#Deathloop game review windows

The only two people that can retain information between days, and eventually gear and weaponry, are Colt and Julianna. It feels unfair to spoil the clockwork nature of it all anymore, it really is something best experienced with as little knowledge as possible going in.įor the residents of this game world, it’s still the “first day” in their minds. Every day works the same with people in specific locations, performing specific actions at the same times. There is a run-like nature to each day but that only holds to your weaponry and gear. I saw talk before and around launch that the game is a roguelike but it really isn’t. While you can technically choose to go to whichever district you want at each point of the day or skip entire time periods when you want, the narrative always makes it clear when and where you need to go to progress. Die enough each run and it resets back to the morning as well. After each night you go back to the previous morning with the game world fully reset, but Colt retains any and all knowledge gained during the last run. The day cycle is morning, noon, afternoon, and night. It doesn’t sound like much at first but with all the variation on hand, especially as you follow the surprisingly linear quest path, the clockwork nature of it all is genius to behold. Days are broken up into four playable areas each with four times of day. The structure of Deathloop is unique, innovative, brilliant, and overall incredible. If they all die in one day then the loop will break once and for all, so you’ll be tasked with figuring out the perfect day in which every visionary meets their demise at your skillful hands. The only way, you’ll quickly learn, is to dispatch every “Visionary” of Project Aeon. You are stuck on an island in the Antarctic with no way off. To describe just what the gameplay loop is I’ll have to get into some extremely minor and very early-on story spoilers. Most of your time will be spent as Colt as you work your way through the narrative and try to destroy everything, but we’ll get into what Protecting the Loop means later.

Once you’ve completed “The Longest Day”, aka the game’s tutorial mission, you’re met with the two sides of the game, Destroying vs. The dynamic between Colt and this mysterious person on the radio name Julianna is the heart of Deathloop. Almost immediately an unfriendly, but seemingly familiar voice on the other side starts berating you. 45Īwakening on a beach with no clue who or where you are, you stumble into a fallout bunker and find a radio. Deathloop is an incredible achievement, so let’s break down why. If you’re anything like me it’ll be one of the most satisfying things you’ve ever done in a video game. Stuck on an island & trapped in a daily time loop, you’ll slowly uncover dozens of mysteries as you piece this clockwork puzzle of a game together. From Prey to Dishonored, and even the good parts of Wolfenstein: Youngblood you can feel the studio’s mastery over the game’s systems.

It feels like a culmination of every Arkane game before it.

#Deathloop game review windows

A year after its initial release on PlayStation 5 and PC, Deathloop is out on Xbox and the Windows Store.