Arkane Studios' upcoming game Deathloop will trap players in an explosive timeloop, with the same gruesomely violent day constantly repeating. Players will take the role of Colt "The Captain," a man who seeks to escape the tropical island of Blackreef by putting an end to its fantastical timeloop. However, upon dying or failing to take out all eight targets, the loop is reset, a mechanic that calls back the the developer's Prey: Mooncrash, which tasked players with repeatedly escaping from a lunar base. Dying or failing to evacuate all five playable characters would result in the game resetting, but players could retain their knowledge of the base and unlocked abilities in order to preserve progression.
While Deathloop's timeloop mechanic harkens back to Mooncrash, the upcoming release arguably looks even more similar to Arkane's Dishonored series. While Dishonored's Victorian steampunk setting differs greatly from Deathloop's Art Deco island of Blackreef, mechanically the games look quite similar. Here's how Deathloop may borrow, or even improve upon, ideas from Dishonored.
While Deathloop will feature in-depth first-person shooter mechanics (a first for an Arkane release), there are also many apparent similarities to Dishonored. Stealth mechanics, close-combat fighting and even specific moves like drop assassinations have been carried over into Deathloop. The game will also feature several supernatural powers, many of which appear extremely similar to powers from Dishonored. A short-range teleport, telekinesis, the ability to steal an NPC's appearance and the power to link multiple enemies before eliminating them all at once come from various Dishonored installments.
The focus on the assassination of key targets also links both titles, as players are tasked with hunting down their enemies and eliminating them in any way possible. Learning targets' locations and behaviors can aid players greatly, as Deathloop's targets can be manipulated into becoming more accessible to Colt, while Dishonored's targets can be non-lethally eliminated. The colorful collection of assassination targets adds flavor to both titles, as certain locations are designed to reflect certain targets' personalities.
While it may seem like Deathloop is simply taking ideas from Dishonored, the timeloop and shooting mechanics will allow players to potentially use these in completely new ways. Combining a teleportation move with a close-range firearm may create incredibly fast-paced shootouts, while linking enemies can provide a leg up against an overwhelming group of foes. Deathloop's lack of a morality system, which held many Dishonored players back, also ensures that every player can utilize the full extend of Colt's arsenal at any given moment.
The loop mechanic is a huge selling point for Deathloop, and it has the potential to change Dishonored-style gameplay for the better. The lack of a quick save and load feature, which is traditionally used as a safety net in these kinds of games, means that player choices will have more impactful consequences. Running head-first into enemy territory in Dishonored is typically preceded by a quick save, and if it doesn't work, then a simple quick load fixes the problem. In Deathloop, meanwhile, a lack of caution could result in a death, which resets the loop and erases hours of player progress.
Deathloop's time loop mechanic will also allow players to become intimately familiar with their targets (and the island of Blackreef) in a way that they never could with the Dishonored games. While those titles did take place in fantastic settings -- the dreary city of Dunwall in the first game and the coastal paradise of Karnaca in the sequel -- the games themselves are linear. That means that players progress from one area to the next as they pursue their targets, and once a target is dealt with, the player never returns to that area.
In Deathloop, players will be making repeated trips through the same areas of Blackreef, slowly gaining familiarity with the island as they play. This means that the location will likely grow to feel more like a real location rather than simply levels in a video game. While exploring the same locations over and over may sound repetitive compared to Dishonored's constant progression, Deathloop's different times of day will ensure that each individual section of the world may appear wildly different from one run to the next.
The time loop will also give players the opportunity to grow more familiar with their targets and approach them in a variety of ways. Obviously Dishonored's targets stay dead (or non-lethally eliminated) once the player has dealt with them. This means that player will only experience one infiltration plan, method of attack and escape route unless they replay the entire game. In Deathloop, players will take out each target multiple times, gaining more knowledge and power each time. This means even a first playthrough will provide a huge variety in terms of how targets are dealt with.
Arkane Studios has a well-deserved reputation for providing unique experiences with each release, while also maintaining core values in each new game. Deathloop may appear to be a mash-up of Dishonored and Prey: Mooncrash, but the first-person shooter may turn out to be greater than the sum of its parts. With the Dishonored series seemingly on hiatus, Arkane's intense assassination puzzle looks to be the perfect successor to the supernatural sneaking saga.
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