Deathloop Review: A Gorgeous Experimental FPS with a Few Snags
Arkane’s new FPS Deathloop is a glorious PS5 console exclusive offering excellent minute-to-minute gameplay, though the loop concept can be grating.
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There’s always a method to pass through each level in Deathloop as an unseen shadow, but Arkane Studio’s newest IP relishes in stylish bloodshed. With a compelling suite of tools, abilities, and weapons, mercilessly running through the game’s squishy Eternalist population is an absolute blast. Its heady narrative concept is admirable and its anarchic charisma often amusing, even if the looping conceit can be limiting and does lead to frustrating sequences. Despite any misgivings, Deathloop is a fiery action-oriented and immersive sim which offers plenty of good excuses for another redo.
Protagonist Colt is trapped in one single 24-hour cycle on the island of Blackreef, and its resident Eternalists party hard and die quick, living out their violent routines over and over. How this all functions is a sizable part of Deathloop’s unfurling narrative and lore, but suffice to say it’s got something to do with anomalies, science experiment tomfoolery, and a cast of eight quixotic Visionaries, singular thought-leaders who all have a hand in the island’s madcap function and wish it preserved. Colt disagrees, surmising that the only way to break this bloody Groundhog Day is to kill each of them before sunrise, a task described as “the golden loop.”
There’s definitely more to the story than that, though spoiler sensitivity stifles any details. What’s safe to describe is Colt’s infectious charisma and humor, foil Julianna’s penetrative ongoing taunts over radio, and the dozens of notes and excellently-performed audio logs that flesh out the cadre of Visionaries. Knowledge in Deathloop is paramount, and an otherwise stumbled loop feels suitably rewarded by another kernel of info, checking boxes and moving Colt closer to his quarry. A brisk tutorial loop opens up the four quadrants of Blackreef for exploration, with four different time slots shifting enemies and access. The maps remain the same, but they’re rich sandboxes stuffed with secrets.
Most importantly, Deathloop’s gunplay is outstanding, and feels even spicier on PlayStation 5’s tech. The haptic feedback makes triggers on the base weapons feel differentiated, powerful, and vibrant, and the game looks gorgeous and runs smoothly with lightning-fast load times throughout. It’s a powerful demonstration of the unique qualities of the controller, and a healthy range of tunable settings should serve most players.
The hundreds of Eternalists on Blackreef are cannon fodder for Colt’s growing arsenal, though their AI will gamely investigate oddities, give chase, and are threatening in number. The Visionaries are considerably more interesting marks and vulnerable to numerous approaches. While there is always the golden loop to uncover and strive for, this doesn’t stop players from setting up crafty ambushes or dispatching them with well-placed headshots from afar when they appear. Sometimes they don’t appear, though, and therein lies Deathloop’s modular quest system of tracked leads.
The game falters here, and the reasoning is as complicated as the concept. The various menus and data dumps that serve lead-tracking obscure information, and players wishing control over Deathloop’s narrative solutions are out of luck. Progression is often reliant on pixel-hunting for an important document over true-blue puzzles, prompting Colt to instantly deduct leads and quest markers, which never feels proper; if the game is motivated by its mystery, at least some of it should have been left to player deduction.
Loops can close off a Blackreef quadrant during a specific hour, even in the middle of quests, which led to some wasted time spent re-looping the day and any previous preparation. Deathloop occasionally hobbles player creativity in this way and thereby hurts its boldest concept. The worst part, though, is that Deathloop’s golden loop isn’t the most entertaining to play out, and even though there’s in-game logic for why it works, it’s less fun than just experimenting with the game’s systems.
As for Julianna, Deathloop’s trumpeted online invader extraordinaire? Julianna can invade multiple times per loop, and running into her at night or loop’s end when low on limited respawns (courtesy of Colt’s special slab, Reprise) can be devastating, risking time wasted otherwise pursuing questlines unfettered. While there were memorable battles against player-controlled Juliannas during our playthrough, some troll-ish encounters sourly prompted activation of the single-player offline option, and AI Julianna is unsurprisingly gentler.
As a stylish and gorgeous FPS, Deathloop is absolutely worth its price on the PS5. The narrative feels one-of-a-kind and it’s a constant pleasure to learn each map and character over time. If it emphasized more experimentation and player agency, it would be the revolutionary knockout hinted at in its premise. Still, playing with its combat systems remain a pleasure even after credits roll (and as troll-in-training Julianna). For fans of the modern Hitman series, Arkane’s outstanding catalog, and great-feeling FPS games in general, Deathloop is highly recommended; just go into the wild narrative with tempered expectations for self-directed play.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/deathloop-game-review/