Everything you need to know about Arkane’s Deathloop

Die, die, and die again.

It’s not Dishonored 3 or Prey 2, but a new IP is always welcome. On Bethesda’s stage at E3 2019, Arkane Studios introduced Deathloop to the world. It looks awesome and trippy in all the right ways, and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.

What is Deathloop?

Deathloop is a new IP developed by Arkane Studios. According to the studio, it will be a 1st-person action game that follows two assassins on an island who are hunting each other down. As the name suggests, our two characters appear to be stuck in a time loop, much like the movie Edge of Tomorrow — or Live. Die. Repeat., as the film was retroactively named.

Deathloop Developed by Arkane Studios

If you’re unfamiliar with the name Arkane Studios, you may be familiar with their work. Arkane created the action/stealth series Dishonored and successfully rebooted Prey a couple of years ago. The type of games that Arkane ends up creating are many times labelled as immersive sims. These tend to focus on interactive and reactive environments to create emergent gameplay situations that even the developer may not have originally intended.

Deathloop Gameplay

Going by what we’ve seen from the trailer, Deathloop should feature gun-based combat along with special powers like those seen in the Dishonored universe. A couple of points in the trailer showcase powers like a Force push ability in Star Wars and another like the transversal ability Blink seen in Dishonored. The game touts “meticulously designed levels” that players can explore that will allow you to approach missions in a variety of ways. This is the exact philosophy that Dishonored and Prey took, so at the very least you can expect non-linear levels if it isn’t entirely open world.

Deathloop Story and characters

The trailer gave us a good idea of what the Deathloop is about, but Arkane’s official description details the premise even further.

Deathloop transports players to the lawless island of Blackreef in an eternal struggle between two extraordinary assassins. Explore stunning environments and meticulously designed levels in an immersive gameplay experience that lets you approach every situation any way you like. Hunt down targets all over the island in an effort to put an end to the cycle once and for all, and remember, if at first you don’t succeed… die, die again.

These two assassins are Colt and Julianna, according to the credits in the trailer. Colt apparently wants to break the time loop cycle, while Julianna wants to protect it. Her reasons for this are unknown, nor do we know what caused the time loop to begin with. The only way they believe they can fulfill their goals is by killing the other person.

Deathloop Is it multiplayer or single-player

Arkane’s recent games have traditionally been single-player only, but the studio has not stated if Deathloop will have a multiplayer component to it of any kind. The premise lends itself to a two-player multiplayer system where one character hunts the other, but it’s also possible that it is completely single-player and you will control both characters at some point throughout the campaign.

And it should be noted that Arkane was once working on a multiplayer title over ten years ago called The Crossing, which was subsequently cancelled before it ever released. The Crossing would have attempted to blend single-player and multiplayer together. Arkane’s lead designer Ricardo Bare stated previously that the studio had hoped to utilize the design belief and technology behind The Crossing’s multiplayer into future games.

Until we know more, it’s unclear what type of game Deathloop will be.

Deathloop When can I play it?

Here’s the disappointing part. As cool as the game looks, we don’t actually know when we’ll get to play it and you can’t pre-order it yet. Arkane did not reveal a release date or even release window. We don’t even know what systems it will be available for. Considering the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are right around the corner, it makes sense that it will come to next-generation platforms.

Get More PlayStation

Sony PlayStation

Playstation 4 Pro From $400 at Amazon
Playstation 4 Slim From $300 at Amazon

• PlayStation 4: Everything You Need to Know
• PlayStation 4 Slim vs. PlayStation 4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• Best keyboards for PlayStation 4 in 2019
• Best PlayStation 4 Games