It’s almost here – Deathloop comes to PS5 later this year.
The stylish, action-packed PlayStation exclusive from Arkane Studios is one of the most highly anticipated PS5 originals. Introducing time-bending gameplay and a smooth, bond-like atmosphere, Deathloop will be available from September 14, 2021.
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Deathloop introduces Colt – a suave assassin who’s stuck in a time loop. He awakes on the beach of the island Blackreef and must kill 8 elusive targets in order to break out of the loop.
Think Groundhog Day meets Dishonoured.
“You can really go crazy, go loud, go silent, explore as much as you want or be as fast as you want, but without missing out on the content,” game director Dinga Bakaba told VG247.
“So, there is something that furthers the Dishonored paradigm to an extent, in terms of gameplay.”
Eliminate eight targets within 24 hours and Colt will go free. Sounds simple enough, right? But with a rival assassin going to great lengths to stop him, it’s not quite so simple.
Here’s everything we know about Deathloop so far:
Deathloop release date, platforms and price
It’s not long now – Deathloop officially launches on September 14, 2021.
Available exclusively on PS5 and PC, Deathloop is available to pre-order now, with five different versions available.
Deathloop Standard Edition costs £59.99 for the PS5 and £49.99 on PC.
Deathloop Deluxe Edition costs £79.99 on PS5 and £69.99 on PC and includes:
- Base game
- Original Deathloop soundtrack selection
- Two in-game ‘trinkets’
- Sharpshooter Julianna + .44 Karat Fourpounder Skins
- Party Crasher Colt + Eat The Rich Tribunal Skins
If you pre-order Deathloop you’ll also get the Storm Rider Colt skin as well as one additional trinket.
Deathloop official trailer
A recent trailer unveiled in March 2021 gives us a great rundown of exactly what Deathloop is all about.
“Deathloop is a murder puzzle where you plan an assassin trapped in a time loop,” explains game director Dinga Bakaba.
“To escape, you have to kill eight targets before the day resets. The targets, however, aren’t a big fan of this plan, so they’ve ordered everyone on the island to shoot you on site.”
The trailer highlights some impressive gun play, not to mention the added twist of killing your way through a time loop.
Deathloop gameplay revealed
Although Deathloop exists within a time loop, you’re notably not on a timer. This means that players are free to explore the island of Blackreef at their own pace.
But you have kill your 8 targets within 24 hours to escape.
“You can tackle any area of Blackreef at any time as you pick up clues and learn more about your targets,” explains Bethesda. “The districts are open, like what you might remember from Dishonored, but unlike Dishonored they aren’t tied to levels and can be openly explored whenever you want.”
That’s not the only element of gameplay that’s been borrowed from Dishonored…
Deathloop includes Dishonored-style skills
That’s right – Deathloop may be a brand new franchise for the folks at Arkane, but they’ve borrowed some of the more interesting gameplay elements from the Dishonored games.
“As much as we wanted to do something very original with this game, we also wanted some familiarity,” said Bakaba. “I think it’s something that will make players feel right at home.”
Here’s which Deathloop abilities we’ve seen so far:
- Kinesis: Grapple with enemies and throw them around with ease.
- Blink: Teleports the player a short distance – useful to close gaps, make impossible jumps and scale buildings.
- Domino: Line up your enemies and knock them down – Domino allows you to connect enemies to be knocked out or killed in quick succession.
It looks as though you won’t have access to all of these abilities straight away, with the most powerful ones bound to ‘slabs’ – items held by the elusive targets that you have to kill.
Deathloop’s targets – who are they?
You’ll need to learn everything about your targets if you’re going to take them down.
Known as Visionaries, these are your eight elusive targets.
Luckily for you, existing in a time loop means you’ve got plenty of time to watch their routines and work out what they’re going to do next. And it’s going to take a good bit of planning if you’re going to pull it off.
Here’s what we know about them so far:
- Egor Serling: A self-proclaimed pseudoscientist, Egor craves legitimacy. He wants to be left alone but also wants to be seen as a genius. “He also wants to be adored and invited to parties. And when neither of those things happen… Egor turns violent.”
- Aleksis ‘The Wolf’ Dorsey: Aleksis is obsessed with wolves and believes he’s earned the title of ‘Alpha’ among his peers. You’ll find him throwing a wolf-themed party every single night, so bring a mask.
- Ramblin’ Frank Spicer: Radio DJ Frank Spicer is holed up in a heavily-guarded radio studio. You might want to pack some extra firepower for this one.
- Julianna Blake: Unlike the others, Julianna is a special case. Devoted to bringing down Cole no matter what, Julianna will hunt him across the island. Making matters worse, she can look like any NPC on the island. Killing her won’t be easy.
Of course, Julianna is the most troublesome of these Visionaries so far.
And things get even more complicated when it comes to this rival assassin…
Deathloop will include multiplayer… and it’s pretty cool
If you thought Deathloop was just a solo game, think again.
Deathloop allows other players to jump into your game, directly messing with your efforts to take out the Visionaries. That’s right – you’ll take the role of Julianna, hell-bent on taking out Cole before he can get to his targets.
If you prefer, you can switch online play off – meaning that Julianna will be controlled by AI instead. But it’s this kind of feature that makes Deathloop a much more unique experience.
Deathloop features a vast armoury of weapons
Colt is an assassin, so of course he has access to a huge arsenal of weapons.
Here are the weapons we’ve seen so far:
- Machete: A slashing weapon which can be used as a sneak attack.
- PT-6 Spiker: A precision rifle for a more long-distance approach.
- Rapier Single-Barrel Shotgun: A bit of range but more of an up-close and personal touch.
- Strelak 50-50: Not for the stealthy, this machine gun packs a mean (and rather loud) punch.
- Heritage Gun: A rifle which uses explosive ammunition.
- Limp-10: A standard SMG – light, nimble and quick.
- Sepulchra Breteira: Another long-distance option for sniping your enemies.
- Tribunal: A pretty unique-looking pistol.
- Vopat Trencher: Another shotgun for close-range fun.
- The Fourpounder: A pretty hefty pistol which can be dual-wielded.
Will Deathloop be coming to Xbox Series X/S?
At the moment, that looks unlikely. Deathloop will remain a PS5 console exclusive, but Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda certainly complicates things.
Now, Deathloop will also be heading to PC. And this likely means that future DLC and updates will be rolled out across both PS5 and PC, too.
Could Deathloop launch day one on Game Pass? It’s certainly a possibility – but it won’t be playable on Xbox Series X/S and would likely only be available on PC.
The post ‘Deathloop’ release date, trailers, gameplay and everything we know appeared first on NME.
