DEATHLOOP by Arkane Lyon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXv5IDp8y74

https://bethesda.net/en/game/deathloop

Who would have thought that, in terms of game themes, that “endlessly repeating time loop” would become the new zombies?

Anyway, Arkane so I’m in (as long as it has cool non-linear levels a la Dishonored.)

I feel like the whole idea of “endlessly repeating time loop” is simply what most video games are about? E.g. this idea that you keep facing a challenge and dying over and over again until you find a way to overcome the challenge is what video games have been doing for the last 50 years (barring roguelikes and other outliers). And the idea percolated into the movies, and now the idea is percolating… back into video games? Anyway stylish trailer and it sort of centers what video games have been doing since forever, but from a functional standpoint it seems like it’s just two people in an online shooter fighting rematch after rematch.

Nope. Zombies are still boring.

Cool graphic style, though. The 2D stuff, I mean.

The Lyon studio’s hiring a monetization designer and a live services producer, and since Youngblood’s ships next month I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume it’s for Deathloop.

Oh, perfect. I got my degree in monetization design!

My thesis is illegal in 16 countries.

The gameplay trailer

seemed like a mix of Dishonored gameplay (assassin with 8 targets, blink power, stealth, action) + more FPS than Dishonored + possibly Prey Mooncrash structure?

If you haven’t played it, Prey Mooncrash was a very interesting DLC with a roguelite structure, where you die time again and again but eventually can beat the game. I was wondering if the DLC was a small experiment to see if the formula worked and now they are going to expand it with this.

Of course, another alternative is that they finally are doing their Crossing game idea, of mixing single and multiplayer and the other assassin is another human.

I liked what I saw, day 1 for me.

Maybe Deathloop will be the studio’s realization of their cancelled Crossing project, which aimed to be a seamless hybrid of singleplayer and multiplayer:

But the island’s inhabitants aren’t the only obstacles in your path. Deathloop is Arkane Lyon’s innovative take on an immersive multiplayer experience; a story-driven first-person shooter where your main antagonist might be another player. You’ll experience Deathloop’s main story as Colt, hunting down targets across the island as you try to break the loop. 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. (The multiplayer invasion element is completely optional, so you toggle it on or off as desired.)

For Game Director Dinga Bakaba, Arkane’s goal is to blur the line between single- and multiplayer. “The focus is on the campaign and the story,” he says. “And that campaign can be played with Julianna controlled only by the AI, or – and this is our recommendation – by a mix of A.I. and random players to experience the range of unpredictability and chaos that Julianna is capable of.”

If the “invasion” style MP stuff isn’t optional, then I’m out.

So it’s Dark Souls invasions, basically?

Well, the quote above says “the campaign can be played with Julianna controlled only by the AI”, so I certainly hope it is optional.

Arkane, I love you, but take your recommendation about allowing other players to invade and go fuck a goat.

To me, this is basically an expanded version of Prey’s Mooncrash dlc, where you attempt multiple runs, usually dying and restarting the simulation over while permanently unlocking new abilities as a means of progress, before ultimately escaping.

The only way to kill the loop is to wipe out all eight targets before midnight. You’ve gotta think beyond linear time, using each night to route paths, scout encounters and engage in some good ol’ fashioned trial and error.

Ultimately, you’ll figure out how to nail that idealised perfect run – assuming a stray shot doesn’t strike between your eyes.

I like the idea… Outer Wilds with more dakka!

Oh wow. I hadn’t even realized that this is a PS5 console exclusive. Sony hitting Bethesda with those moneyhats I guess.

Listed as a timed console exclusive. So maybe it will come to Xbox in 6 months? A year?

A bit more of confirmation in the DNA of Prey Mooncrash is in there

Delayed to Q2 2021.

Apropos of nothing, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition has also been delayed until 2021.