Arkane Studios’ newest upcoming action-adventure game Deathloop may not be out for quite a bit, but as gamers wait, they can learn quite a bit about what is in store for them, once the game does come out. IGN recently spoke with both the Game Director for Deathloop Dinga Bakaba and the Art Director Sebastien Mitton about the artistic inspirations behind the game, how the time loop will work in-game, as well as what the significance is of developing a game for the PlayStation 5.
During the interview, Bakaba was asked how the game is different from a roguelike. Bakaba stated that one of the main differences between a roguelike game and Deathloop is that even if the player dies after learning something, or getting a weapon, “progress has still been made.” He further explains that “You might lose the gun that you found, but the story has moved forward. [The Protagonist] Colt now knows something and the player both know something important and they need to act on this thing.” Bakaba even hints that the game becomes even less like a roguelike game as the story progresses, and as the player goes through numerous loops. Even though players are reliving the same day over and over again, the main character can experience new events as well as visit new locations. Bakaba also stated that the game isn’t like many other loop games, such as Majora’s Mask, where players had a set time before they had to restart, stating “The one thing we wanted to make sure is that it doesn’t mean that the player is literally on the clock in their moment-to-moment gameplay.” He then continues, encouraging players to take their time and explore all the details of the game, stating that the game “…will not punish you for that.”
The interview also revealed the source of the Sebastien Mitton’s artistic inspiration for the game’s aesthetic. According to Mitton, the artistic inspiration for the art style of Deathloop comes from the famous graphic designer Saul Bass. During the interview, Mitton stated that “When we were discussing the core ideas, the main pillars of the game, the time period was not there. And at some point, I was like, imagine you have an isolated island. And if you want to create a huge contrast and a clash with something, it could be the time period instead of just sci-fi elements.” He then went on to call the aesthetic of the game the “Saul Bass vibe” stating that he sought to take inspiration from the posters for Vertigo, and The Shining to give the game a feeling of “something that is really Arkane.”
Aside from the artistic inspirations and the time loop mechanic, Dinga Bakaba also revealed what gamers would be able to enjoy on the PlayStation 5 version of the game. In the interview, Bakaba stated that gamers would be able to enjoy higher resolution, higher frame rate, as well as some HDR. He also stated that the new console would allow for Sebastien Mitton and his team’s work to “…shine in a way that it never did before.” While the release date for the game is currently unknown, more information will likely be revealed at another date. Deathloop will eventually be released for both PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Windows.