There are two upcoming games which deal with time loops, and where the deaths and restarts the player experiences outside the game are reflected in the player character’s in-universe deaths, which reset the loop. First to release will be Housemarque’s cerebral sci-fi horror, Returnal. Releasing just under a month later is Arkane’s action-adventure game Deathloop.
It’s rare for two games with such similar premises to release so close to one another, even though the aesthetics of Returnal and Deathloop are very different. Despite the similarities, however, both Returnal and Deathloop could still be poised for success when contextualized within the other sci-fi releases set for 2021, and the two games' potential to comment on gaming itself as a medium.
A Tale Of Two Time Loops
Deathloop and Returnal have a few superficial but key similarities. In both games, the player character is aware of the fact that they are in a time loop. In Deathloop, the player character Colt wakes up every day on the island on Blackreef, where he has to take out eight “Visionaries” before the end of the day or the loop will reset. Each time Colt fails to complete his task in time or is killed, he reawakens at the start of the loop, and is able to use his knowledge from past loops to his advantage.
In Returnal, the protagonist Selene regains consciousness as her ship is crashing onto an alien world. After she survives the crash, she is attacked by a mysterious alien being. Like Deathloop's Colt, the Returnal protagonist is able to retain knowledge from previous loops, and is able to anticipate their mysterious attackers’ moves. Unlike Colt’s world, however, the time loop in Returnal also appears to be affected by previous loops, changing slightly with each loop and reflecting the protagonist’s memories over time.
While the games have a similar aspect to their premise, it’s clear that tonally they’re very different. Deathloop’s trailers show off its pulpy ‘60s and ‘70s aesthetic, while the design of its characters resembles the caricature-like style of Dishonored. The design of Returnal, on the other hand, is reminiscent of psychological sci-fi thrillers from Alien to Annihilation.
Timing the Gameplay
The games clearly have very different gameplay too. While both are shooters, Deathloop deathloop has a first-person point-of-view while Returnal is third-person. In Deathloop, success appears to rely on manipulating humans characters. For example, one Deathloop gameplay trailer involves manipulating a target into being at another target’s party that evening, allowing both to be taken out quicker. Returnal, on the other hand, appears to be about learning to anticipate the actions of a far less relatable alien foe. To top things off, Deathloop will also include multiplayer aspects with a second player character, Juliana Blake, who is hunting Colt.
Deathloop’s cast of characters from Ego Serling the self-proclaimed mad scientist to the cannibal cult of Aleksis “The Wolf” Dorsey are bright and cartoonish in both their appearance and their vocal performances. It's clear from Returnal's trailer alone that the horror game is aiming for a hyperrealist aesthetic to bring its outlandish premise and horrifying adversaries to life.
The two games may have a key similarity in theory, but both are offering a more exciting sci-fi serving than many other games set to release in the genre this year. 2021 will see the return of famous sci-fi series like Mass Effect and Halo, but while many fans will be happy to return to those settings neither of those older franchises promise to ask new questions about either the sci-fi genre or the gaming medium. Deathloop and Returnal have the potential to do both, exploring their time loops in the story while also blurring the line between their games’ meta and the narrative as experienced by the player character. Both games could raise some very interesting questions that, despite their similarities, could make them stand out as more original than many of the other sci-fi games set to release this year.
Speculative Sci-Fi And Video Games
Speculative science fiction exists to explore theoretical questions, and Deathloop and Returnal both raise a lot of questions which could make them particularly exciting entries to the genre, especially if they take very different approaches to the idea of time travel. In Deathloop, Blackreef’s Visionaries consider the time loop a form of immortality, despite the fact that they don’t seem to be able to keep their memories of previous loops. It may be the case that the time loop is malfunctioning in some way, but if not, the concept of immortality where people forget the previous loops and are never able to tire of their daily indulgences could be an extremely interesting philosophical premise.
It’s less clear what Returnal could explore, but the game’s trailer promises a very cerebral experience. Whatever it is that has Returnal’s protagonist stuck in a loop also appears to be able to learn from past loops, and the integration of the player character’s pre-crash memories hints that Returnal may use time loops as a way to reflect on the ever-changing nature of memory itself.
It will be interesting to compare the success and ambition of Deathloop and Returnal when they are released, but despite their similar premises and close release dates, Deathloop and Returnal appear visually and thematically distinct enough that their similarities are unlikely to grow into a significant problem for either title. Furthermore, their exciting and cerebral sci-fi premises will likely help both games stand out when compared to other the older returning franchises receiving new installments this year.
If nothing else, both games have the potential to explore the relationship between gameplay and normally non-canon deaths as a form of time loop, and the time loops as experienced by their main characters in the story. Video games could prove to be a uniquely interesting medium for time travel stories as a result, and exploring narratives which have unique implications in the medium could lead more critics to consider the artistic potential of games as gaming settles into the next generation of consoles.
Returnal will launch as a PlayStation 5 exclusive on April 30. Deathloop releases on May 21, 2021 for PC and PlayStation 5.