Deathloop was originally announced by Bethesda studio Arkane Lyon in 2019, but during Sony’s Future of Gaming event, we got to see actual gameplay. Based on the trailer, the timeloop-based game looks stylish as hell.
“You’re gonna have to take out the eight people responsible for maintaining the loop,” a post on the PlayStation blog reads. Here, Arkane affords the player with a ton of freedom, as you’ll be able to take on levels in any order you choose, at whatever pace you choose, selecting targets as you please. The idea is to learn more as you go, so you can eventually solve the puzzle of how to stop the time loop.
You can tell the game is manned by Arkane, too. Many of the protagonists’ powers are similar to what you’ll find in Dishonored, such as the teleporting Blink. There seem to be some good sneaky options for combat as well. The game appears to be focused on supernatural abilities and spooky environments. Many of the characters highlighted during the trailer have a cult-like vibe, with folks often wearing a fox mask to hide their faces — or other types of coverings.
While the game’s premise was not fully explained, the player-character will also have a rival assassin who will come after them (and possibly their prey?). This rival can be played by an actual person if you opt into the multiplayer, Sony says:
Meanwhile, another player might temporarily enter your story in the role of Julianna, a rival assassin with her own singular goal: Protect the loop by eliminating Colt. Of course, if you’re feeling particularly villainous, you can slip into the shoes of Julianna yourself, jumping into someone else’s Blackreef for a tense game of cat-and-mouse.
For a brief moment during the gameplay reveal, the UI also displayed some information that makes it seem like the game is built with speedrunning in mind.
Deathloop will be a timed exclusive on the PS5.
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/assets/3573363/playstation_plus.jpg)
PlayStation Plus
- $60
Prices taken at time of publishing.
A 12-month subscription to PlayStation Plus offers online play and free monthly games for PS4.
Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links. For more information, see our ethics policy.
