Deathloop Review

Gunning Tall Circles to Death .

Read Time 11 minutes

“ ... A sandbox where your main objective is to not die and maybe break some loops ... ”

What if every day started the same way—same sunrise, same shoreline, same damn hangover, and every attempt to escape ended with a bullet in your head and no memory of how you got in such a mess? On top of that, add a bunch of merciless killers trying to murder you for god-knows-what-reason, and you have hell on earth that loops over and over again, crushing your foolish hopes to ever escape it.

That's the first taste Deathloop, a frenetic assassination sandbox, offers us as it forces you to fend for yourself with zero explanations provided. You're dropped in drunk on confusion, guided only by cryptic floating text, and immediately being hunted like a rat in a maze with seemingly no one on your side.

That's how life rolls in Blackreef—a frigid retrofuturistic island masquerading as a groovy playground built by a secretive group of mad scientists, artists, and hedonists chasing immortality through a temporal experiment gone wrong. But the fireworks and parties that set the night ablaze aren't all there is to it, as Blackreef is not only a lawless land, but a place where time rewinds itself endlessly with every sunrise due to an anomaly that prevents time from progressing further than a single day.

The result is a world where death has no weight, memories blur together, mistakes inevitably vanish each cycle, and consequences are naught but a myth... unless you're the man himself, Colt, also known by his alias The Captain. For him, the stacking effect of every death never fades, which is precisely why he wants to break the loop so badly, even if he has to give many of his infinite lives for it to happen. But whether that's the right thing to do, there's no way for us to know, and that's why it'll be important to tread carefully and gather as much intel as needed to avoid falling headfirst into even more trouble.

With that in mind, Deathloop leaves us with a single objective: a hit list of high-profile figures who collectively maintain the loop's integrity, and, to keep things spicy, there's even a stalker named Julianna who delights in messing with us at every opportunity and will do anything to keep us from reaching our goals. It's a deadly game of chess with rules you uncover as you go, where trial and error is essential to piece together a plan that will allow us to eliminate the eight 'visionaries' and somehow escape the inescapable.

However, as we know, the path to liberation isn't always so straightforward, and getting to the point where all the pieces are aligned won't be so easy. Suffice to say, Deathloop is more than a first-person shooter with a time gimmick slapped on top of it—it's a game that challenges you to stay focused, analyze the information you're given, and avoid going insane in the process, with even a hint of multiplayer chaos sprinkled in 'cause why not. If that doesn't sound as delightful as it gets, I don't know what to tell you!

Developer: Arkane Studios

Publisher: Bethesda

Release Date: September 14, 2021

Platforms: PS5, Xbox One X-S, PC

Genre: Action, Adventure, FPS

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Nowhere Else We Can Run but Forward: Infinite Lives, Infinite Tries .

After the dust begins to settle, we're left stranded on a beach in the middle of nowhere with a mouthful of sand and little more than a bunch of questions that no one seems eager to sit down and talk to us about like proper civilized people. That said, the early hours of Deathloop feel kind of like trying to solve a crossword puzzle with both of your hands tied behind your back. What I mean by that is there's no gentle onboarding—you're immediately tossed into a frenetic routine of exploring and getting blasted to the afterlife over and over again while trying to figure out where to go, what to do, and why every living soul on the island considers you as their mutual enemy.

What keeps things from devolving into a frustrating mess where you're the only clueless dude around is how the world compels you to make sense of its intricacies and figure out the clues that get you closer to your quest without having to babysit you for the show to roll. There's a genuine thrill in figuring out how the time mechanics work, how choices made in the morning ripple into outcomes in the evening, and how bits of information picked up in one location might connect to unlock a new lead somewhere else.

But, I have to say, once that sense of novelty begins to wear off, the game's clever 'déjà vu' hook starts to show its ugly side. What derails the whole thing is that, for all its talk, this is a very linear and rigid game despite the notion that playing with time gives you a universe of possibilities. And, to add salt to injury, the loop structure revolves around tons of backtracking, and, as such, it comes with a gigantic downside: terrible repetition. It's not a joke when I say that, with only four areas to explore, you'll be walking in circles most of the time, retracing your steps, and chasing clues that may or may not help you move forward. What felt like brilliant design during the first hours morphs into a massive bore by hour twenty, which, to me, was a massive let-down.

And while the narrative is designed to make up for this repetition through the cadence of small wins which sate our curiosity, the gameplay doesn't come close to evolving at the same pace. For instance, encounters aren't dynamic in the slightest and usually play out the exact same way, with the only difference being that you have a lot more knowledge and experience than before, and thus is able to overpower your targets with more ease each time.

As the target of a gigantic manhunt, it's best to avoid picking fights early on, at least until we're able to turn enemies into a fine red mist without worrying too much about ourselves.

There's no changing tactics from your enemies, no adaptive challenge that surprises you, no master plan that trips you at the finish line. Once you crack the code of the static patrol routes, discover a few hidden paths, and grab some trinkets that make Colt near-invincible, you're mostly set for the rest of the game, and the sense of urgency vanishes along with your worries about meeting your eventual demise. This issue is amplified by the fact that you're granted two extra lives per loop, allowing you to die and retry twice with little consequence, which further removes any urgency or tension from the picture.

Still, it's hard to deny how engaging the game feels until the point you realize you're pretty much chasing an invisible carrot on a stick. The writing is surprisingly witty, the UI is clean, the aesthetics are incredible from top to bottom, and the structure of quests conveys the idea that only players who are good at playing detective will be rewarded for their efforts. And when you manage to chain together key pieces of information across multiple timelines to solve a larger puzzle, it actually feels earned, not just handed to you on a silver platter.

However, another issue is that sometimes the level of hand-holding is inconsistent, as it hard-presses you to move in one specific direction at moments while there's times it leaves tracks vague to a fault. This uneven pacing can be annoying, especially when the game feels like it's solving itself for you, then suddenly it kind of leaves you stranded in a fog with no clear indication you're making a mistake or not. It doesn't ruin the experience, but it creates a sense that the game is being purposefully obtuse for loops to stretch longer than needed to waste as much of your time as possible.

Even though it leaves a lot to be desired in multiple aspects, Deathloop manages to carve out a distinct identity that's not just about doors locked with codes you won't find until you read online how to open them or notes that hint at plot points that will never go anywhere. It's about how you use time as a tool to manipulate events and find opportunities to twist the odds of coming out on top in your favor. Every time you learn something new, big or small, you feel you're closer to the promised big reward, which we interpret as explanations to every single one of our questions. But whether the payoff for enduring until the end makes the journey worthwhile is a topic for later.

Sometimes You Just Need More Bullets: When the Fool Claps Back .

If you went on a vacation and landed on a desolate island, only to find out everyone there wanted to bleed you dry, you'd probably do what Colt does—shoot back while adding whatever you can to your arsenal to improve your odds of survival. As stated before, that's the basic rhythm of Deathloop, a game that wraps its combat and exploration around a ticking clock and dares you to turn chaos into control while wishing "best of luck to you, and do your worst!" And, unsurprisingly, it works just to fuel our battle thirst even more.

To that end, early on you're given a handful of tools to get kickin'—a sharp machete for handling foes intimately, a scrappy SMG that gets the job done, and the hackamajig, a handy gadget that, despite the silly name, lets you sabotage turrets and sensors, turning them against your enemies or disabling them altogether. There's moments when all you need to do is whip out this device, aim at some antennas, and suddenly you can infiltrate the enemy lines completely unnoticed, and the best part is that you can do it all remotely, as long as you're within range for the signal to reach the device you're targeting.

As for the gunplay, I must say that while Deathloop doesn't do anything revolutionary, it absolutely succeeds in making the weapons we collect feel sufficiently distinct. Divided into classes, each one fulfills a specific niche—pistols and nail guns for cleanly getting rid of enemies, shotguns and SMGs for the carefree, and rifles for those who enjoy dropping targets with a single bullet. Still, it's worth noting that low-tier guns suck so much that they can even jam mid-fight, forcing you to hunt for upgrades at your earliest convenience, since better guns smooth out the 'kinks' and even come with special enchantments, like a lower bullet spread or the ability to drain enemy health, all of which are amazing for enhancing our offense.

But where the real tinkering happens is with trinkets, both personal and weapon-based modifiers that let you transform your loadout into tailor-made instruments of death. Some boost movement speed, defense, and health, while others grant double jumps, quicker reloads, or silence our footsteps, and when stacked, they can synergize to make Colt feel like a menace that goes from underpowered to borderline unstoppable. As is to be expected, better guns also have more trinket slots, giving you even more reason to hunt these fancier 'trophies' to optimize your loadout.

Deathloop dash skill snowy area holding gun

When you tire of slaying enemies the old-fashioned way, it's time to reignite the spark with a healthy dose of reality-bending trickery that works just like magic for a change of pace.

Speaking of enhancements, the game's bread and butter lies in its slabs, which are essentially mystic apparels that attach to our arm and grant us superpowers like teleportation, invisibility, telekinesis, and so on. They're held by the island's eight Visionaries, and once unlocked, these so-called slabs can be upgraded with highly useful perks by killing them again in another loop, which adds to the purpose of going back to give the slain another visit after you've already put them six feet under.

When used to their max potential, slabs let you warp past security systems, toss unsuspecting foes off a roof, and vanish without leaving a single trace behind. If ignored, you'll be missing out on some useful-to-have bonuses that are core to the experience, can aid you immensely mid-combat, and never stop being useful. You can mix and match up to two abilities at once, and the possibilites to strike enemies from odd angles are nearly endless when we can combine crowd control with brute force or stealth with mobility. This gives us just the right amount of flexibility to keep things interesting even after dozens of hours.

And, about the visionaries, the least I can say is that they aren't your run-of-the-mill bullet sponges. They're elite enemies armed to the teeth, and backed by a small army that will happily throw themselves at you like cannon fodder. Not to mention, their bases are usually death traps, layered with trip mines, laser cameras, auto-turrets, and narrow chokepoints that turn even a well-planned infiltration into a game of high-stakes whack-a-mole. But what makes them stand out isn't just the firepower at their fingertips, but rather how each Visionary demands a specific strategy to tackle, and uncovering the exact moment they let their guard down takes a lot of trigger discipline to avoid alerting half the map to your presence.

All that being said, just because you're packing a juiced-up shotgun or an extra-lethal pair of pistols along with the ability to go berserk, that doesn't mean bulldozing through waves of enemies is a smart idea. Fact is, although the game allows you to play however you want, sometimes key intel is harder to obtain as alarms blare and enemies descend like vultures to try and neutralize you. On the flip side, keeping a low profile tends to be more rewarding in first-runs than mindlessly charging in like a murder hobo only to be forced to try again, which is pretty much counterproductive despite sounding like the ideal tactic.

Meeting Our Prey While They Party: Here Comes the Show Stopper .

After finding our balance and carving our path through Blackreef, it's only natural to start asking the inevitable: “Alright, what's next? That's all there is to it?” The reality is, while surviving the first waves of mayhem is the biggest rush of adrenaline we'll ever get, Deathloop gives its best shot at avoiding falling into an endless pit of monotony. Beyond just shooting, stabbing, and sleuthing, there's an entire network of systems working backstage to keep each loop from feeling like an exact rerun, and they do deserve some form of recognition.

Firstly, it is the way Deathloop handles the time mechanics. As it happens, the passage of time isn't tied to a ticking clock you can race against or manipulate at will, and instead, each district advances naturally from morning to evening following each visit. However, it's worth noting that when inside a region, time won't progress any further until you're done exploring—this is a nice middle-ground that gives players the illusion of urgency without burdening them with a stopwatch that limits how much can be done at any given moment.

In that vein, what changes isn't just the lighting or enemy patrols, but the very behaviors and availability of characters, leading to vastly different opportunities depending on when you decide to show up. It's not a rigid system that demands strict punctuality but more like a four-act play performed daily across the island, never quite the same way twice. The enemies change positions, security measures might ramp up or loosen, and entire buildings might open or close randomly or based on seemingly small choices you made earlier in the day, nudging you to think ahead without punishing you for hanging around for long or overwhelming you with hard fail states.

Next up is the infusion system, which lets you permanently bind weapons, slabs, trinkets, and upgrades to Colt across loops by spending Residuum, a sort of sci-fi currency harvested from shiny environmental objects that you couldn't miss if you wanted. Without it, every death would result in a full reset, and, unlike most roguelikes, here you at least get a chance to protect some of the valuables you've collected, which I can sincerely appreciate. As it is, progression doesn't lean on skill trees or perks as usual, but rather it gives you exorbitant amounts of Residuum to ensure you can hoard all the gear you love without remorse. It's a system that respects player agency while making sure you never have to start again from zero after every single failure.

Deathloop gameplay shooting dual-wielding wallpaper

Even if there's no style points, presentation still matters when it comes to giving enemies the surprise of a lifetime, whether it's a gift of bullets or explosive fun with grenades.

On the subject of progression, I can affirm that Deathloop gives meaning to "knowledge is power". As stated before, every bit of information we obtain—from reading private journals, eavesdropping on conversations, or sneakily listening to audio notes—carries over between loops, making Colt feel like a true time traveler when we can use all of that to our advantage. Therefore, even failure isn't entirely worthless, because the real 'growth' comes from learning a new clue or two, not because you got through an area on your first try but didn't bother stopping to look around often enough to obtain anything useful out of the whole trip for it to be as productive as it could have been.

Now, if you're looking for some emotion, worry not, for the invasion mechanic exists purely to keep things exciting. These are the moments when we can get involved with the game's main antagonist, Julianna, also known as Colt's number one hater, and someone who can crash your party at any moment without a formal invitation. I'll be honest, the constant banter between them is pure gold, blending petty jabs, weary frustration, and weirdly affectionate rivalry into a love-hate relationship that's both funny and genuinely entertaining.

Whether controlled by AI or another player, her sudden appearances usually flip your entire schedule on its head, frequently turning well-planned routines into a total freak show. What could have felt like an annoying disruption is instead a tension amplifier—a smart way of keeping our momentum in check and feeding paranoia directly into the gameplay without resorting to cheap tricks. And because she's bound by the same limitations as the player, with access to similar gear and abilities, it keeps the playing field (mostly) fair, preventing it from feeling like an arbitrary punishment.

Together, these make for a reasonably fun gameplay loop that balances freedom with just enough structure to keep things from falling apart. Even though not every system is perfect, and repetition eventually creeps in, at the very least, Deathloop deserves credit for ensuring it's a problem we only have to deal with later down the road. All in all, I really can't deny how amazing the first couple of hours felt, and discovering everything the game had to offer was for sure incredibly exhilarating.

Final Thoughts: No Amount of Therapy Will Ever Get Us Over This .

There's a point in Deathloop where the sheen starts peeling off the surface, and it gets clear that the machine underneath, while shiny, isn't built to run forever. The thrill of the first few hours—chasing clues, outsmarting enemies, being stalked by a maniac—does eventually give way to too much 'familiarity,' and not in a way that feels great. What begins as a mad sprint through Blackreef slowly settles into a much more predictable routine, leaving the back half of the experience feeling a bit more "been there, done that" than it should.

Looking back, it's clear that the game had a strong foundation. The stage was set for something refreshingly different, and in some respects, they did deliver on their promises. I mean, how cool is it that time moves independently between districts, with different events playing out depending on when you arrive? How rare is it for a shooter to reward knowledge over brute force, letting you feel smart for remembering a password or connecting narrative breadcrumbs across loops? There's real ingenuity in how the mechanics feed into one another

However, the pacing starts to deteriorate fast by midgame and eventually shatters at the very end. The late-game payoff, particularly the ending, feels rushed and disappointingly thin compared to the buildup that precedes it. Everything that carried the early hours fades quickly, and when you finally reach the end, there's a strange emptiness to it all. So many unanswered questions, so little closure, and a hands-off finale that refuses to engage with the very mysteries it spent hours teasing. Without the satisfaction of a real payoff, it's hard to know what to take from the journey besides a sense of unfinished business and missed potential. What could have been something terrific turned out to be very shallow—an open-ended shrug disguised as a mic drop.

When it comes to the broader picture, fans of shooters with engaging mechanics will probably find a lot to love here, at least for a good while. But players who expect sustained momentum, evolving challenges, or a truly mind-blowing story might come away feeling like the game sold them on way more than it could ultimately deliver.

So, all in all, Deathloop is a stylish game with a fantastic premise that just doesn't stick the landing, despite its many good intentions. It's worth diving into if you're looking for something different and you're willing to overlook some repetition and a painfully underwhelming conclusion.

In any case, if you're looking for a game you can sink a couple of hours into, you'll probably still walk away satisfied. Just beware of turning off your brain because you might have to unleash at least some of your thinking ability, even if just to avoid getting stuck without any idea where to go or what to do next to progress.

The time loop mechanics create dynamic scenarios that evolve based on your actions and timing.

Stylish presentation with a sleek retro-futuristic art direction and killer soundtrack that oozes personality.

Various playstyles are supported, allowing players to play however they want without worrying about rigid constraints.

The gunplay is tight and precise, and controls are responsive, making every encounter feel mechanically on-point.

Frequent information dumps make it hard to keep track of everything without missing a few details along the way.

Repetitive game that starts strong but with just four areas in total to explore inevitably falter later on.

Underwhelming ending that leaves a lot of questions unanswered and offers little payoff for the buildup.

Limited enemy variety and the lack of curveball tactics makes the artificial intelligence feel limited and predictable.

Deathloop

A killer idea loaded with style and early momentum that sadly burns out before the finish line. There's fun to be had if you value experimentation and short-term thrills, but don't expect the mystery to unravel in a way that feels compelling or mind-blowing.