King Gaming Review
I've been a fan of Dishonored 2 and Prey since they were released, but I wasn't expecting much from Death Loop. That's why I'm so happy to say that this new title from Arkane Studios is both an excellent spinoff, and an excellent game in its own right. If you liked their previous titles then you'll probably enjoy Death Loop as well; if not then maybe give it a try anyway!
Death Loop's dark comedy, sadistic violence and unforgiving puzzles leave no question that it's a product of Dishonored developer Arkane Studios.
Death Loop is a narrative-driven puzzle game that features some of the most brutal and unforgiving puzzles you’ll ever find in this genre. It’s also one of the best games to come out in 2019 so far, thanks to its dark comedic tone and stellar storytelling.
The story follows protagonist Maxine, who wakes up in an abandoned hospital with no memories of how she got there or even what her name is. While trying to figure out why she’s trapped inside an endless loop of deaths, Maxine meets a strange man named Jack who claims he can help her escape from this hellish existence…if only she'll do one thing: kill him over and over again until they're both dead forever!
Where Dishonored's focus was on stealth and supernatural powers, Death Loop is all about deadly gunplay and moving through time.
Death Loop is a shooter. It doesn't have any supernatural powers or stealth mechanics. You're just going to be shooting at people. But whereas Dishonored was all about the stealth and supernatural powers, Death Loop is all about deadly gunplay and moving through time.
First off, let's talk about how you actually play the game. You'll select a mission from an overhead map of the city (much like in Dishonored 2), then drop into third-person perspective on one of your targets and proceed to murder them with guns or melee weapons as quickly as possible before being forced back outside again for another target or objective (the main mechanic). This makes it feel more like Doom than Dishonored in terms of action gameplay—though not necessarily in terms of pacing or exploration—and while there are some minor platforming elements they're not really necessary because everything else serves as filler until you get back into combat again, which makes it seem like Death Loop has less variety overall despite having quite a few different missions available at once compared with other games in this genre such as DOOM II (1993) or Wolfenstein: The New Order (2014).
It's an interesting design choice but it means that Death Loop is a more straightforward experience than its predecessor.
While Dishonored 2 was a non-linear game that gave you the freedom to explore, Death Loop is more linear. It's also more straightforward than Dishonored 2 and Prey, which had multiple endings and different ways of reaching them. This means that Death Loop has less replay value than these games because it doesn't have as much depth or variety in its story. The game's main story is still fun to play through but once you've finished it there's not much reason to return because there aren't any other paths for you to take.
It doesn't have the same replay value as Dishonored 2 or even Prey, but Death Loop's time-traveling concept and ultraviolent combat make for one hell of a ride the first time through.
Death Loop is a fun game with some new ideas, but it feels very much like an Arkane Studios game. The combat is incredibly satisfying, and it's great to see Arkane taking advantage of the time-travel feature to create a unique experience. However, it still doesn't have the same replay value as Dishonored 2 or even Prey (despite being in development for longer than either), which means that if you don't love Death Loop immediately you probably won't play it again.
But hey—if you're looking for something fresh from Arkane Studios after years of Dishonored and Prey clones, this one's worth checking out. It has all the hallmarks of an excellent stealth/action game: guns that feel good when fired; enemies who act intelligently; environments filled with ways to interact with them without being seen; and missions that make sense within the context of its world (and usually come together well).
The game doesn't bother you with item management or crafting for food or money — there aren't even any healing items to collect or use.
The game doesn’t bother you with item management or crafting for food or money — there aren't even any healing items to collect or use. The game is very much like a Dishonored game in this regard, but unlike Dishonored, it's not possible to carry more than one weapon at once. You're stuck with whatever you have equipped and can only switch them out at checkpoints.
The lack of depth and variety makes things go by fast, which may be good or bad depending on your tastes (for me, I prefer games that take longer).
In fact, it feels like if you died at all during the end of a mission, you'd be in danger of breaking your pattern and getting stuck in the loop.
You can't die during the middle of a mission, so if you're at risk of failing one of those missions, you can always just restart it.
You also have to save your progress every time you complete a mission. The game doesn't give players any indication that this is necessary until they get their first death loop, so if they don't know that saving their progress will prevent them from dying forever and ever, they'll just keep suffering through the same thing over and over again until they figure it out on their own (and then probably still never bother).
It's also worth noting that there are several bugs in the game related to saving: sometimes when I tried to save my data after completing a mission but before moving onto another one (which I thought was necessary), it would tell me that I couldn't because my file was too large; other times when I loaded up my saved data from earlier today and kept playing past where we left off before making an attempt at beating our record high score for number of loops completed without dying (which took place about five hours prior), everything seemed fine until suddenly everything wasn't anymore—we hadn’t touched anything else on our computer besides opening up Google Chrome once since then—and now all these new files had appeared in our Documents folder!
Death Loop is a fun game with some new ideas, but it feels very much like an Arkane Studios game.
Death Loop is a fun game with some new ideas, but it feels very much like an Arkane Studios game. That's not a bad thing, and it's also not really a good thing either.
If you've played Dishonored 2 or Prey, Death Loop might feel very familiar in terms of gameplay mechanics and style. This isn't necessarily bad—those games were both excellent in their own right—but don't play Death Loop expecting something wholly original and different from anything else out there.
Conclusion
Death Loop is a fun game with some new ideas, but it feels very much like an Arkane Studios game. The looping time mechanic is fun to play around with and you can get creative in how you solve problems, but the linear story progression doesn't lend itself well to multiple playthroughs. It's also worth noting that Death Loop has some technical issues that can negatively impact your experience and even make it unplayable at times (at least on consoles). I recommend checking out Prey instead if you're looking for something similar but more polished or just go back to playing Dishonored if you want something similar in the same universe