Deathloop

Arkane knocked it out of the park with this one. The writing and the characters and the style and the gameplay!!!!! It's so good!!!!

I've loved Arkane's games since I was young. Dishonored blew my mind, Dishonored 2 I thought was not only a masterpiece but the studio's magnum opus, death of the outsider was a fitting and fantastic end to that series, and Prey is one of the best survival horror games ever made. I didn't believe they could rip those four games... Deathloop is the crown jewel of their library of games. It is their magnum opus. Let me highlight the positives for you all.

• Style, style, style. This game has style. Infant I don't know if I've ever played a triple A game that relies so heavily on artistic and stylistically cool storytelling as this game. It feels like an Indy but it's not.

• gameplay is "chefs kiss." If you thought dishonored played well, imagine that gameplay but with guns from a 70's setting. It feels so good, and if you learn the mechanics, powers, and abilities you can do some insane tricks.

• story and storytelling. I can't praise this enough. The story from a character perspective to the unique structure is brilliant. It is a feat of game design that they could structure a game like this and maintain a consistent high quality story. There are plenty of twists and turns and the way it all comes together is really beautiful. I also love Colt, Juliana, and the way it ends. Also a time travel story really fits the genre of rogue likes (which is what this game is).

• setting - the setting is golden. A island called black reef in the 70's that is stuck in a ground hog day style time loop. This game seems like it's inspired by 70's James Bond, Groundhog Day, and Tenet. It just works!

My only complaint isn't even a complaint and that is that the first bit of the game is jarring, there is a lot to learn. But the game does a great job of teaching you (great game design again). If you're willing to learn a kinda hard and overwhelming game you will be treated with a masterpiece of gaming.

The gunplay is satisfying, the mechanics and physics are well-implemented, and the story is told uniquely. If you loved the dishonored series like I did and enjoyed playing any of those then you'll feel right at home here mechanically speaking it's fantastic fun especially on the PS5. I absolutely love the world design, the colors and settings. Whether you fall in love with it or not, it's hard for me to imagine anyone who has been gaming for years would regret taking this trip.

I'm so disappointed with Deathloop that I can't honestly find the right words. I recommend it on deep deep deeeeeeeeep sale. This game feels so cheap compared to other Arkane games, it's just sad. They had the loop gameplay from the Prey DLC and the powers from Dishonored and then they slapped the name "Deathloop" and BOOM! New game for you. If I have to praise one thing is the excellent voice acting from Jason E. Kelley and Ozioma Akagha, as well as the rest of the cast, and the excellent soundtrack which comes with an amazing end credits song.

I had fun, for sure, but that fun, after I got all 3 endings, came with an empty feeling. I just want to replay Dishonored again even though I finished it again 3 weeks ago!!!

Deathloop is a perfect demonstration of what can be achieved with a vocal protagonist. While it has a fun premise and solid gameplay, the running commentary by Colt (Jason E. Kelley) is what makes it for me. The game as a whole is severely elevated by its voice actors. I wish more studios would take this approach.

Aside from that, there are other merits to Deathloop, particularly when it comes to Arkane's map design. Throughout my run, I consistently discovered new things in each of the areas, and the open-ended nature of the maps (although not quite as good as the Dishonored games) gave me plenty of room to experiment with faster and faster routes to objectives.

The shooting mechanics also stood out as particularly good, something that is a bit shocking for a single-player narrative game. If the net code were better I think Deathloop would make for a solid multiplayer experience. As is, it makes the transition between playing Deathloop and competitive multiplayer FPSs far less jarring than games like Fallout or Bioshock.

My main criticism is that Deathloop stumbles slightly with its themes. The dichotomy between the two main characters is clear, but Colt's personal motivation for his role in that dichotomy gets fuzzy. As a result, an ending that could otherwise make a powerful philosophical statement ends up being emotionally resonant, but hollow.