Deathloopis the new stealth shooter in the works at Arkane Studios, developer of theDishonoredseries. Many of the mechanics revealed in the trailers shown so far, from the gunplay to teleportation, are reminiscent of the first twoDishonoredgames, though the upcoming game will also contain multiplayer aspects.
Deathloophas the potential to be an incredible immersive experience, especially considering its multiplayer aspects, which in most games require a greater suspension of disbelief than their single-player counterparts. The premise ofDeathloopcontains one key aspect which could really help players get into the head of the protagonist, Colt.
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Deathloop’s Suspension of Disbelief
Deathlooptakes place in a time loop. One of the main characters, Colt, is trying to break out of the time loop, while his rival is trying to maintain it. One of the most interesting things this dynamic changes, however, is that it makes every death and restart in the game canonical, something rarely seen outside ofgaming’s most meta moments.
If a player puts 100 hours intoDeathloop, there’s no reason that those 100 hours wouldn’t be experienced by the player character in exactly the same way, failures and all. Indeed, unlikeDishonored, the way the player learns from trial and error is directly paralleled by the player character in the story, who is also failing and literally dying before getting a chance to come back and try again.
Not only that, but this allows the violence of an assassination game to have far fewer implications for the story – after all, everyone comes back when the loop resets.Deathloopappears to permit violence in a wayDishonored’s Chaos systemdid not, which not only has the potential to make the game far more exciting and satisfying but also helps avoid one dissonance which has plagued many a video game protagonist in the past.
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Violence, Fun, and Narrative Immersion
The extreme violence committed by otherwise sympathetic video game characters likeBioShock Infinite’s Booker DeWittis rarely supposed to factor into the player’s view of them. After all, it’s a video game, and the fact that these characters are essentially mass killers can be hand-waved as a necessary part of gameplay.
When Colt kills, however, the resetting of the loop brings back everyone, making it far less of a question of morality. This could allow players to sympathize with Colt more while also getting to engage in quick-paced, satisfying, and at times extremely violent combat without that undermining the character. The loop also helps explain Colt’s extreme skill and precision in a way that is rarely explained for other video game protagonists likeFar Cry 3’s Jason Brody, who seemingly transforms from a spoiled rich kid to a highly trained killer almost instantaneously once the player takes control and gets a gun in their hands.
Many of the details aboutDeathloop’s time loopstory and the way it will attempt to merge singleplayer and multiplayer aspects have yet to be revealed. However, if the story is the main backbone ofDeathloop, it could be one which asks players to suspend their disbelief far less than other titles, and could be a uniquely immersive experience as a result.
Simply put, the mechanics ofDeathloop’s world align with video game mechanics, and could directly incentivize some of a shooter’s most fun features without putting strain on the story as a result. Only time will tell how wellArkane Studiosis able to pull this off in practice, but for now,Deathloop’s premise gives it the potential to be an extremely immersive experience where its mechanics directly complement the story instead of having to be ignored for the story’s sake.
Deathloopis set to release on June 06, 2025, for PC and PS5.
