Review: DeathLoop
Platform Played: PC
Time: Around 60 hours
Deathloop is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows and as a timed console exclusive for the PlayStation 5. In Deathloop, the player takes on the role of Colt, an assassin stuck in a time loop who has been tasked to take out eight targets called Visionaries across the island before midnight, as leaving even one alive will cause the time loop to reset and undo his work.
First thing first. I have to say that Arkane Studios have yet again made a super great game like they have been doing for a few years now. Deathloop is interesting as well as super fun to play. It brings a feeling of Dishonored + Pray into one game with a simple yet complex objective to kill someone. It has a really great and Interesting, mysterious world, the gameplay is super fun. Characters + the voice acting is just TOP NOTCH. Everything about it is just great
So why not talk about it in detail? SO here are the Pros and Cons of “ Deathloop “
Pros:
+ Interesting, mysterious world:
Throughout the game, I was deeply invested in this mysterious world Arkane Studios have made here. I always wondered who are these characters and why is he stuck in the time loop. There is a lot of world-building going on in this game. Everywhere you go there are events to discover and manipulate, conversations on which to drop your eaves, and many notes and audio logs to increase your knowledge of the loops inhabitants. I personally really enjoyed just exploring and uncovering secrets in this game.
+ A good amount of variety
There is a very good amount of variety in playstyle options in “ Deathloop “ with a large number of trinkets to augment/refine your "build". You can be a master hacker. A non-stop force wielder. Go up close invisible melee stealth. Or, get some long-range, 2 girls one nail stealth action ( if you get that reference 😉 ). Dual wield full auto, health leeching SMGs Or, you could just spend your day teleport kicking eternalists into walls and off cliffs. There is a lot of ways you can play this game.
+ Characters:
There is a very large Engaging cast of characters with a lot of notes/audio logs to build them. They're engaging in the way that I was always excited to get more info on who these were, outside of moving the story forward.
+ Voice-Acting:
Alongside great Characters, the two main’s once voice actors - Jason E. Kelley as Colt Vahn and Ozioma Akagha as Julianna Blake were just amazing throughout the game. The acting they did was TOP NOTCH, the chemistry they have in-game was just amazing, and overall really, like really really great performance from them both 👏. I hope to see them more in future video games <3
+ Great soundtrack:
All I am gonna say about the Soundtrack is to go to Youtube and listen to it. It keeps the mystery tune during exploration and action pack blast during gun-fights
+ Day / Night Cycle:
Yes, “ Deathloop “ has a Day/Night cycle in it, and how they use it is super great. It is super fun to see how each area changes during the course of the day and how different everything becomes if you start a mission during a day/evening or Night
+ Infusion mechanic:
The cool rouge-like element allows you to slowly build an arsenal that you keep through every loop.
+ Side quests:
The Side quests in “ Deathloop “ are really good and really worth completing for particular weapons and trinkets that you won't find elsewhere. Not gonna spoil any of them but they are worth playing is all I am gonna say
+ Another thing I would like to mention and i like when games do that is that Deathloop gives direction, but not too much. Like Yes, you have an objective marker that updates, but often you have to actually look by yourself around to find information, items, or your targets, and that I really love
+ Good options for HUD/immersion:
I personally truly appreciate it when developers have these options in a game. The game can give all the information upfront. Selected weapons/powers, health/mana bars, discovered information, objective markers, and such. OR, You can turn all that clutter off . . . Say you turn off the option to notify you of important discovered info. Well then, when you read a note or hear a conversation you actually have to pay attention to how you can best utilize this discovery. I honestly really do appreciate that you guys at Arkane Studios have done this 👏👏👏
Cons:
- Plenty of unsolved or unsatisfying endings:
Yet again another game where I personally did not like the ending of it. It felt like a lot of questlines didn't have a satisfactory conclusion. Just a special trinket or weapon (which is fine of course). But, nothing really cool or bombastic. The campaign endings were all equally vapid sadly.
- Slabs:
The low number of powers and creativity of the Slabs are really disappointing- They can be used in interesting and engaging ways, but they are all rather uninspired… Very Basic.
- Julianna:
Now even though the character and voice-acting of Julianna in “ Deathloop “ is really good, i felt like she was very underutilized/not fleshed out quite enough. even though you speak with her throughout the entire game, she has criminally little screen time which was really disappointing as i wanted more screen time for her.
- NPC’s
Either it was just in my playthrough or overall it is the same but 1: The AI is really bad in this one, I could easily just hide in one corner if fight breakout. Let them come one by one to me and kill them all and 2: All the NPCs have the same scripts during each time period. Everything is static. Makes it easy to learn each area and time, but probably leaves less room for emergent gameplay.
With Dumb AI means easy to combat, Even in the hardest difficulty. The enemies you kill DO leave something behind, signaling to other NPCs that someone has died BUT They are still dumb about it of course 😂
Some other things to consider:
If you stick to the story, the game could probably be beaten in 10-12 hours. But, if you explore and dedicate some of your loops to solving puzzles and witnessing events ( like I did ) and do almost all the achievements, it could take upto of 20-25 houts. It took me 23 hours to finishthe game.
Performance might differ for everyone but for me it was OK. I did have little micro-stuttering every now and then and FPS did drop below 60 at times but not often.
As you might have noticed, I have not mentioned the Multiplayer of this game ( which is basically you invading other’s games as Julianna ) cause I personally did not play a lot of it and when I did, my internet is so shit that I was not able to enter any other’s game very much AND the once I did had breaking lag
Final Verdict:
8/10
( Must Buy )
Deathloop is yet another masterpiece of a game that has been released by Arkane Studios. I am really impressed with how they keep on topping themselves and Deathloop shows the creative people they have. Can’t wait to see what’s next for them as I will be there on DAY 1.
Deathloop is available on Microsoft Windows ( PC ) and as of the time of writing the review is timed console exclusive for the PlayStation 5 available for $60 and it is damn worth it. Do check it out and see if you enjoy being stuck in a loop
Thanks for taking the time to read the review. I very much appreciate it and please find me on Instagram @_capgaming_ or Gmail: Captainrazel@gmail.com and discuss things about video games. OR as i am planning to start doing these reviews on my YouTube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY1o8GapPHk4qjQy0684AJQ ) and while there is nothing there yet, I have BIG plans for it so a sub would be very much appreciated.<3
Until then, See you next time <3