An extended Deathloop gameplay trailer appeared during today's State of Play livestream, showcasing a mission to hunt down and kill Aleksis "The Wolf" Dorsey.
The trailer covers a little bit of everything, showing off weapons, powers, and gadgets, and some unexpectedly friendly chit-chat between the hero, Colt, and his nemesis Julianna. Things get a little more interesting midway through the run when an alarm goes off, signalling that another player has "invaded" the game and is now in control of Julianna. That's a problem for Colt: AI-controlled enemies go down fairly easily when confronted by a guy who's basically Corvo Attano with a shotgun, but squaring off against another player who doesn't have to deal with them—whose only goal is to quietly hunt him down—is a whole different kind of headache.
The writing on the walls seen in various points can provide help or guidance, Bethesda explained in a new blog post, but those messages will sometimes come across as disjointed or senseless—although the more you learn about the island of Blackreef, the more sense they'll make. The substance referred to as Residuum can be collected and used to preserve abilities and gear permanently, so you're not forced to start over empty-handed if and when you die.
And death isn't as certain as it might first appear: Reprise, an ability that unlocks early in the game, will enable you to "rewind" time a little bit when you die, so you can come back and try again. But only twice: If you die a third time, your day is done.
It's familiar in a lot of ways: Colt's powers are obviously very reminiscent of those in the Dishonored games, and the big, chunky guns remind me of a lot of the hardware seen in Prey. The open levels are also very typical of Arkane games and should be a lot of fun to roam around in, especially without the constraints of Dishonored, which punished overly violent approaches to problem solving. But the narrative angle is starting to look more interesting too: There's clearly more going on between Colt and Julianna than just "I kill you, you kill me."
Deathloop is set to come out on September 14. If you haven't heard it yet, be sure to give a listen to Déjà Vu, its brilliant, Bond-style theme song—a perfect match for the game's swinging '60s setting.
