The immersive sim has seen a revival in recent years. Not only from larger studios like Arkane, keeping the faith alive with their time loops and space stations, but also from a bunch of smaller developers bravely exploring a typically ambitious genre. RPS has always had an affinity for these systemically luxuriant simulations, historically lauding the likes of the original Deus Ex as the best game ever made. But given everything that has come since, is that still the case? Only one way to find out: make a big list.
]]>Hello?
Anyone?
Uh. I think I've been locked inside the treehouse while the others left on their Christmas holidays, so I guess I may as well continue to write the news. Deathloop is currently free to keep for those with an Amazon Prime membership.
]]>After the disastrous launch of Redfall, you'd have thought that immersive sim experts Arkane would have wanted to bust open the curtains and stay as far away from vampire games as physically possible. And yet here we are, with tonight's Game Awards reveal that they're making a Marvel Blade game. What are the chances? Will this second bite at making a (hopefully good this time) vampire game be the one? It's still early on in development, from the sounds of things, but here's the reveal trailer.
]]>Dishonored was Arkane’s breakout hit, the assassination sandbox that elevated the studio to the top table of immersive sim makers. Its success validated Bethesda’s decision to buy Arkane a couple of years earlier, and left the publisher with a promising new series. But despite critical acclaim, Dishonored 2 failed to bring the series to a wider audience. And after 2017’s standalone expansion, Death Of The Outsider, Bethesda decided to put the series on pause in favour of a shorter, more experimental project - according to Arkane founder Raphaël Colantonio, who spoke to me in an interview about their cancelled project The Crossing.
]]>There’s an alternate world where Arkane made The Crossing, and it’s not necessarily a better one. Before Dishonored, the developer was looking down the wrong end of a bad publishing deal which, in the estimation of founder Raphaël Colantonio, would have ended in either The Crossing’s cancellation or a deeply underwhelming end product. In that timeline, there’s no telling whether the studio would even exist today.
Nevertheless, for fans of Arkane’s sophisticated and immersive first-person adventures, this lost project remains tantalisingly forbidden fruit: a foolhardy mashup of single and multiplayer in which teams of invading players would attack the protagonist of a solo campaign, against the backdrop of a multiversal Paris co-designed by Half-Life 2’s Viktor Antonov.
]]>Time-bending sci-fi shooter Deathloop is one of the possible futures of the Dishonored universe, Arkane’s Dinga Bakaba revealed during a recent episode of the Xbox podcast. Bakaba was the creative director on Deathloop, and lead designer for Dishonored 2 and Dishonored: Death Of The Outsider. He’s finally spilled the tea, confirming players’ suspicions that the two Arkane series beginning with a D and featuring magical abilities are linked.
]]>Arkane’s time-rebooting shooter Deathloop is coming to Game Pass, Xbox Cloud Gaming and the Microsoft Store on September 20th. The addition to the Green Team’s subscription service was announced during this morning’s ID@Xbox livestream at Tokyo Game Show. All the game’s updates from the past year will be present, plus a new update called Goldenloop. That adds a new weapon, ability, enemy types and an extended ending. Oh, and there’s crossplay across all platforms and stores too. Watch the new trailer below.
]]>Arkane Studios’ back catalogue shows a team that's constantly growing, changing and learning from their past – something that has never been clearer than in their most recent game, Deathloop. The studio’s latest feels at once unique and distinct – and yet clearly carries that Arkane DNA, which has been fine-tuned with each successive release. It's an ethos encapsulated by the game’s own time loop, in which protagonist Colt Vahn relives the same day again and again as he searches for a way to break free of it - an idea that was, among other things, designed to encourage something hardcore Arkane fans had been doing already – replaying the game over and over again.
While Dishonored had gently suggested repeat playthroughs with its kill/non-lethal runs, plenty of players still called it a day at the end of their first playthrough. Deathloop needed a more direct approach, its developers tell us.
]]>Arkane's time-skipping shooter Deathloop oozes style from its environments and character designs. That makes it a natural platform for a photo mode, which is what the game's third update adds alongside some impressive-sounding accessibility options.
]]>AMD’s FSR 2.0 upscaler is out now – in only one game, Deathloop, but still. This is a big moment for the heavily upgraded FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), as it’s basically attempting to fight Nvidia’s rival DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) with some of its own tactics. There’s none of Nvidia’s machine learning enhancements, but whereas FSR 1.0 was a simple spatial upscaler – meaning data used for upscaling a frame could only come from within the frame itself – FSR 2.0 uses a temporal upscaling technique similar to that of DLSS. This allows it to draw data from previous frames as well, producing a sharper, higher-quality image.
The lack of machine learning also has the upside of keeping FSR 2.0, like FSR 1.0, compatible with any reasonably recent gaming GPU. Nvidia may make most of this generation’s best graphics cards, but you won't need something brand new and super powerful to let FSR 2.0 boost your frame rates. To find out how well it works, compared to both DLSS and FSR 1.0, I reinstalled Deathloop and gave all three upscalers a whirl.
]]>Time moves so fast now that I remain convinced Games Done Quick happens once a fortnight. True or not, it's definitely happening this week, beginning tomorrow, Sunday January 9th, and running through until Sunday January 16th. This time, the charity speedrunning marathon features several recent games including Deathloop and Death's Door, among many others.
]]>Arkane's sneak-o-shooter Deathloop is a good game, but maybe not quite as stealthy as you might expect from the studio behind Dishonored. Even our Deathloop review said "stealth is just the thing that goes wrong before a good fight". Well, you might want to be a bit sneakier now, as the game's second major update has arrived and it makes NPCs a fair bit smarter. The patch addresses some common complaints about the PvP Invasion mode too.
]]>The clocks have gone back and the cold is creeping in, so now it's time for me to get too excited too early for the winter speedrunning event Awesome Games Done Quick. While it's too early for the full schedule right now, organisers have revealed the current list of accepted games, and there are already some absolute belters. A race to beat every Dark Souls boss and Deathloop's first GDQ outing are amongst the highlights. But the one I'm most looking forward to is a blindfolded Sekiro run. I couldn't finish that game even using my eyes.
]]>Exactly one month after launch, Deathloop received its "first major game update" last night. Along with (hopefully?) fixing lingering issues with stuttering framerates, it has added DLSS support to give Nvidia folks a big FPS boost, fixed some crashes and other bugs, including a nasty one where a bad menu option would reset Colt's progress, and generally improved things. And this is the point where I think I'll finally play the game.
]]>Hello! How was your day? Oh, me? Well, I spent the morning scheduling a crank wheel delivery to Updaam. Had lunch. Went back in the afternoon, disabled a few turrets, then hid behind a bin for a bit. All solely to turn off an oxygen pump and asphyxiate a bubble-encased band that I could have easily shot in a few seconds. Tomorrow, I may climb to the top of a three story building just to plummet, machete first, on the face of a guard that killed me once a few loops back. Hello. My name is Colt, and I am the pettiest videogame protagonist in existence.
In his Deathloop review, Brendy described Colt as “playing it by ass”. I liked that line, but I didn’t yet understand its true gravitas. I am now enlightened. I have beheld the true ass of Colt, and I have grasped its magnitude: Colt’s ass is the antithesis to Dishonored’s heart. Blam. Boot. Blam. None of you are free of sin.
]]>Let's try action. Let's try action. Let's try action. This is the Deathloop I'm in at the moment, but I'm slowly beginning to think it's worth breaking the cycle and taking the stealthy approach as often as I can. I'm confused, you see. In many of the game's pre-release teasers, we saw Colt bursting into action. Stealth? No no, this is more of an FPS. The music flares, enemies die, it is carnage.
But when I actually give action a go in the game, I'm mostly left dead in seconds. Either that, or I meekly duck behind some cover and regret not trying the stealthy approach. And the problem is that sometimes I have no option but to go all guns blazing, and I think, "Colt isn't built for this. He's only a squishy lad." I just think he's a stealth character being forced to break cover when he's clearly uncomfortable doing so.
]]>The dastardly multiplayer invasions of Deathloop are some murderous hijinks. But not everybody wants to see a player-controlled assassin with vicious human instincts pop up as they sneak through their time loop adventure. That's fine, say developers Arkane, you can simply switch to single player mode, which will replace player incursions with periodic visits from an NPC Julianna who is (let's be diplomatic) a less feisty opponent. I am here to ask, nay, beg: do not do this. Leave it in Online mode. Welcome malice, embrace pain, receive with warmth that sudden mortal stab in the back. You are strong and capable of overcoming such things. I'm not just giving you an ego boost here. As the tenacious Colt, the fight is fixed in your favour.
]]>Time-looping murder puzzle Deathloop sure seems like it's worth putting on repeat. For all the usual action romp reasons that Arkane are good with, but also for some of its sillier bits. Kicking baddies off ledges sounds like it's the real backbone of Deathloop's comedy. Colt has one damn powerful boot and, according to a new chat with Deathloop director Dinga Bakaba, it's all thanks to Arkane's choice to scrap most of their melee combat system. Here's why Colt traded arm day for leg day.
]]>New Arkane Studios sneak-o-shooter Deathloop is a good'un, but the PC launch was marred by technical problems which caused the framerate to stutter for many players. One week later, they've put out a patch which should fix the stuttering for many folks playing with a mouse. However, you might not find the game hunky-dory now, as they say they're still investigating another potential stutterorama. Always tricky when multiple issues create similar-looking outcomes.
]]>After getting a taste last week, both myself and Matthew have spent the last few days in Blackreef. We've been enjoying doing the same things over and over. Yeah, Deathloop is pretty good.
]]>As I pass the eroding façade of a fisherman’s hut, a beret-topped goon strides by in the opposite direction, casually swinging a machete. They’d be conspicuous were it not for the fact that there are no fishermen in this village anymore. If anyone were to bother putting up a welcome sign, it’d read ‘Population: Goons’. They like me, though. This thug’s two-tone mask might be impassive, but the voice beneath it betrays starstruck awe. “Julianna,” they say. “It’s an honour, really.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I hiss under my breath. “I’m in disguise. If the player hears you, we’re both mince. And thanks.”
]]>Where are all of the codes to open safes and doors and unlock machine terminals in Deathloop? In true Arkane tradition, Deathloop is full of safes and locked doors that can only be accessed with three- and four-digit codes. Some of the secrets hidden within are essential to progressing the story, while others just contain some good loot. Some of the Visionaries have also used codes to protect some of their machines, which you'll need to override in order to bypass their security.
]]>Predictably, Imogen and I begin this week's episode of Ultimate Audio Bang by getting excited about Deathloop before realising that there's plenty of other newsy bits to cover. Listen to get our hot thoughts on the Call Of Duty: Vanguard reveal, Battlefield 2042's delay, the Overwatch League using an early build of Overwatch 2 in 2022, and plenty more shootery things.
]]>What are the correct answers to the Yervha's questions in Deathloop? The Yervha, a.k.a. Queen of Riddles, is a trivia machine in Deathloop. If you can answer all 10 of its questions correctly you'll win a prize! A very modest prize, but a prize nonetheless. And who doesn't love a good trivia challenge? You certainly seem to, since you're here!
]]>What are the best trinkets in Deathloop? Trinkets might sound frivolous, but they are in fact Deathloop's answer to mods: applying them provides potentially very powerful combat buffs, and therefore they're actually very important. Deathloop's Trinkets come in two varieties: Character Trinkets (personal mods applied to your player character) and Weapon Trinkets (mods which can be applied individually to every gun in your possession).
]]>While Arkane's time-looping supernatural shooter Deathloop is a good'un, the PC release has not gone down well, with many players reporting suffering framerates—the worst type of timejank. The problem still stands, a day-and-a-half after launch, but there is some comfort to be found in at least an official acknowledgment from publishers Bethesda that yes, they know it's a problem. Not nearly as much comfort as a fix would be. Maybe you'll find some meagre comfort in the unlikely source for this acknowledgement: a nice picture of some burgers.
]]>How can you carry over weapons and powers in Deathloop? Deathloop is a darkly comedic action-adventure game which sees assassins Colt and Julianna attempting to kill each other time and time again over the course of a single looping day. The titular loop resets itself if the day ends before Colt can kill all eight Visionaries (including Julianna), or if Colt dies three times in a single mission. When this happens, Colt wakes up at the beginning of the day with everything reset — including any weapons, powers, and trinkets he managed to pick up during his last trip through the loop.
]]>How many weapons are there in Deathloop and how do you get the best ones? Deathloop is about two assassins locked in a time-looping duel to the death, so naturally, there are weapons aplenty in this game. Thanks to the titular loop, you aren't always going to be able to hang on to every weapon you pick up, so knowing where and how to get your favourite weapons back is going to be important.
]]>If there's one thing I hate in this life, it's having to lift my hand onto the Esc key so I can press it to skip logos. Ideally I only lift my arms to deliver food to my maw, or to express my lack of care. So it's nice that someone has already identified which files to delete to remove the logos at the start of Arkane's new shooter Deathloop.
]]>Yes, we all know the game has a very cool look, and all of us enjoy playing a good time loop game, but what actually is Deathloop? Thankfully, Matthew's played the first few hours and is here to enlighten both you and I.
]]>Wondering how to collect and fully upgrade all the slabs in Deathloop? Slab abilities are the paranormal powers in Deathloop, the game's take on Dishonored's Void Powers and Prey's Neuromods. When playing as Colt or Julianna there are five of these slabs to pick up, as well as several levels of upgrades for each.
]]>Dishonored and Prey devs Arkane have released their latest superpowered sneak-o-shooter, the time-looping Deathloop. It's good, everyone tells me. However, one word of warning: a fair number of PC players are complaining about stuttering framerates, enough to bring it down to a 'Mixed' review rating on Steam. That's the sort of wonky time you don't want. If you want your initial loop o' death to be as slick as blood, maybe wait a bit in the hope of a fix?
]]>If you’ve read Brendan’s Deathloop review, you’ll know Arkane Lyon’s latest is a frequently hilarious time-loop shooter that’s worth getting trapped in. And if you’ve seen its official PC system requirements, you’ll also know it makes some big asks of your hardware. At least, in theory. After a few hours of testing it appears the minimum requirements aren’t quite so minimum, and it’s possible to get slick frame rates in Deathloop even on older graphics hardware – especially if you make a few choice settings adjustments.
]]>William Blake once wrote: "Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, and Eternity in an hour." Shut up, Blake. This is Deathloop. It is a full-blown action-comedy with a double jump. You get a sideways dash and a gun that splits to become two, smaller guns. If I see anyone trying to be too smart about this game, in which a time-looping assassin tries to break free of hilarious eternity by murdering many people who deserve it, I will look at them with hollow eyes and say: "In Deathloop you regularly snap necks by 270 degrees." Turn away, poets and stealth likers. This is not your daddy's Dishonored.
]]>In just four days Arkane's new time-looping stealth 'em up Deathloop will be part of our lives, and last night the devs treated us to a new trailer telling us a few titbits about the game's story. Of course, like most of the other trailers, it's also full of sneaking, cool powers, lotsa guns, and excellent fashion. It's almost like we're stuck in a timeloop ourselves, watching main character Colt slay his way through semi-familiar areas in new ways. I can't get enough of it.
]]>Deathloop, or Deeaaaaaaathlooooooooooop as it’s called in the absolute banger of a theme song, has some official PC system requirements out ahead of release on September 14th. In a blog post, publishers Bethesda have also detailed some of the PC-only graphics settings you’ll be able to tinker with, while confirming support for AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling tech.
]]>Hello, who is the stylist that designs the Deathloop characters' outfits and will you come to my house and design me some too, please? We're less than a week away from playing Arkane's 60s-themed stealth 'em up, and I'm utterly enamoured with the excellent clothes main characters Colt and Juliana get to wear.
In a recent blog post, assistant art director and lead character artist Jean-Baptiste Ferder shared a little bit of background on how Colt and Juliana were designed, along with some concept art showing various outfits for the stylish duo.
]]>Murder puzzle sandbox Deathloop's release date is approaching, and Arkane Lyon have turned up at QuakeCon to talk more about their next supernatural FPS adventure. Particularly PvP, which they'd yet to get deep into the details on. You can catch their panel right here with a good dive on how each side of the PvP coin is a bit different and why you'll want to leave it enabled.
]]>I've had my eye on the time-bending FPS Deathloop ever since it was first revealed, so I was very excited to see more of it at PlayStation's State Of Play last night. And how do I feel having now seen the latest nine minute gameplay trailer? I'd say mainly excited and a touch apprehensive. Now I better wipe this drool off my chin.
]]>I've been thinking a lot about video game recommendations recently. Specifically, things like, "What game would you recommend to someone who's never played a video game before?" and, "What kind of games would you recommend to people who read a lot but don't necessarily play games very much?" My answer to both questions would probably be What Remains Of Edith Finch in the first instance, mostly because it has a really good story and its controls aren't too intimidating. But this week I realised I rarely think about the inverse of that last question: "What books would you recommend to people who play lots of video games but don't have much time for reading?"
Happily, I now have two solid answers, and they both come from the highly talented Stuart Turton: "The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle" for fans of Outer Wilds, The Sexy Brutale and Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries, and The Devil In The Dark Water for The Return Of The Obra Dinn likers.
]]>I love the premise of Deathloop: trapped in a timeloop, you need to assassinate eight targets before the day is out to stop everything from resetting. While you're at it, you're being hunted yourself - by another assassin who can played by your pals. I'm really hoping Dishonored developers Arkane will deliver something great with this one, and having seen an action-packed (if hands-off) preview, I can't imagine any other studio pulling it off.
I was given the low-down on all the weird and wonderful supernatural abilities at your disposal in Deathloop, and Arkane also showed off how missions on the game's 60s-themed party island can go down. While it offers you plenty of stealthy opportunities, however, it seems pretty different from the Dishonored experience, sometimes favouring the guns-blazing approach.
]]>Since Deathloop was first announced, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Prey: Mooncrash, the exceptional expansion to Arkane's Prey. It follows a similar sort of formula to what the studio have told us about Deathloop, with roguelite elements and permadeath that essentially mean you'll need to start all over again after each run. And now Deathloop has been delayed again, I reckon this is the perfect time to get back into Mooncrash - or give it a try if you missed it.
]]>Six weeks before they were due to release Deathloop, Arkane have announced they're delaying the timeloop FPS by four months. Previously expected on the 21st of May, it's now pushed back to September 14th. Sounds like the usual reasons: this past year (and counting) presented unusual challenges, and they want more time to make it good. Which is all perfectly fair. I'll still be here, happily waiting for a new game from the studio which brought us Dishonored and Prey.
]]>Many times we have prayed that Horaszdóttir's flock of turkeys will run out, but, like her, it is eternal and infinite. Each one disgorges a vision of a game yet to come, as Horaszdóttir the Tall stands and laughs, the sound rolling like thunder through the dark pine forest that is her home. We are so cold.
Today Horaszdóttir augers yet more games, speaking through us. Hear the crack of distant gunfire, the roar of an enraged enemy, and the thump of heavy bass and synth. Today we are called to action! (Please note that Horaszdóttir is not accepting criticism over how we have divided up games between RPG and action.)
]]>Arkane's next FPS game Deathloop looks absoltuely rad. Their new murder sandbox seems like Dishonored meets Hitman, and that's certainly no accident. Its made by Dishonored's developers, sure, but Arkane now say they're bringing "quite a few" of the supernatural abilities that you'll remember to Deathloop. If you thought you'd spotted some familiar skills in the trailers so far, you're not wrong.
]]>A few hours ago I wrote about the System Shock remake, and noted in passing that Deathloop doesn't look much like an immersive sim versus Arkane's previous games. And then, suddenly, here's a new trailer of Deathloop where it looks wonderfully, thrillingly, like Arkane's other games. Sneaking, stabbing, oodles of style, and for the first time, I'm fully on board. Watch it below.
]]>Deathloop has poor assassin-for-hire Colt play out the same bloody day, again and again and again. Now, though, we finally the exact date of your man's never-ending night of bloodshed - or, at least, the date we'll be able to get our hands on it. Following a potential leak on an Aussie PlayStation store, a new trailer has put a pin on May 21st as the start of Deathloop's stabby showdown.
]]>Update: Microsoft say they'll "keep the commitment" to bring Bethesda's Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo to PS5 as timed exclusives. More below.
Microsoft just announced they've bought ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. The developers of games such as Skyrim, Fallout, Dishonored, Prey, Doom, Quake and all those classics are now technically Xbox Game Studios. Xbox boss Phil Spencer made a post welcoming the developers, in what he calls a "landmark step" for both Microsoft and Bethesda.
What a year.
]]>Time loop FPS Deathloop debuted a new trailer during today's PlayStation 5 showcase to introduce a few of those assassination targets you'll be setting out to put in the ground. Your protagonist Colt has eight total targets to deal with if he wants to break out of the time loop affecting Blackreef, an island broken up into districts a bit like Dunwall of Arkane's previous Dishonored. The new trailer introduces two of the ill-fated targets.
]]>Time might be on the side of Deathloop's groundhog-day killer Colt, but the same doesn't ring quite as true for developers Arkane. Citing a shaky transition into remote working and a need for more time to polish up bloody vacation hotspot Blackreef, Arkane today announced that their time-looping stab 'em up will no longer arrive this winter, and will instead launch sometime next year.
]]>QuakeCon At Home is live this weekend on Twitch, though it really should be called BethFest when you look at the schedule. The event has moved wholly online thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the rescheduled celebration of id’s and Bethesda’s games has an intriguing schedule. Here are a few of the highlights.
]]>For Deathloop's unfortunate leading man, getting shot in the gut is simply another learning opportunity. Following its brief cinematic showing at E3 last year, Bethesda finally gave us a bloody good look at Arkane Lyon's time-locked assassin during tonight's PlayStation 5 reveal stream - a slick-as-hell recursive bloodbath that's bringing supernatural hunter-vs-hunted showdowns to PC this winter.
]]>We've been drowned by E3 2019 this past week, but maybe you only waded into the river of game reveals and new trailers up to your ankles. If you didn't get your hair wet, there might be some gems among the flotsam and jetsam that you missed. That's what this post is for: we've rounded up our picks for the best games of E3, based on our own impressions of either seeing the games behind closed doors at the show, or of watching the videos from the comfort of our homes.
]]>Trying to keep up with E3 2019 is a fool's errand, and the foaming river of content streaming down the internet's face doesn't always make it easier. So here's a round-up of every news story from the show we think matters to you, with links to our full stories (and bantful liveblogs) where relevant. We'll be updating this hourly, so keep coming back.
]]>Arkane Studios, the gang behind Dishonored and the new Prey, tonight announced their latest game, a first-person shooter trapped in a deadly time loop - hence the name Deathloop. I mean, I'm assuming it's a time loop but details are real thin for now. It's definitely set in some sort of loop, on a weird sci-fi island where two assassins are forever murdering each other. With peeks at the sort of superpowers I'd expect from an Arkane game, not to mention a natty spy-fi vibe, the trailer certainly has my interest.
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