After finally breaking the loop, I do think Deathloop has a high chance at game of the year. It was a great ride that ended before the time looping became annoying. I’m still amazed at how the game surprised me after all of the press and trailers they pushed out for the game. There might be spoilers ahead, but the game has so many mysteries to unravel that there’s plenty to find.
Learning to Kill the Deathloop AEON Program Visionaries
I stopped playing most games other than Deathloop. It was a sprint to the finish with so many other games nearing release and my trip to Las Vegas. There’s so much going on in the game that I didn’t want to suffer a lengthy break from it and forget everything.
The main purpose of my journey revolved around finding the weaknesses and ways to kill each visionary. The AEON Program was quite the interesting mix of geniuses and artists. Ever single one of them was beyond eccentric.
Dr. Wenjie Evans
She’s the Head Scientist of the AEON group and creator of the time loop everyone was stuck in. The doctor was always with her experiments. She was literally in more than one place at a time. She did not have a Slab for me to steal, but rather split herself into 10 dopplegangers.
The Nexus slab I picked up last time let me string several of them together to kill more than one at a time. I figured out how to get her into one body at the end of the Deathloop night party for easy pickings. She was surprisingly tough up close the few times I tried. Distance was key with her.
Aleksis “The Wolf” Dorsey
The rich playboy who funded the whole AEON program. He was weak for his special beer, party spectacle, his music and all those wolf masks. His end of the night party was intimidating in my early loops with so many of the Eternalists in attendance, but became a slaughter house later in the game.
After learning the layout well, Turrets, Nexus and more turrets mowed through the party goers after my hacks. It’s not hard to pick out Aleksis from the crowd when everyone is dead. Later I found he wasn’t so well hidden with his signature gold guns.
Fia Zboroska
The resident party girl of the AEON program handled the art style of Blackreef island. Not sure if it’s drinking, drugs, just ditzy or all of the above. It was interesting that she carried the Havoc slab that equated to a berserk mode. I tried it a few times for some rage mode killing, but not one of my favorite powers. She also enjoys a weird torturous relationship with Charlie.
Ramblin’ Frank Spicer
Frank is the radio host on the island. Hearing his voice over and hover increased the desire to kill him. He held no Slab, but carried a special weapon with 2 clips (reload while shooting). His black market ties and fans helped him stock the island with weapons and soldiers. He also loved his fireworks more than attending the end of night party.
His paranoia led to the installation of a security system that disabled slabs before his doors opened. Unfortunately for him, there were several ways to get around that. It was funny how he hid in his recording booth while I setup turrets outside before opening his locked door.
Egor Serling
Pseudoscientist Egor founded the AEON program in Deathloop and spends most of his time on strange experiments. His Aether slab provided a predator-like active camo ability. It was great for sneaking around on fact finding missions where I wanted to avoid a high body count.
Disabling his weird experiments guaranteed his attendance at the party where I didn’t need to worry about his camo.
Harriet Morse
The cult leader of the Eternalist followers. No poison juice, but she did wield a lever to gas her worshipping followers. That came in handy to dispatch of them after taking her out. Listening to her ramble about how she knew the island’s mysteries like a preacher incentivized taking her out. I enjoyed serving up Karma to her televangelist bs.
Charlie Montague
Nerdy Charlie was the Head Systems Administrator and Head of Entertainment. His house was a literal LARP (Live Action Role Play) setup. It was like a fun house with aliens, rockets and control panels. There was a real rocket puzzle available to burn all the players in his building. I enjoyed gathering batteries for that payoff.
He was one of the more interesting visionaries. I found several obviously doctored recordings of other visionaries praising him. That’s why it was weird how close a relationship he shared with Fia. I think she just enjoyed torturing him.
His AI creation, 2-bit, helped control the island and was its own interesting character. After enough convincing, the AI even helped me evacuate the building and setup another kill. There were several funny bits of dialog by 2-bit too.
Colt “The Captain” Vahn, Deathloop’s Hero
The main character I played was voiced over perfectly. It was frequently entertaining and added to the game. He was Head of Security until I took control and we decided to break the loop. His commentary during battles and with each revelation was a joy.
It was interesting to uncover his past and how he arrived at Blackreef island, again. I won’t spoil it here, but the true relationship between Colt and Julianna was a nice littler twist. It definitely complicated the desire to kill her.
Finally Breaking the Deathloop
Some people like to take notes with codes or clues found, but I do not. Thankfully for me, Deathloop kept great notes for me and even captured some pictures for puzzle use. The time loops helped me check off items on the task lists, while adding additional things to it.
It felt like a great accomplishment once I found where and when to kill each visionary. There are multiple ways to kill each of them, but the time and location was important to reach the end game. Most of the kills where fairly straightforward stealth or frontal assaults, but a few I handled uniquely.
Charlie and Fia drowned after I flooded their romantic hideaway. Blew up Frank with his own fireworks. Killed Aleksis several ways over the loops: meat grinder, explosion and blew him up with his favorite beer kegs. Each kill awarded me their upgrades to make the next time easier.
The Final Deathloop Maybe
By the time I was ready to make my final run, the time loops were just about to get redundant. The game picked the perfect time for its endgame. I failed my first run at the ending (kill all in one loop) after wasting my first lives trying to rush, then a surprise appearance by Julianna.
I was pretty mad about Julianna ending my final Deathloop run abruptly, but the time loops ensured my 2nd attempt was easier and faster. It was a great climax to finally uncover the mystery behind the Horizon doors and break the loop.
The ending cinematic was so short that I wonder if there’s DLC planned to provide a proper ending. The might be my only complaint about the game. There was no epilogue style explanation of events after like Dishonored.
Not sure after finishing whether this tops Cyberpunk 2077 for me, but it’s in my all time top 10 for sure. It felt so fresh and unique. Deathloop is a must play for anyone not already playing. Arkane Studios doesn’t miss.