Deathloop is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by Arkane Lyon and published by Bethesda Softworks. The player controls Colt Vahn, an assassin who must escape a time loop by killing eight targets known as visionaries before midnight each day. The story is set on an island named Blackreef. Each day is divided into morning, noon, afternoon, and evening; and moving between the island's four districts causes time to advance. Using Colt's arsenal of gear and powers, the player must identify the optimal way to kill all targets in one day. As with Arkane's previous games, Deathloop is an immersive sim, with the game providing players a variety of ways to approach their objectives.
Development of Deathloop began in 2018, originally as a smaller-scale project that allowed Arkane to experiment with new gameplay mechanics. The game was built on Arkane's previous works, such as Dishonored, introducing nonlinear gameplay and removing the morality system, enabling players to take risks without considering narrative repercussions, as well as Prey: Mooncrash, which experimented with the roguelike formula and remix gameplay using a limited amount of assets. Arkane implemented asymmetrical multiplayer, an unused gameplay mechanic from its unreleased game The Crossing that enables a second player to control Julianna and hunt Colt. Films and television series like Groundhog Day and The Avengers inspired the story and aesthetics, while the Scottish Highlands and the Faroe Islands inspired the design of Blackreef.
Deathloop was released on 14 September 2021 for Windows PC and PlayStation 5, and for Xbox Series X and Series S on 20 September 2022. Although the story takes place in the Dishonored universe, Bethesda did not market it as a spin-off of that franchise because it has a distinct story and characters. Deathloop received generally positive reviews; critics praised its gameplay, structure, art direction, characters and story, but criticized its artificial intelligence. Many critics described Deathloop as original and regarded it as one of Arkane Studio's best games. It attracted more than five million players upon launch, and it was nominated for several end-of-year accolades, including Game of the Year at the Game Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards, and British Academy Games Awards.
Gameplay
Deathloop is set on an island called Blackreef. The player controls Colt, an assassin who is stuck in a time loop. Colt must eliminate eight targets called Visionaries across Blackreef before midnight; if one Visionary remains alive, the time loop will reset and undo Colt's work. Deathloop has a multiplayer mode in which the player can alternatively play as Julianna, a Visionary tasked with protecting the time loop and killing Colt. When the player takes this role, they enter a random player's game and may interfere with their play. Juliana has a unique ability named Masquerade that allows her to swap her appearance with any non-playable character (NPC), enabling her to blend in with crowds and stay concealed. If the player disables multiplayer, Julianna will be controlled by artificial intelligence.
The game has two types of missions: Visionaries Leads is the campaign's critical path and Arsenal Leads guide players to improved weapons and gear. Each day is divided into morning, noon, afternoon, and evening, and moving between the island's four districts causes time to advance. The routines of the people in a particular district vary depending on the time of day the player enters, and the player's actions in one district can affect routines in the others. Different times of day open alternative paths for players to explore. For instance, a room that is locked in the morning may be unlocked at night. Players must learn the patterns of Colt's targets and figure out the correct order in which to kill the targets. Because it was impossible for Colt to separately kill all Visionaries, he must manipulate events to assemble multiple Visionaries in one location so he can kill them in quick succession. There is only one correct order to kill all Visionaries in a single loop. The time loop in Deathloop is not timed; players can freely explore each location to find clues and complete side objectives. A clue found by Colt may inform the player of their tasks in the next location, and intelligence collected in one loop can be used to player's advantages in the next loop. Players may need to spend multiple loops and revisit locations several times before they can identify the steps that are needed to assassinate all of their targets.
Combat Deathloop is an immersive sim video game that is played from a first-person perspective. Players are presented with a large arsenal of tools, allowing them to choose how they want to approach their objectives. Each location in Deathloop is also a sandbox that provides alternative paths for players to reach their targets. Colt has access to firearms, melee weapons, and grenades that can be used to defeat enemies. Weapons are divided into several categories of rarity. More-common gear may frequently jam while rarer weapons are more powerful but more difficult to locate. Gunshots draw opponents in the vicinity to hunt down the player. Alternatively, players can use stealth tactics to silently evade their opponents, distract them by throwing bottles, or kill them with traps or suppressed firearms without being detected. By remaining concealed, players can eavesdrop on conversations between other characters, thus opening new gameplay opportunities. Players can use their hacking tool to disable security cameras, gun turrets and security doors to their advantage. They gain trinkets, which are divided into several tiers of rarity. Weapon trinkets improve a weapon's performance and handling, while character trinkets provide additional abilities such as allowing Colt to double jump, heal more quickly, or take less damage. Each weapon can be equipped with three weapon trinkets, while Colt can equip four trinkets.
Some Visionaries drop Slabs, mysterious tablets that grant the user special powers, when they are killed. Players can wield two of five Slabs at once. "Shift" allows Colt to teleport short distances; "Aether" briefly turns him invisible; "Nexus" links together enemies together so damage dealt to one enemy will be inflicted to all who are linked; "Havoc" significantly increases Colt's damage output while boosting his defense; and "Karnesis" enables Colt to lift and slam enemies on the ground. The "Goldenloop" update introduces a new ability named "Fugue", which allows Colt to slow and disorient targeted enemies. Slabs can be further upgraded for up-to four times by killing the Visionary who drops it in subsequent loops. Colt has an ability named "Reprise" that allows him to be revived twice in each location. If the player is killed three times in the same location, the loop will restart and Colt loses all of his weapons, trinkets, and slabs. To prevent this, Colt can infuse his gear with a resource named "Residuum" so they become permanent in his arsenal. Residuum can be collected by killing Visionaries and through caches that are found in each location. Collected Residuum cannot be carried over to the next loop. All gathered Residuum is dropped upon Colt's death, though players can recover them if they reach the location of Colt's most-recent death.
Synopsis Setting Deathloop is set on the subarctic isle of Blackreef that is trapped in a continuous time loop that makes the island and its inhabitants repeat a single day. Originally home to a quiet fishing village, a military base was eventually established to research the mysterious temporal anomalies that began appearing on Blackreef. Decades later, reclusive scientist Egor Serling intended to harness these unusual properties as a means of gaining immortality. He recruited eight other eccentric individuals, collectively known as the "Visionaries", to found the AEON Program, with the goal of using the infinite time loop to pursue their own unusual interests, with scores of fanatical followers known as "Eternalists" under their influence. Because the loop continuously resets at midnight and restores everything to its prior state (even reversing death), most of the island's inhabitants have given Blackreef a debaucherous, and often violent, party-like atmosphere, as there are no permanent consequences for any action as long as the loop continues.
While most inhabitants retain no memory of the prior loops' events, two individuals have proven to be an exception: Colt Vahn, who seeks to use his acquired knowledge (and mistakes) across multiple repeated days to break the loop and escape the island, while Julianna Blake aims to prevent him from doing so, even if that means killing Colt. Every morning, Julianna warns the entire island about Colt's betrayal, turning everyone hostile towards him. In order to break the loop, Colt must gradually learn how to kill all of the Visionaries in a single day, as they each harness the interdimensional energy that causes the loop. This energy has also granted them superhuman abilities, harnessed through mysterious artifacts known as "Slabs", which Colt is able to acquire and upgrade with each Visionary's death.
While exploring the various regions of Blackreef at different times of day, Colt is also able to learn about the island's long and enigmatic history, evidenced by the different architectural and design motifs. The island's humble origins are displayed through weathered Victorian-esque structures, contrasted by the stark minimalism of the later military installations, and ultimately the late 1960s-inspired Mid-century Modern aesthetics imposed on the island by the followers of the AEON Program. The game director, Dinga Bakaba, also confirmed in interviews that Deathloop exists in the same universe as the Dishonored series, with Deathloop taking place at least a century after the events of Dishonored.
Plot Colt Vahn wakes up from a dream in which an unknown woman murders him, hungover on a beach with no memories of his identity or location. He receives guidance from alternate versions of himself, instructing him to break the time loop in which he is trapped. To do this, he must kill all eight Visionaries before the time loop resets itself at the end of the day. Julianna Blake warns the Visionaries and their followers, the Eternalists, of Colt's plan, prompting them to hunt him down. He finds that, unlike the other inhabitants of the island, he and Julianna can retain their memories (and later, small objects) across loops.