Deathloop takes a lot of good from the Dishonored franchise but one area where developer Arkane Studios decided to draw a line was the non-lethal approach.
Speaking with VG247 in a recent interview, game director Dinga Bakaba confirmed that there will be no non-lethal playthroughs in Deathloop. That should have been obvious from the start though.
The whole premise of Deathloop stands on protagonist Colt having to kill eight targets on an island before the clock strikes midnight. Leaving even one target alive before the timer runs out will mean failure and which will cause a time loop to reset the day and bring Colt back at the start of the time loop, albeit with newfound knowledge of the habits and patterns of the said targets.
Bakaba further added that every encounter in Deathloop will be lethal and once players start to improve their character by unlocking new abilities, they will start to feel like a “superpowered John Wick” in the game. That being said, Deathloop will have its stealth options as well, and which can also be improved through progression. Unlike the Dishonored franchise though, making use of stealth in Deathloop will only help players to approach their targets in the best way possible. Death is very much guaranteed to come by your hands in the game.
Encounters are very lethal, up to the point where you start to improve your character. I like to say that you can be something like a superpowered John Wick. But being sneaky can also be enhanced by abilities. There are some abilities that are dedicated to that, to sneaking around, to making the best of stealth.
So, you can play using stealth, although playing non-lethally is not something Colt is into, for a number of reasons. But the most important reason is, the only way he’s getting out of the island is by killing eight targets before the end of the day.
Bakaba has previously described Deathloop as an “inverted Cluedo” where players need to figure out how to commit the perfect murders in every run. Dishonored is not alone here. Arkane Studios has taken from the Prey franchise as well to mirror abilities and gameplay for the perfect run.
Deathloop was officially announced last year and was showcased just last month during the PlayStation 5 reveal event. The game will be a timed console exclusive for the PlayStation 4 successor when it releases in late 2020 alongside PC. Deathloop will then land on Xbox Series X once the exclusivity period ends.
