The official release of the experimental action will take place in September DEATHLOOP from the team Arkane Studioscreated with the support of the publishing house Bethesda Softworks… The announcement took place back in 2019, however, despite numerous screenings and presentations, a new game from the authors of the dilogy Dishonored and Prey consistently continued to raise questions.
In many ways, when viewed from the outside, DEATHLOOP baffles with its atypical concept – a cyclical gameplay gut where you have to visit expanded locations over and over again, facing new difficulties and conflicts. At the end of spring this year, we looked at the novelty from Arkane at a private show, and were also able to ask questions to the project manager Dinge Bakabe and the artist Sebastian Mitton, after which they shared their impressions…
And now we have managed to get to know DEATHLOOP much closer, having spent several intense hours watching the preview version of the project on the console Playstation 5… The cold wind of the Black Reef Island was as inhospitable as possible, but I did not want to leave it at all. Why? We will tell you in this article.
As we’ve written before, it’s easiest to look at DEATHLOOP as the direct heir to the Dishonored franchise. In the role of a man who has lost his memory with the telling name Colt, you have to arm yourself with a huge arsenal of various weapons, master supernatural skills and commit a series of effective murders, making your way through a complex maze of a whole set of expressive locations.
Controls, overall dynamics, visual accents, global pace, and even sound design all have an Arkane Studios signature that can hardly be confused with anything else. But the devil is in the details. And it is a number of important details that endow DEATHLOOP with its own identity, allowing the project to feel like a natural extension of the 0451 philosophy, culminating in any characteristics associated with the semi-mythical Immersive sim genre.
The core of DEATHLOOP’s narrative and gameplay content is the concept of a time loop. Colt, the central protagonist of the whole story, wakes up on a beach unfamiliar to him, remembering almost nothing from his past life. Trying to bring himself to his senses, the hero soon realizes the gravity of the situation: the lack of memory is the lesser of evils, because literally every living soul of the gloomy northern island of Black Reef seeks only one thing – to take Colt’s life at any cost.
But death brings no deliverance to Colt. Dying again and again, the character once again finds himself on the prickly sand of a lonely beach, forced to relive the same day countless times. The time loop trap is indifferent to any suffering and experience, but it can be broken. Or at least try. And together with Colt, you have to do just that – collect all your cunning, dexterity, dexterity and ingenuity, finally turning the calendar of a new day.
This, however, is not easy at all. The key to defeating the time loop lies in the eight “Visionaries” – a group of eccentric artists, scientists, entertainers, murderers and maniacs. By eliminating them all, Colt will be able to find the longed-for freedom. You need to commit murders within just one day, which is almost impossible, given the unenviable position of the hero.
The Time Loop is the biggest trap and most dangerous weapon in Colt’s hands. Any mission, especially a cunning assassination, requires the most careful preparation. And Colt has an eternity to prepare for his mission. That’s what DEATHLOOP is all about.
Structurally, the game is divided into four areas, comparable in scale to large multi-level locations from Dishonored 2… Each sector is a storehouse of secrets, equipment, items, obstacles and other fun. They all exist in four states – morning, afternoon, evening, night. Different times of the day not only change locations visually, but also modify them in a variety of ways – somewhere a new passage or hole may open, and somewhere a whole new section of the map is formed.
Moving through the sectors through the times of the day is done in a linear manner. You start your adventure during the day and gradually move towards night. The game does not depend in any way on a conditional timer – when you come to a location, you can spend ten hours of real time on it, and then step further along the game clock.
The idea with four locations, existing in different states, is layered on your main mission – the elimination of eight “Visionaries”. Your goals have their own (predefined by the scriptwriters) schedules, interests, attitudes, and aspirations. It is not possible to bring everyone together in one room. So, a new task is being built in front of the player – to find the optimal path through the Black Reef, allowing to make the planned assassination attempts.
From this point on, a separate meta-game is born in the core of DEATHLOOP. Beyond the nominal and relatively linear prologue, Arkane Studios lets users experiment and pioneer on their own. Literally every task implies at least several solutions, each level is buried in optional segments, everything can be used to benefit. Which one? It’s up to you to decide.
Did you find out during one of the loops where the powerful long-range rifle is stored? Next time she will definitely help you out. Did you run into an enemy turret, raising the alarm around the entire perimeter? It doesn’t matter, you will be more careful in the future. Has the stealthy infiltration turned into a bloodbath? But now you can feel like a real shooter, taking your heads off to a soundtrack that dynamically responds to your actions.
On the DEATHLOOP network, they often try to equate it with the genre of roguelite games, but the progression here does not consist of a perfectly matched combination of objects, but of our own understanding of the gaming environment. The ability to die and start all over again without fear is a tool that literally forces you to think outside the box and try the most curious sequences of actions.
Nevertheless, the element of finding effective equipment in the project is also fully present. Unique types of weapons are scattered across all levels – rifles, shotguns, pistols and more. All of them are divided into gradations of quality, and can also be improved with the help of special charms that change certain passive properties. When you learn how to save what you have obtained between cycles, you will have the opportunity to combine an arsenal for killing, in fact, collecting full-fledged builds suitable for certain fights.
Together with the weapon, Colt possesses special otherworldly powers – he can move with lightning speed, hide from sight or unite his victims with a single thread – in the manner of the “Domino” ability from Dishonored 2.
The general openness of the new Arkane also fits very well with the artistic basis of the project and its visual component. The vast expanses of the Dishonored dilogy are a real visual feast, most of which could easily pass by a wide audience – the optimal paths of passage were not very well suited for a detailed study of small design solutions of an unremarkable interior. There are no optimal paths in DEATHLOOP – stylish streets, expressive decor and clashes of various architectural trends will never pass your attention, since you will steadily return to them again.
The technical condition also speaks in favor of the outer shell of DEATHLOOP. The game offers three different modes of operation – with a focus on performance, visual quality, and a ray-traced mode.
The first option is enabled by default and offers dynamic 4K resolution at a stable 60fps. At a given value, the frame rate keeps without any drawdowns, even in the most busy and complex scenes.
The other two options offer certain trade-offs – in quality mode, the frame rate does not always hold at 60 frames per second, and the ray tracing option limits the frame rate to around 30 frames.
In addition to stable performance, DEATHLOOP also boasts an overall “sleekness” – the game does not allow itself any visual or technical errors in the first hours at all.
Separately, we can also mention how DEATHLOOP supports the features of the DualSense gamepad. It uses both a tactile vibration system that reacts to almost any action, such as steps or jumps, and adaptive triggers that resist movement when aiming and firing different types of weapons. These small but pleasant moments imperceptibly complement the acquaintance with the game with new colors.
But what has not yet been fully tried is the intrusion system, one of the features of DEATHLOOP, tied to the multiplayer component. While traveling through the levels, Julianne, an ardent rival of the Colt, can start hunting you completely spontaneously, trying to keep the loop, without stopping at anything.
If you are connected to a network and select the appropriate option in the settings, then the role of Julianna in your game will be occupied by other users – both random players and people from your friends list (depending on the filters selected). The dynamic PvP mode is designed to bring a bit of chaos to DEATHLOOP, as well as add replayability. Victories or defeats in fights with Julianne bring unique rewards, such as special items and cosmetic items.
If you are not interested in online contractions at all, then it is very easy to turn them off in the settings menu. In this scenario, Julianne will not disappear from the game – the girl has a significant role in the narrative, but she will attack you under the guidance of artificial intelligence, setting up traps and traps.
Taking into account the above, DEATHLOOP retains another big trump card – the ability to surprise. The Arkane Studios team skillfully built an advertising campaign, hiding a lot of surprises from the eyes of the potential audience. From a captivating narrative full of memorable characters (including Colt himself, he’s a living charisma), to insane gameplay mechanics that make you think again about Dishonored and Prey.
The first personal acquaintance with DEATHLOOP charges with the most positive impressions. The time loop must be broken, the Visionaries killed, and Colt saved. But I don’t want to run to the finish line headlong. Black Reef Island is ready to reveal its darkest secrets for you. And you can hardly refuse this invitation.
DEATHLOOP Released September 14, 2023 For PlayStation 5 And PC…
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