Deathloop was released in 2021 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Steam. I LOVED this game. When it was first announced, I remember looking at the trailers and thinking, “is this just another Fortnite knock off or something?” These initial trailers, in my view, made this game look like a multiplayer arena game (and that’s just not my cup of tea – I suck at those games). So I wrote Deathloop off immediately and forgot it existed, and, man, I’m so glad I somehow ended up diving into this game.

I’ll admit again, this is another on that I got included with my Playstation Plus Extra subscription, but I’ll tell you right away that this is worth whatever you might pay for it (although it’s likely on sale at this point).

Check out the trailer below – this one actually fits the game’s plot a bit more:

Here’s the basic premise of Deathloop:

You play as Colt, the Head of Security on an island called Blackreef that is running an experimental project called the AEON Program. The idea behind this program is that it’s a living video game. You wake up each day in the same spot and you can do whatever you want. If you die, no big deal, you loop back to the same place you started with no memory of your previous loop. It’s Groundhogs Day in 1963, but you’re on an island where anything goes. Colt, however, begins to remember his loops and realizes that he’s in a prison. His goal becomes to “Break the Loop”. To do so, he has to assassinate the 8 leaders of this AEON Program before the loop can start over again. In order to do that, he’s got to gather clues and strategize to position these deadly targets so that he can get them all.

The first hour of the game, if you go in blind like I did, is wildly confusing. I kept with it though because the environment was so unique and well realized. The immediate mood and feel of Blackreef is very fully realized and it’s one of my favorite video game locations of all time. Once the plot clicked and I understood what the game was trying to do, I was hooked.

And I mean hooked… I don’t have much time to play video games, but I found the damn time. My wife started saying, “Wow, you’re really into the video games lately, huh?” And I had to admit, “It’s just this one game. It’s got me!”

How it works is that there are four main destinations on Blackreef – The Complex, Updaam, Fristad Rock, and Karl’s Bay. You’ll can visit these locations in the morning, noon, afternoon, and evening and each time you visit, there are new places to explore and new clues to find. This gets you closer and closer to your goal of assassinating your eight targets. While you explore, a rival named Julianna taunts you over the radio and you learn more about Colt and the AEON Program.

What’s really fun is that every so often Julianna will show up to kill you in order to prevent you from breaking the loop. The catch is that you can actually play as Julianna and invade other player’s games. I shut this feature off because I’m terrible against real players, but it’s a cool add-on if you’re into it.

I played this game mostly stealthy. I loved sneaking around and clearing spaces. You get powers that’ll help you as you go and you get cool guns and “trinkets” which give boosts to your character and your weapons.

Deathloop is Bioshock meets Dishonored meets a fun 60s style sci-fi mystery. The game is light and funny, you can play it in virtually any style you like, and the lore of Blackreef, its many characters, and the AEON Program is so interesting to get into.

I cannot recommend Deathloop enough. This, to me, was one of the most slept-on games of this recent console generation and, as of now, is one of my absolute favorite video games of all time.

Deathloop was made by Arkane Studios who made the Dishonored series and Prey. I loved Dishonored and playing this has inspired me to check out Prey – so look out for that review one of these days.

Enjoy!