One of the PlayStation 5's most anticipated titles is finally here, and fans just can't get enough Deathloop. The game feels like a marriage between Dishonored and Prey, Arkane Studios' most recent works, so it's no wonder why the title is already one of the PS5's best-reviewed games. One aspect of the game that fans and critics alike can't seem to agree on is the PvP invasions that happen once the deadly assassin Julianna is added to the mix. Despite the mixed reception among the community, it's worth noting that Arkane's use of invasions is far better than those featured in the Dark Souls series.
While it wasn't the first to allow players to invade someone else's game world in hopes of killing them for sport and resources, the Dark Souls series has certainly popularized the idea in recent generations. All Dark Souls fans can remember the first time they got the alert that a hostile player had invaded their game to battle it out for some high-tier loot. Deathloop includes invasions in a nearly identical way, but manages to improve on the system set up by FromSoftware to make for one of the most interesting elements of an already interesting game.
Tying the World of Deathloop Together
As it's been shown off extensively in the game's marketing, Deathloop is all about a man named Colt who's trying to break the time loop that he and the rest of the island of Blackreef are stuck in, while a woman named Julianna is trying to stop him. Players have the option of choosing to play as either character, making for asymmetric gameplay that actually contributes to the overall story and theme of the game. Although it can be frustrating to be killed as Colt right before completing an important story mission, it works within the game's narrative as Julianna is constantly trying to kill him.
Although the Dark Souls series definitely has a lot of lore and stories for each title, they aren't told as straightforward as Deathloop's narrative. Despite being frustrating, getting killed by Julianna can still make satisfying narrative sense. Being killed by a Dark Souls invader feels a little bit like a senseless death caused by someone looking to ruin someone else's game, depending on the player's perspective. While there might be some piece of lore hidden somewhere in the Dark Souls canon, invaders never feel like meaningful interactions with the game's narrative.
Skill-Based vs. Gear-Based
Skill definitely plays a part in Dark Souls invasions. However, more often than not, invaders are able to kill unsuspecting players simply because of the high-tier loot that they have. Dark Souls has a truly vast catalog of weapons and attacks available to its player, but that means that invading players are unpredictable in a way that causes defeat to feel unfair instead of frustratingly satisfying.
Deathloop, on the other hand, doesn't have the same depth of gear. Sure, there are plenty of different trinkets to add to guns to make each player's arsenal diverse, but at the end of the day, there are only a handful of different weapons that Julianna could be invading with. It's up to the player's individual skill to get them through each encounter. Because of this, someone with basic loot can easily win over someone with higher-tier items on the basis of their skill alone. What's more, the interactive nature of Deathloop's environments means that an observant player can get the upper hand if they use the items available to them that are unique to each room in the game.
Deathloop is available on PC and PS5.