How Deathloop is a fresh take on the tried and tested immersive sim genre

Deathloop is the newest game from Arkane Studios, and just like its predecessors, it has a lot of immersive sim elements. Be it zooming through open-ended levels, silently killing the traitors in Dishonored, or approaching an objective with trusty tools throughout the moon base in Prey. The new Arkane immersive sim has got it all.

Julianna's out to stop Colt, one loop at a time (Image via Arkane Studios)

However, Arkane has taken the better elements from all of their past games and has made a unique immersive sim that feels fresh from the tested formula and even helps the game form its own identity.

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What is an immersive sim and how is it incorporated in Deathloop?

Immersive sim lets the player decide how they want to approach an objective without holding their hand in the process while also allowing players to think up creative solutions to various problems.

Let's say someone is playing a game, the goal is provided, and the game is helping out by giving essential hints and waypoints towards the objective. A big rooftop is available towards the purpose, and the player wants to traverse the rooftop to skip enemies while effectively reaching the goal. The game does not outright say that the rooftop is a viable route to go, but it is.

Limp-10 goes bam! (Image via Arkane Studios)

The player's choice and the liberty to tackle an objective in whatever way they want make immersive sims very replayable and challenging to design. Hence the reason why only a few studios in the current year make immersive sims. Games like Deus Ex, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, System Shock, Bioshock, and Arkane Studios Dishonored series are good examples of this genre.

Arkane's Dishonored is one great immersive sim which everyone should play (Image via Arkane Studios)

Deathloop has all the blueprints for an immersive sim. The players are given four big districts in Blackreef Island, the setting of the game, and the player can explore and reach their objective. Each district is filled with unique buildings with rooftops and routes to travel through, items or notes to discover to help their gameplay, and use the environment to aid players in taking out their enemies. Deathloop, at its core, has all the essentials in place required to be a solid and meaty immersive sim.

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Deathloop and its unique flavor to immersive sims

The premise of Deathloop is pretty simple. The player plays a character called Colt, trapped in Blackreef Island, experiencing a time-loop where they repeat the same day repeatedly.

Whether day or night, Colt's out to break the loop (Image via Arkane Studios)

To break off the loop, eight visionaries have to be taken out on the island in a single day. Failure to kill even one of them will repeat the time loop. To prevent players’ goals, a player-controlled character called Julianna will invade their game, interrupting the process of breaking the loop. At any time, if a player is unsuccessful in killing the target or dies from the mistake, they will lose their progress, and the day restarts. There is no time limit, so players can take their time being careful, and they can always get the items back in the subsequent loops.

Traditionally, immersive sims have a save system to save and re-load to correct the mistake quickly. What Deathloop does is remove this feature. It does not have a quick save option, which means players have to play through their carefully laid out plans, evil or otherwise. Time-loop is the saving grace since one bad plan can give a player a lot of important information, which they can use to approach the same level again in the next loop, and complete it.

To help Colt in his Journey, powerful slabs are there (Image via Arkane Studios)

The loop system of Deathloop is exciting since, during each loop, a player can remember the notes and information they have gathered. Initially, immersive sims leave the memorization of important information on the player. Instead, Deathloop does it for them. This makes it easier for players to explore and approach at their own pace by setting up every piece of information they gather. Only when a player thinks they have the necessary information can they approach their objective and finish it in their style. The game rewards exploration by making it easier for you to reach your objective efficiently.

Julianna out here sniping Cole and ruining his efforts (Image via Arkane Studios)

Throw in emergent environmental interactions where players can use and change the environment to their advantage, like using a candy machine to trip the NPC Eternalists and taking them out. A brilliant immersive sim like Deathloop is born. One which breaks away from the traditional formula of its predecessor and does something unique.

If anything, Deathloop has laid the foundation for a new immersive sim style and is a great starting point for anyone who wants to try out an excellent immersive sim.

Deathloop is now available to play on Playstation 5 and PC.