade, Arkane Studios has made quite the name for itself as a studio brimming with creative ideas and precise execution. Since the arrival of Dishonored it’s continued to nail brilliant, fresh ideas. Deathloop is its most ambitious, perplexing title yet.

- Adam Kerr

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Arkane Studios

Genre: First-person Shooter Release Date: Out Now

Platform: PC, PS5

Time loops, player invasion, the jigsaw puzzle story. Deathloop takes a lot of inspiration from old Arkane work, as well as some of the biggest titles in gaming today. It was set to be an interesting blend, as a once small studio in France decided to show just how bold they could be.

Set on the island of Blackreef, which had somehow become infused with the 1960’s, you awaken as Colt. Every day you die you awake on the same beach, but every night you die somewhere. Deathloop is a puzzle, where a man who remembers nothing tries to piece his life back together with the scraps he can find. Who is he and why is he trapped? Everything is questions you answer piece by piece, with player bravery rewarded by pushing the story further. All Colt really seems to know is; there are eight Visionaries, all of which must die in 24 hours.

Deathloop is a massive package, but my worry going into the game was how it handles the time mechanic. At the end of every day, Colt is returned to the morning of the start of the game, with none of the equipment he’s collected but retains the knowledge of anything found. Thankfully, there’s no angry moon in the sky to keep you on your toes. What you'll find is each 24 hour period is split into four segments (morning, afternoon, evening and night). For every section of the day, you can choose to wait, or travel to one of the game regions. Whilst exploring any of these regions, which are small open world areas, time never progresses. Time only progresses on two conditions; either when the player leaves the area, or when they die.