Arkane Studios' latest first-person action-adventure, Deathloop, has suitably complex and intricate lore for a time-bending game. As Colt, players explore the island Blackreef and slowly uncover the extent of this lore while reliving the same day again and again. While the game's unique approach to time takes a little getting used to, it does mean players spend a lot of time getting to know the behavior and personalities of the Visionaries - members of the AEON program that are responsible for the time loop. However, it is entirely possible to play the entire game and miss out on the larger history of Blackreef and why AEON came to the island.
While Colt's history with Blackreef, and indeed time loops, is heavily implied to be much longer than AEON's, the time loops as seen in the game begin when AEON arrives on the island. Digging a little at Colt's past and the motives of the Visionaries helps to explain how the mysterious time loop came to be, and why it was created. However, Deathloop still leaves plenty of mystery to its lore, and the reason that some anomaly exists on Blackreef that allows time to be manipulated is left unanswered. However, what is known is how Blackreef came to be the island that Colt explores in the game, and this also reveals the nature and history of the time loop.
Blackreef Before AEON's Arrival
Blackreef has humble beginnings as an isolated fishing colony that is eventually occupied by the military from a nation known as Motherland. The architecture of the island, with cold bunkers built by shadowy organizations, is very reminiscent of the Cold War, and so Motherland is likely a reference to the Soviet Union. The Motherland military conducted experiments on Blackreef and was very likely attracted to the island because of some strange time anomaly. Deathloop does not elaborate on the full nature of these experiments, but at some point, AEON buys Blackreef in order to conduct their own experiments on the anomaly.
AEON and the Time Loop
The time loop Colt is trapped in during the events of Deathloop has more definitive answers as to its origin. The AEON Program functions as somewhat of a cult and recruits young and impressionable Eternalists. The ideology behind the program is that the leaders, known as the Visionaries, are, as the name suggests, brilliant visionaries. These Visionaries have two goals in coming to Blackreef. One is to escape the constraints of the normal world, and two, to find a way to live forever. These Visionaries are very much typical villains in that they don't see anything wrong with what they're doing and see themselves as simply ahead of their time with regards to their moral philosophies.
Thus, AEON's Visionaries enlist the help of Colt in running their new Eternalist colony, which they aim to make a place of eternal life. The Visionaries trigger the time loops on Blackreef in order to live forever, free from consequence. The fact that the time loop erases everyone's memory at the end of the day, causing them to relive the same day, again and again, is an entirely unexpected consequence of the time loop. The Visionaries also include a fail-safe in the loop, which is that as long as one of them is alive at the end of a loop, it will reset; hence Colt's mission to kill them all.
The time loop in Deathloop is half by design and half a failed experiment. The Visionaries aimed to live an eternal life, not to have their memory reset each day. Since they believe each day to be their first in the loop, they celebrate with a large gathering that Colt infiltrates at the end of the game. However, this also means that the bloody and violent nature of the Visionaries is not a result of the time loop, but actually how they intended to start their new lives. The Eternalists similarly forget at the end of each day, with only Juliana and later Colt being able to remember the previous day. While it's clear Juliana doesn't want to leave the loop, Colt is on a mission that will free the rest of the Visionaries who don't know what is happening on Blackreef.
Deathloop is available now on PC and PS5.