Deathloop's new trailer has me fully on board for the first time
It definitely looks like an Arkane game
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.
The actual running and shooting was never the strongest part of Dishonored or Prey. These are games about picking your way through an environment, either playing stealthily or at least empowering yourself via exploration rather than just weaponry.
The Deathloop trailer above has enough invisibility, crouching, and poised knives - not to mention some lovely environment design - to make me feel that it's in the same lineage as those other games. It just seems to also have faster and slicker action. I'm good with that. I will gladly do a fancy shootybang and then leap out of a window.
Deathloop's other hook is that it's optionally a multiplayer game, with players able to opt to play as the character of Julianna and enter other player's games to interfere with their progress. Think Dark Souls' invasion mechanic, I guess. If you don't want to mess or be messed with by strangers, Julianna will be controlled by the AI.
I like the song in the trailer, too. More games should have their own theme song. More games should follow in Metal Gear Solid's footsteps and have this kind of Bond-y theme tune, too. Top marks all around.