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Deathloop

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Deathloop
Developer(s)Arkane Studios
Publisher(s)Bethesda Softworks
Director(s)Dinga Bakaba
Artist(s)Sébastien Mitton
Composer(s)
EngineVoid Engine
Platform(s)
Release14 September 2021
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Deathloop[a] is a 2021 action-adventure game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released in September 2021 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 5 as a timed exclusive.[1]

Gameplay

Deathloop has the player in the role of Colt, an assassin who is stuck in a time loop, waking up on a beach at the island of Blackreef. The other residents of Blackreef, a former army base where strange experiments had once been held, have invested in the island and have gathered for this night to hold a party that seemingly lasts forever, as at the end of each night, the island resets to the start of the party in that time loop. Because of this reset, the partygoers pay no heed to their actions or deeds since they wake up at the start of the loop with no memories or effects of the previous loop.[2] While Colt is part of this loop, he retains memories from each loop, learning the behaviors and patterns of the partygoers with each loop.[2]

Colt has been tasked to take out eight targets across the island before midnight, as leaving even one alive will cause the time loop to reset and undo his work. Further, should Colt die before taking out the eight targets, he will wake back up at the start of the loop.[2] Unlike The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, another game with a time loop that runs in real time, the time loop in Deathloop is not strictly timed and is aimed to give players more time and freedom to take out these eight targets in one loop.[3] The player uses a combination of stealth, parkour, attack skills, gadgets and powers as in Arkane's previous Dishonored and Prey games to move about the game world, avoid or take out guards, and learn the patterns of Colt's targets to figure out the right order to eliminate these using guns, melee attacks, or other environmental means.[4]

The game features a multiplayer aspect in which the player can alternatively take the role of Julianna, an agent tasked to protect the time loop and take out Colt. When the player takes this role, they will enter a random player's game and may interfere with their play. The multiplayer portion is optional and players can prevent others from taking on the role of Julianna in their game, instead leaving this to a computer-controlled opponent to try to stop Colt.[5]

Development and release

Deathloop was developed primarily by Arkane Studios at their Lyon, France locations. Game director Dinga Bakaba described the game as an "inverted Cluedo", a murder puzzle that the player needs to figure out how to solve in one perfect run after failing through many previous runs.[2] The game is designed around aiding the player in learning the necessary pieces to this puzzle with each run, but they needed an element of unpredictability to make it a challenge. While current artificial intelligence (AI) in video games can lead to believable behavior, AI tends to lack surprising actions. This led to bringing in second online player to control Julianna as to randomly affect the player's game, itself something Arkane had explored in their unreleased title The Crossing.[2] Deathloop is playable offline as well.[6]

Deathloop combines elements of both the Dishonored series as well as Prey. They wanted to be able to give the player a wide range of abilities that they could select to try to complete the "perfect loop", many which mirror powers from both Dishonored and Prey. While the game does allow the player to use stealth and related abilities as in Dishonored to move quietly, Deathloop does not allow for non-lethal takedowns of non-player characters, as Arkane recognized the choice of killing or subduing enemies had weighed down players in Dishonored. These stealth abilities can still be chained together with other abilities to make Colt fight like John Wick, according to Bakaba.[2] The Julianna character has a similar range of abilities, many of these closer to the Prey abilities such as being able to mimic any character in the game, including Colt, and thus interfere through activities such as drawing the player away from the real target with her mimicry or by posing as a duplicate Colt in front of one of the targets to cause confusion that way.[2]

The game's setting of Blackreef is based on the Faroe Islands, and inspired by the styles of the Swinging Sixties.[2]

Deathloop was revealed at E3 2019.[7] It was further showcased during Sony's PlayStation 5 event in June 2020, confirming that the game will see release as a timed console exclusive on the PlayStation 5 in late 2020 alongside a Windows release.[8] In August 2020, it was announced the game was delayed until Q2 2021 as development was impacted by the governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] The company later announced it planned to release Deathloop on 21 May 2021.[10] About a month prior to the planned May release, Arkane delayed the release until 14 September 2021, stating that they will be "using this extra time to accomplish our goal: create a fun, stylish, and mind-bending player experience."[11]

On 21 September 2020, Bethesda Softworks' parent company, ZeniMax Media and Microsoft announced Microsoft's intent to buy ZeniMax and its studios, including Arkane, for US$7.5 billion, incorporating the studios as part of Xbox Game Studios, with the sale finalized on 9 March 2021.[12][13] Xbox Game Studios head Phil Spencer said that this deal will not affect Deathloop's current planned platform-exclusive released on the PlayStation 5, and will remain exclusive there for a year before arriving on other consoles.[14][15]

Reception

Deathloop received "generally favourable" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[16][17]

References

  1. ^ Stylized as "Deathloop"
  1. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (10 July 2021). "PS5 timed console exclusive Deathloop won't hit Xbox until at least September 2022". eurogamer. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h McKeand, Kirk (30 June 2020). "Deathloop interview – a strange blend of Dishonored, Persona, Dark Souls and… Cluedo?". VG247. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  3. ^ Gilliam, Ryan (1 March 2021). "Arkane explains Deathloop's Groundhog Day-like mechanics". Polygon. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  4. ^ Hernedez, Patricia (11 June 2020). "Dishonored devs are making a wild PS5 game". Polygon. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  5. ^ Lewis, Anne (11 June 2020). "Deathloop makes its console debut on PS5 this holiday". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Deathloop is Playable Offline confirms Director - Gaming Route". Retrieved 2021-06-29.
  7. ^ Robertson, Adi (9 June 2020). "Deathloop is the next game from the studio behind Dishonored". The Verge. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  8. ^ Van Allen, Eric (11 June 2020). "Arkane's Deathloop Is a Timed PS5 Console Exclusive [Update]". USgamer. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  9. ^ S. Good, Owen (18 August 2020). "Deathloop delayed to next year, says Arkane". Polygon. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Arkane's 'Deathloop' hits PS5 and PC on May 21st, 2021". Engadget. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  11. ^ Robinson, Andy (8 April 2021). "Bethesda's PS5 exclusive Deathloop has been delayed". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  12. ^ Robinson, Andy (9 March 2021). "Microsoft confirms its Bethesda acquisition is complete and 'some games' will be exclusive". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  13. ^ Bass, Dina; Schreier, Jason (21 September 2020). "Microsoft to Buy Bethesda for $7.5 Billion to Boost Xbox". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  14. ^ Olsen, Mathew (21 September 2020). "GhostWire: Tokyo and Deathloop Will Still Be Timed PS5 Exclusives, Phil Spencer Confirms". USGamer. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  15. ^ Zweizen, Zack (9 July 2021). "Sony Will Lose Another Big PS5 Exclusive In September 2022". Kotaku. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  16. ^ a b "Deathloop for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Deathloop for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  18. ^ Carter, Chris (13 September 2021). "Review: Deathloop". Destructoid. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  19. ^ Moore, Ben (13 September 2021). "Review: Deathloop". Easy Allies. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  20. ^ Harmon, Josh (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  21. ^ Hester, Blake (13 September 2021). "Deathloop Review – The Joys Of Death And Dying". Game Informer. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  22. ^ Hussain, Tamoor (13 September 2021). "Deathloop Review: All You Need Is Kill". GameSpot. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  23. ^ West, Josh (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review - "You won't play anything else quite like it for a very long time"". GamesRadar. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  24. ^ LeClair, Kyle (13 September 2021). "Review: Deathloop". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  25. ^ Purslow, Matt (13 September 2021). "Deathloop Review". IGN. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  26. ^ Savage, Phil (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review". PC Gamer. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  27. ^ Boudreau, Ian (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review – time warp tour de force". PCGamesN. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  28. ^ Croft, Liam (13 September 2021). "Deathloop Review (PS5)". Push Square. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  29. ^ Denzer, TJ (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review: A vicious cycle". Shacknews. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  30. ^ Donaldson, Alex (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review: a thrilling, slick adventure - and Arkane's best game yet". VG247. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  31. ^ Wise, Josh (13 September 2021). "Deathloop review". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
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