Deathloop Guest Review by Akshay Bhatia – Carnage & Death on Repeat

Personally, being a huge fan of Arkane Studios, I couldn’t wait to deep dive into the world of Deathloop and immerse myself into the chaos of this unique looper shooter.

The story takes place on a district called Blackreef. Our protagonist Colt wakes up on a beach with no memory of time but quickly realises that the island is experiencing a repeat in cycle where the same actions are taking place each day. Only Colt seems to remember this apart from another character named Julianna a mystery woman whom you meet very early on in the game. It is accomplished straight away that the two have done this before. These two characters are really the heart of the game, and their random interactions and banter creates a solid narrative experience for the rest of the game.

Without giving too much away, Colt wants to shut the loop down by assassinating all of Blackreef’s eight leaders in one day; Julianna wants to stop him, but there is a lot more to discover in this frantic world of Deathloop than one might initially perceive.

Just like previous Arkane titles there are special abilities in the game called Slabs that help you to create new gameplay opportunities.

It is important to know that you can only select up to 2 of these special abilities at one time. Now this creates an interesting dilemma for players as you will have to choose the way you want to approach the 4 major locations that are available in the game.

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Along with special abilities there are a decent number of weapons that can be found throughout the game as you kill certain key targets known as Visionaries. Colt can carry up to 3 weapons at once, so choose carefully as your loadout will definitely influence your play style. As an action/stealth game Deathloop absolutely nails the combat in every way as you would expect from an Arkane studios game.

Let’s talk about the world in Deathloop because Arkane has been known to craft and design immersive and unique levels in past. There are 4 major levels that you will be exploring, and each day has four periods: morning, noon, afternoon, and night. Now I know what you might be thinking… this can feel repetitive, but it doesn’t because visiting these places in different times of the day feels unique as some missions can only be completed or unlocked during a specific time of the day. This is where Deathloop shines because I always ended up discovering something different between each cycle.

Let’s be honest, this game has been polarizing. Some people absolutely love it, and some felt underwhelmed with Arkane Studios latest installment. Personally, I don’t think this game is perfect but as an overall package I found it to be compelling with the 30+ hours that I spent exploring the world until the credits rolled. With the game releasing on GamePass, it is time to create your own judgment because you never know; you might also fall in love with the loop.