The release of the newest PS5 console exclusive, Deathloop, is not only a MUST HAVE but it might be the best time-loop assassin mystery adventure ever.
During the entire lead up to this game’s release, my only reason for getting Deathloop was that it was made by Arkane. This might even be their definitive game, because it’s the first time they’ve completely freed themselves from reworking games that Looking Glass and Ion Storm did. Prey was a System Shock homage, Dishonored was a mash-up of Thief and Deus Ex, Arx and Dark Messiah were their versions of an Ultima Underworld game…Deathloop is just Deathloop. There’s no other analog in gaming. Obviously the influence is still there — this is still an immersive sim — but that’s all details rather than the full general outline. It really is a thesis of everything they’ve learned and you can see building blocks from every other game culminating in this.
While some might think that an amnesiac trying to put the pieces together (while stuck in a loop) to push the player to investigate the world is tired. I am not one of these people.
First, this is not a roguelike or a roguelite. Those tend to feature permadeath, that’s basically the opposite of a time-loop.
Secondly, games have an “always on” clock while Deathloop has four distinct time periods (Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Evening) and four distinct levels/environments. When you enter a level at a given time of day, you can mostly stay there as long as you want to accomplish what you want. However, the actions you take in a given “run” will have impacts on the levels you enter later in that day. Despite the loop the world does feel alive. Unlike other roguelikes, roguelites or games that repeat identical behaviors the loop is baked into the plot in such a way that helps alleviate this problem. It’s the Groundhog Day set up – the protagonist is aware he’s looping, but the people around him don’t. If Bill Murray doesn’t intervene in another character’s life they will repeat the same actions every loop. Sidenote, this wades into the philosophical question of free will/destiny, but that’s beside the point. The nail that really makes it feel like a living world is that Colt and Julianna (the one other person aware of the loop) acknowledge and speak about things you’ve done in the past, either earlier in the day or in past loops. I think that’s really the key to making it feel like those two characters are experiencing the forward flow of time despite everyone else around them being oblivious.
Third and last, as someone who doesn’t have a ton of time for gaming right now, I’m finding the looping mechanic rewarding as I can hop in for a half an hour or so and make progress, then go do real life stuff, then maybe knock out a level or two before bed. So many immersive sims require a large time commitment to be immersive, but Deathloop feels (so far) like games of old, where level repetition and mastery was half the fun, but playing in a five hour chunk could get a little tiresome. I get the criticism, and in another phase of my life I would agree (I got sucked into Dishonored and played it around the clock when it came out, and can’t imagine playing it in bite sized portions) but for now, Deathloop is sitting in a sweet spot of progression and “casual” gaming that not a lot of story-based games can manage for myself.
I’ve developed a real appreciation for games that respect my time. I love that so many games now have no “wrong” way to play. Deathloop is an end to end burner and one of the year’s best releases.