I’m in a little bit of a strange place with my anticipation for Deathloop. I’m not that into first-person shooters in general, let alone more tactical ones like Deathloop seems to be, and I was only lukewarm on Arkane’s two Dishonored games, although that’s less about their quality and more about my lack of patience with stealth. You’d think then that I’d be ready to let this one pass me by, but it’s currently sitting as one of my most anticipated titles of 2021.
Part of that is just how damn cool it looks. From the Saul Bass art style to the James Bond-esque soundtrack, to the Warriors-but-sci-fi plot, Deathloop is dripping with an undeniably suave aesthetic. It’s hard not to get excited by a game so clearly inspired by timeless muses, not trendy ones, especially when everything we’ve seen of the game so far makes it look like it’s all coming together perfectly. To be honest though, the main reason I’m excited for Deathloop can be found in Titanfall 2.
A big part of the reasons I avoid first-person shooters is because they’re usually built around an online game mode. Even if they have a story mode, it can feel like a long, generic tutorial designed to get you in tip-top shape for the challenges of online play. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but in broad terms it’s this fear which keeps me away from caring too much about first-person shooters. I’m an offline player first and foremost, so it probably stands to reason that I don’t pay too much regard to online-heavy genres.
While there is an online component of Deathloop through other players invading your game, it definitely doesn’t appear to have come at the cost of the game’s story. The world’s timeloop narrative has been the game’s biggest selling point in every trailer to date, with plot and creativity being centred ahead of shooting mechanics. This is where Titanfall 2 comes in.
I’m sure to first-person shooter connoisseurs, each series is different and distinct in a variety of ways, but a lot of time to me it just feels like “get from A to B while shooting these things.” That’s harsh and reductive, but it’s true, especially of first-person shooters with campaigns divided up into missions designed to serve mainly as inspiration for multiplayer maps. Titanfall 2 was different. In particular, Effect and Cause - the time travel level of Titanfall 2 - showcased the massive range of variety and creativity available to first-person shooter games, and it makes me much more hopeful for Deathloop. By this point, I think I’ve made my feelings on first-person shooters pretty clear, and I still regard Titanfall 2’s time travel shenanigans as one of the best levels I’ve ever played.
In case you’re unaware of Effect and Cause, I’ll give you a quick rundown, although you really should just go and play it. For starters, while we might all associate Titanfall with giant mechs, this is actually a non-mech level, played entirely by the pilot, seeing Titanfall 2 avoid its own unique gimmick in favour of creating something even more unique; a boldness many first-person shooters lack but Deathloop seems to have in spades.
During the level, you explore a destroyed building and pick up a gauntlet you can attach to your wrist. Using this gauntlet, you can skip freely between the present day and the past, meaning there are essentially two levels in one. In the modern day, you are faced with enemies and occasionally destroyed floors or walls. Everything is burning around you, but the smoke is so thick most of the level is played in the shadows. However, in the past the building is pristine, well lit, and safe, but many doors are either guarded or locked, meaning you can only stay here for brief interludes as you explore. As well as the raw coolness of time travel, jumping to the past is a great way for the game to deliver active exposition rather than a cutscene flashback or asking you to find random notes or logs scattered around the place. Effect and Cause exists on two planes at once, offering new ways to traverse the world, opportunities to discover backstory freely, and more creative options of running for cover. It’s two levels, but it’s one level, and in combining both it might become three levels; each timeline separately and the optimum route combined. It’s a masterclass in first-person shooter level design that goes way beyond simply putting cover in a good place or maneuvering you to an important staircase.
I know Dishonored 2 has A Crack in the Slab, which uses a similar technique to Effect and Cause, but it’s so surreal in Titanfall 2 that we get a fully fledged time travel level out of nowhere, halfway through, then never speak of it again. Titanfall 2 is also more action oriented, which not only suits me more as a player, but makes this level design choice much more of a risk too. Still, that Arkane has some experience with this general idea already bodes very well indeed for Deathloop.
The way Titanfall 2 plays with the idea of time barely scratches the surface of its narrative potential, and only uses it during this one level. I don’t blame the game for doing so; Titanfall 2 has a range of story devices, and while they don’t all work, it is sensible to shift between them rather than cling to the time gauntlet for too long and risk diminishing its uniqueness. Deathloop, also set to play with the idea of time, exploration, and cause and effect through the lens of a first-person shooter, looks as if it’s trying to capture the magic of Effect and Cause then spread it out over a full game. If it manages it, Deathloop will probably be my favourite first-person shooter of all time.
I have no doubts that I will be bad at Deathloop. Certainly at first, and possibly forever. The idea of planning out a path meticulously appeals to me in theory, and obviously so does the time narrative. But it’s still a first-person shooter, I’m not sure how well I’ll ever stick to my plan, and I’ll be an easy target for trolls invading my game. Deathloop, I’m probably going to suck at you, but I still can’t wait to play you.