WITWI - Deathloop: Play, Die, Repeat. Emphasis on Repeat | ULTRAWIDE Impressions |
1Deathloop is a nicely composed and put together game that sadly falls short in the amount of content it has to offer. Doing the same thing for 10 hours does not quite constitute as content but rather unpleasant filler.
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36307721-Healthy-Criticism/?appid=1240440
*Apologies for the horrid video quality, my Vegas pro decided to take a shit on me. I am switching to DaVinci Resolve after this video.*
+ Gameplay flow
+ Optimisation
+ Voice acting
+ Level design
+ Gunplay
+ Weapon variety
- Repetition
- Level size
- Level quantity
- Stupid AI
The concept that Deathloop tries to tackle is certainly a unique one and a very interesting one at that. It fails to execute it in a way that is not boring and repetitive after the 7th time you have to play a level, wishing you were done the first 3 times.
The setting is simple. Somehow, somewhere, something went wrong and from chief of security you are now tasked to ending the loop. The loop is a phenomenon that causes you to relive a certain day each time you die, or each time the day cycle completes. In order to escape this groundhogs day, you must kill 8 other visionaries. Visionaries are kind of like bosses. Once you kill them all in one day, you beat the game and you unlock the second part of the game.
In the second part of the game you play as one of the visionaries, trying to protect the loop instead of breaking it. You achieve this by inserting yourself in another player's loop if they are on multiplayer mode and you try to kill them. I disagree with having that mode locked until you beat the game because many people, including myself, will get turned off at the repetitive nature of the game, resulting in potentially never actually beating the game. Thus, keeping part of the game locked behind a wall that might never be breached.
Up until you get to a certain point in the game, once you die you lose all your gear. Eventually you will be able to collect residuum, a special kind of currency that is used to save weapons, trinkets, attachments and abilities, and you will be able to use them on your next round. Each time you die you can respawn up to 2 times in the same mission and either escape or try to complete it. If you die at the hands of Juliana however, then it is game over. You are forced to start your day over.
The game has one key characteristic that I personally find annoying, but others might find it interesting. You must figure out how to kill 2 visionaries at once, without being there to kill one of them. There are 4 stages, 4 times of the day but 8 visionaries total. You must kill all of them at once. The issue is that rarely, if ever, (my recollection deceives me) will you be able to find 2 visionaries at one place at the same time. Thus, you must figure out by exploring clues, how to set their demise up and achieve it without you being there. This means that you will go through A LOT of trial and error, which is unfortunately in the form of replaying the same game over and over again. I do not have the luxury of time to do such a thing.
The level design is interestingly put together and constructed in an interesting manner. The level size however is not up to par with how many times you have to replay them. Especially considering there are only 4 different stages to play through.
Overall, deathloop tries to tackle a fresh idea that is interesting on paper, but ultimately falls short in the repetitive loop the players find themselves in. For more, consider subscribing. Let me know what your thoughts are.