Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Sep 28, 2021

  First thing I have to say is that this is not a bad game, there are parts of it I really like, I had fun playing it, but I don't recommend getting this game at full price. There just isn't enough good content to justify it. Now at just short of 32 hours spent on the main story saying that there isn't enough content may seem odd, but the majority of the time is spent searching rooms for paper that will likely be a part of a puzzle that leads to an unsatisfying reward. There are solid concepts here but I feel the filler around it really let the whole thing down. The Good - The central concept is great. Replay a day over an over until you can maneuver everyone into the right places at the right times to kill them all. Kind of Hitman meets Groundhog Day. - The characters are good. The banter, overheard conversations, notes, and audio recordings do a good job of letting you get to know all the main cast and it's all done fairly well. - There is a good diversity of character build options. The different weapons, slabs, and trinkets let you play a lot of different ways and each feels pretty viable. Throughout my play through I did sneaky up close, long range sniper, damage sponge juggernaut, and dual wield run and gun and all were viable options, not once did I get killed the 3 times needed to loop me. The Bad - I enjoy exploration but the required deep search for each room to find paper you can interact with is annoying. I really wish it were easier to tell at a glance whether the white box you can see is something with important information or just a bit of set dressing. More of my time was spent searching empty rooms than anything else. It way too often brought the fun parts of the game to a screeching halt. I get that you want to break up the action a bit but it shouldn't take longer to find your rewards in a room than it took to get to the room. - The rewards rarely felt worth it. There are only 4 Gold weapons and Purple gear drops from common enemies like they are loot pinatas. The only other reward for doing stuff is story but the searching required to make sure you don't miss anything was as previously stated annoying. Once i decided i was going to go for the end I checked online to see if there was anything cool I had missed and I found i had already got everything unique. Sure there were still quest lines i didn't finish but when the reward is only some residuum that I hadn't needed for the past few loops or purple equipment that I already had multiples of i just felt no need to finish them out. - The rate of power accumulation needs to be slowed down and weapons need to be re-balanced. The first weapon I infused and got to bring with me on future loops was the best weapon in the game, an Epic LIMP-10 with the Suppressor perk. I don't know if it is unintended how good it was but it had perfect accuracy at any range, 1 shot any enemy with a head-shot at any range or 3 shot with body shots, and if you shot right behind an enemy's back it made no sound so they never looked at you, unless you were seen for other reasons you wouldn't alert anyone while you killed people. The only reason I stopped using it was it made the game too easy, and again it was the very first weapon I brought with me the first time I was able to bring weapons with me. I think I only ever had one weapon jam on me because i was just never without 3 purple weapons and I would typically only bring one with me when starting an area. I just went from nothing to full purple everything in 2 or 3 loops. I was near instantly at full power and rewards were more just about looking for unique things which there is a major lack of in this game. - No variation in enemies. Yes they have different weapons but each one is just, pop em in the head and down they go. Link them with Nexus and down goes a whole room with a single bullet. It just made it a bit repetitive as the game went on. - PVP invasions. I played with these turned off because it just doesn't feel worth it. Julianna has nothing to loose but if Colt dies, that is a full day of set up lost. If Colt wins all he gets is some useless currency and some gear that already explodes out of common enemies for no effort. In theory it adds tension to an otherwise fairly easy game but the risk reward just does not match. I tried playing as Julianna a few times and it just felt mean, and after only 2 invasions I'm already kitted out with all Purple and Gold gear, so that power accumulation bit extends here as well. TLDR - There is a lot of good here but the bad just brings it to a screeching halt too often for me to recommend. If you like scavenger hunts and hidden object games probably worth it at $30 - $40, otherwise you are probably better off with another game.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 1, 2021

  Deathloop is absolutely worth your time. Just, maybe on a sale. I think overall, the game is some good ole fashioned fun. But, there are enough caveats that I can't blindly recommend it. I enjoyed this game much more than I was expecting to, due to the discrepancies between reviews online. Deathloop is in no way a 10/10. lol. But, it is a solid 7.5. I would even go so far as to say that to me, it's an 8. There are plenty of interesting things going on in Black Reef. Mysteries that compelled me into a second playthrough. To seek out more of the oddities sprinkled about the island. The exploration and world building pulled me in to Black Reefs nihilistic state of mind. And, mixed with the fun combat, tight controls and lack of consequences, the gameplay loop flowed in a natural, messy way. So quickly, before I really start. I tried multiple ways to express the important bits about this game and, finally, landed on a pros and cons list. Not my usual style, but hopefully it gets the point across. This game is mixed.

  Pros

  -Interesting, mysterious world- There is a lot of world building going on in this game. Everywhere you go there are events to discover and manipulate, conversations on which to drop your eaves and many notes and audio logs to increase your knowledge of the loops inhabitants. I really enjoyed just exploring and uncovering secrets. -A good amount of variety in playstyle options with a large amount of trinkets to augment/refine your "build"- Be a master hacker. A non-stop force wielder. Go up close invisible melee stealth. Or, get some long range, 2 girls one nail stealth action. Dual wield full auto, health leeching smgs. Run around as a rabid (limb)hacker, chopping body parts like a passionate butcher. Or, you could just spend your day teleport kicking eternalists into walls and off cliffs. It's all visceral and cathartic. -Engaging cast of characters with a lot of notes/audio logs to build their personalities- They're engaging in the way that I was always excited to get more info on who the Visionaries were, outside of moving the story forward. -Great soundtrack -Fun to see how each area changes during the course of the day -Infusion mechanic- Cool rogue-like element that allows you to slowly build an arsenal that you keep through every loop. -Side quests worth completing for particular weapons and trinkets that you won't find elsewhere. -Game gives direction, but not too much- Yes, you have an objective marker that updates, but often you have to actually look around to find information, items or your targets. -Good options for HUD/immersion- I truly appreciate these options. The game can give all the pertinent information to you upfront. Selected weapons/powers, health/mana bars, discovered information, objective markers. Or, You can turn all that clutter off . . . Say you turn off the option to notify you of important discovered info. Well then, when you read a note or hear a conversation you actually have to pay attention to how you can best utilize this discovery. -Secrets that you actually have to find and solve without the use of the menu or objective markers. I only found a handful of these while I explored the island, but they require the use of an actual brain(or the internet).

  Cons

  -Plenty of unsolved or unsatisfying endings- It felt like a lot of questlines didn't have a satisfactory conclusion. Just a special trinket or weapon(which is fine). But, nothing really cool or bombastic. The campaign endings were all equally vapid. Also, why can most people here not remember the days going by? That was never explained and it bothered me. -The low number of powers, and creativity of the Slabs are disappointing- They can be used in interesting and engaging ways, but they are all rather uninspired. Basic. -Shift and double jump feel necessary for traversing the world, limiting power and trinket options- These two are by no means mandatory. You can finish the story and probably even solve most of the mysteries of Black Reef without them. The level design supports this. But, you will most likely feel hindered by their absence. This is especially egregious to your powers. Because having shift limits you to one slab. Shift should have been a dedicated Slab like Reprise is. But, this would add another button to an already crowded control scheme. -The best characters(Colt and Julianna)are underutilized/not fleshed out quite enough- This is particularly apparent with Julianna. As, even though you speak with her throughout the entire game, she has criminally little screen time. Their banter throughout the game is well done though and often funny. Lending much to their relationship. -Most of the story is told through indirect means- This point and the one above make the actual story, essentially non-existent. Honestly, damn near everything is left to notes and audio logs. -The main story is linear. Not many rogue-like elements- You can kill the main targets with a machete, a bullet or even a swift quick in the butt. There is one path to breaking the loop though. All the npcs have the same scripts during each time period. Everything is static. Makes it easy to learn each area and time, but probably leaves less room for emergent gameplay. -Dumb AI/easy combat- Self-explanatory. But, the enemies you kill DO leave something behind, signaling to other npcs that someone has died. They are still dumb about it of course.

  Some other things to consider.

  -The Julianna invasions are a cool foible that add a tense game of cat and mouse into what is a generally easy game. You have the options to play with an AI invader, randoms online or just people on your friends list. Because of my poor connection though, I was forced into playing with the computer driven assassin. Which greatly lessened the intensity of these encounters, because her AI is just as bad as the rest of the npcs. Sometimes she gave me trouble or even killed me but, majority of the time she was just a nuisance. This is a, somewhat needed layer of lethality the game can benefit from. Unfortunately, I was not able to experience it fully. -If you stick to the story, the game could probably be beaten in 10-12 hours. But, if you explore and dedicate some of your loops to solving puzzles and witnessing events, it could take upwards of 20. My 70 (Steam)hours feels slightly exaggerated(there was some time spent idle). But I definitely played at least 60 hours between two campaigns. -Performance was mostly fine. No micro-stuttering or crashes after the patches. My entire second playthrough was free of them. But, I did see frame drops in some areas here and there. Even while locked at 60. Not that often though. Also, my Vram usage was above the limit even on very low. I played with most settings on high and it was fine. But, those who are demanding high frames and no drops may want to consider this. -PvP- From what I've read the servers are peer to peer. And from my experiences playing as Julianna this, really FKN sucks. My internet is SHT. The few games I got to play online were filled with balance breaking lag. That's if I even connected. Regardless, I had fun controlling the invader. It seems like there is a decent progression system in place here and incentive to get creative with your violence. I had a lot of fun with my limited online interactions. Seriously. I wish I could have put more time in this mode. I had a lot of fun with Deathloop. But the old adage seems to hold true; wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 10, 2021

  Solves all of Arkane's historical problems and replaces them with new ones.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 18, 2021

  It's as if they started with a full timeloop mechanic but ran into nonstop hurdles making it work, either development side or playtesting side, and stripped the concept down until just the tedium of a timeloop was left with none of the organic play. They also dumbed this game down at every opportunity compared to past Arkane titles. This is not what I want from either a timeloop game or an Arkane game, severely disappointing. If you want a good timeloop game, play Outer Wilds. If you want a good Arkane game, play either of the Dishonored games or Prey. If you just want a stealth shooter game with 4 levels in it that you replay over and over again...play the Hitman games.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 21, 2021

  As a massive fan of arkane with Dishonored 1 & 2 and Prey 2017 being amongst my favorite games, I was pretty underwhelmed by deathloop So what is deathloop? Deathloop is part time loop, part rogue like and part detective game Deathloop tasks you with kiling 8 visionaries within one timeloop to break the loop and complete the game. There are 4 areas to explore and your free to explore the areas for as long as you like. Time only advances when you leave and go to another area. You will explore these areas and search for clues, pick up notes and you will have to use the info you gather to piece together how youre going to take these 8 visionaries out in 1 loop. I think deathloop is a great roguelike, a bad detective game and a weak arkane game. Deathloop is a great roguelike because it has cleverly been built around this structure and as a result takes the edge off of a lot of the frustration and repetition that comes with these games. An inevitable problem of a roguelike is repetition. However this is not a problem with deathloop as the 4 areas you have to explore are fairly large and youre usually always going to them to complete different objectives which take you to different parts of the map. Deathloop also has solid meta progression as you can infuse any weapons or powers(slabs) that you find within the world with a currency called residium, meaning every run you constantly feel like youre getting stronger. Deathloop also takes the edge off of the timeloop roguelike structure with fairly forgiving mechanics such as the fact that time only progresses when you leave an area meaning youre free to explore an area as long as youd like without having to worry about being on a timer. Also deathloop gives you 3 lives per time of a day instead of 1 for the whole loop which is fair to the player as the game recognizes it is asking you to accomplish quite alot in 1 run, making it far less frustrating than a game like Returnal which has like 3 hour runs and little meta progression. I think Deathloop is a bad detective game because the game presents itself as this very deep and complex detective game with all these menus that keep track of your leads and clues that you discover. Youd think that there's going to be this massive puzzle that your going to have to piece toegether, but no that never happens. Its basically one large batman arkham investigation that plays ltself. As you pursue each of the leads the game holds you by the hand by placing waypoints telling you exactly where to go. For instance one lead tells you to snoop around a visionaries room when shes not there. The game tells you exactly where her room is and then you find out the door is locked and you need a code... and the game tells you exactly where the code is with another waypoint, rinse and repeat. Once you complete all of the leads you think you would be left alone with all of the info that youve discovered and now have to piece together how youre going to take out these eight visionaries in 1 loop... but no again. Once you finish tracking the leads the game literally tells exactly how to take out all of the visionaries in 1 loop by yet again placing waypoints and objective markers telling you exactly how to do it. Deathloop is a bad detective game because it asks you to play a detective without ever asking you to be a detective. Deathloop never once calls on you to use youre own critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills, the game plays itself. Deathloop is also a fairly underwhelming arkane game. The reason I like arkane games is because they give the player a suite of tools and abilities and place them in a highly interactive sandbox and tell you to come up with your own solutions to quests. Deathloop has some of that going on but not as much as past games. In terms of powers or slabs as Deathloop calls them there are only 5 in total. A pallid offering compared to past games. This is further compounded by the fact that you can only have 2 Powers equipped at once further limiting combo ability compared to something like dishonored. What really shocked me about Deathloop however was how few weapons or tools there were to facilitate a stealthy playstyle. There is literally only one silent weapon in the entire game, The Spiker a nail gun you find early on, theres a unique smg u can find later that is also silent but thats about it. Every other weapon is combat focused, youd think there would be suppressors or scopes you can find and equip to your rifles, pistols etc. but no. This game clearly has a more action oriented bend to it which is disappointing to someone like myself who prefers to play a game like this stealthily and tactically. A couple of other points.... The Juliana Dark souls style PVP invasions are really silly. I love Dark souls but not every game needs an invasion system especially a rogue like timeloop game which reverts all progress after death. Imagine figuring out how to break the loop and your in the final area and youve killed 7 of the 8 visionaries and youre almost done... Then Juliana invades your world and its a player of a higher skill level then you, kills you and sends you all the way back to the beginning, thats the stuff broken controllers are made out of. Finally this games performance for me was awful. The game kept violently jostling between 150fps to 80fps to 40fps. The framerate was completely unstable anybody with motion sickness or sensitivity to on screen jutter will find this unplayable. I will take a smooth 60fps over an unstable 120fps any day so I tried to use vsync and the framerate cap to set it to 60..... and that didnt work either. So with all that being said I simply cannot recommend Deathloop.
• gamedeal user

  Nov 29, 2021

  Get this on sale if you must have it. Full price is too much. For a game that is all about exploiting a time loop the game is surprisingly, disappointingly linear. There is only one way to break the loop, requiring you to go through your main mission. There are very few deviations in character interactions outside of what is scripted as the 'designated path' to break the loop. The ability to hold on to items between loops also breaks the game to a point. The combat, your targets and the game in general is too easy to allow you to spend one loop getting the best weapons and cakewalking everything because of it. Either holding on to items in the loop should've been removed or the enemies should've been much, much harder. Combat itself is somewhat uninspired. The enemy AI is unresponsive and stupid, there are no 'elite' or otherwise powerful enemies to fight and your targets are almost as weak as the chaff you cull on your way to them. The powers you obtain are mostly just reskins of the powers from Dishonored 1 and 2. The invasion mechanic is fine but can be annoying to deal with when you're just attempting to get through a loop. However, the fights with a player controlled Julianna are going to be the only really challenging fights the game has to offer. Overall, the mechanical aspect of the game is underwhelming; failing to capitalize on the premise, having subpar combat, bog standard stealth and recycled powers. There are some good things about the game. Colt is a likeable protagonist, his banter with Julianna can be charming a lot of the time and the music is a high note. Unfortunately, because combat is so easy it's rare to experience the excellent combat tracks as encounters are finished almost as soon as they start. If you can get this on sale, for a significant reduction then it will be worth it. However, I cannot recommend the game as it is for full price. Maybe future updates and DLC might change that but as of right now I have to say I'm disappointed.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 23, 2021

  I didn't find it a fun experience overall. I've enjoyed titles Arkane Studios has made in the past, however this one became repetitive, and not engaging quite early on. The AI is the worst I've encountered in any modern game, with stealth breaking it even more. There were never really any interesting combat scenarios, and the powers in this game were similar enough to others from their previous titles. The game also tries to treat itself like a "looter shooter", however I never felt impressed with any the loot, or felt that it changed my game play with the exception of silenced weapons. I wouldn't hold out for DLC to improve this game, I'd just get Prey or Dishonored first if you want something similar and haven't tried either. Prey's Moon Crash DLC is more or less a prototype of this game, and I found a much better experience.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 27, 2022

  What does this product do?

  <*>Product includes Denuvo Anti-Tamper an anti-consumer DRM system from Irdeto Access B.V. - Originally from Sony Corporation (maybe known for Securom or Rootkits on consumer devices). <*>Linking to Microsoft Azure Playfab Analytics including online forcing by Microsoft Corporation <*>Automatic linking to Bethesda.net, a service of Bethesda Softworks, LLC <*>Automatic activation of online mode including cross-platform linking. <*>Geospatial data collection using Amazon.com, Inc. (AWS) X-Geo-City X-Geo-Country X-Geo-Country-Alpha-2 X-Geo-Country-Alpha-3 X-Geo-Currency X-Geo-Currency-Numeric X-Geo-State https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2841212196

  Who is running the product?

  Bethesda Softworks, LLC (aquired by Microsoft Corporation since 2020 as part of Xbox Game Studios). Bethesda is also a subsidiary of Zenimax Media, Inc. This also explains implemented using of Playfab telemetry.

  Where are the service providers located?

  <*>Bethesada Softworks, LLC and Zenimax Media, Inc - United States, Rockville, Maryland <*>Amazon.com, Inc. - United States, Seattle, 410 Terry Ave N <*>Microsoft Corporation - United States, Redmond, One Microsoft Way <*>Irdeto - Hoofddorp, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands <*> Epic Games, Inc. - 620 Crossroads Blvd, Cary, NC 27518, United States https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2841195539

  What data is collected?

  Email, timestamp, game history and progress, account data such as SteamID, login name, ingame name, persistent CorrelationID's, platform data, geo data such as city, state, currency and more.

  How is data collected

  Regular callbacks via the "api.bethesda.net" at 2 minute intervals.

  Examples

  Address: https://api.bethesda.net/log/v3/collect_logdata { }, "environment" : "live", "event_type" : "game_heartbeat", "logdata" : { "header" : { "bdk_version" : "2.0002.000000", "environment" : { "prod", "event_type" : "game_heartbeat", "game_version" : "1.772.0.36c510", "platform_id" : 10, "player_ip" : null, "server_ip" : null, "server_source" : null, "server_version" : null, "session_id" : "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx", "timestamp" : 1658920627, "timestamp_ms" : 536513 }, "payload" : { "buid" : null, "heartbeat_type" : 1, "interval" : 120000, "persistent_uuid" : "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" } } } Callbacks via Microsoft AzurePlayfab Analytics at 15 second intervals. https://4c23a.playfabapi.com/Event/WriteTelemetryEvents?sdk=XPlatCppSdk-3.11.190520 { "FunctionName" : { "heartbeat", "FunctionParameter" : { "data" : 624 }, "GeneratePlayStreamEvent" : false, "RevisionSelection" : null, "SpecificRevision" : null }

  Is the data confidential or personal?

  Personal and accordingly uniquely attributable userdata

  It's possible to disable telemetry?

  Yes, but users have to take care of it themselves and they should aware that their product works only works half. A forced activation by Denuvo cannot be legally avoided

  Summary

  Customers should read the EULA before use/purchase and consider whether they approve of the behavior. Denuvo Anti-Tamper alone can cause consumers to be stuck in front of a black screen and extensive telemetry services are also not really conducive to one's own privacy. Not to forget, without using the mandatory online "service", consumers get only a half working product. P.S. Even though Bethesda no longer uses an actively visible launcher since beginning of 2022, the same connections are still made to their platform services. Nothing really has changed. On the contrary. Through Microsoft's involvement, even more is present now. Especially since Microsoft knows about mostly every game you will start on Windows 11 with their with their Xbox service, even you don't use it (those regularly not to be deactivated callbacks were subsequently included in Windows 11)
• gamedeal user

  Aug 29, 2022

  When I played this game I read an article before starting saying that stealth was the best and only way to play. I went all in on the funny shield and a pump action shotgun and got the achievement "Rip and Tear". There's no wrong way to play this game find your way and run with it.
• gamedeal user

  Sep 25, 2022

  Extremely stylish, smooth, fun, unique. Both exploration and combat are simple but engaging. Do not mistake it for the sandbox game: it's a stictly story-driven experience, with all progress being clearly presented via quests. Oh, and voice acting is superb.