Deathloop Brings Back Powers From Dishonored

During the IGN Fan Fest Deathloop panel, developer Arkane revealed multiple interesting new details about the mechanics that drive its upcoming time loop assassination game. Among those fresh facts is the news that it will feature returning powers from the Dishonored series, as well as bone charm-style modifications for both weapons and your character. Deathloop's Game Director, Dinga Bakaba, explained that some powers players will have used in Dishonored will appear in Deathloop. “As much as we wanted to do something very original with this game, we also wanted some familiarity,” he explained. “We decided to bring back quite a few of the powers that we have in the Dishonored series,” he continued. “I think it’s something that will make players feel right at home. And then there are a few twists and modifications. I think that’s a good view of the main player tools.” Watch the exclusive new trailer below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/26/deathloop-explained-exclusive-game-trailer-ign-fan-fest-2021"] Bakaba stopped short of revealing exactly what those powers are, but we can already see in the gameplay trailer that protagonist Colt is able to use a teleport ability similar to Dishonored’s Blink. Hopefully there will be some fun twists on other Dishonored skills; something like Emily’s Domino ability would certainly come in handy. Also akin to Dishonored, you’ll find items around the world that can modify both your weapons and your own physical self. “Trinkets are small pieces of metal imbued with the power of the anomaly that is causing the time loop,” Bakaba explained. “By equipping those trinkets, you can change the properties of your weapons. On top of that, you can also use some Trinkets to actually mod yourself, so being able to jump higher, run faster, regenerate some health when you assassinate someone, things like that.” Trinkets provide passive upgrades, then, much like Dishonored’s bone charms. But if you need a more significant upgrade, then you’ll need to hunt down a Slab. “Slabs allow the user to do various things,” Bakaba said. “So for instance, Alexis, one of the targets, has a Slab called Kinesis that allows him to throw people around, forward, backward, upward, sideways, et cetera. So he will actually use that to throw his own allies at you. I’ve even seen him throw Juliana at me once. And of course, you can get that power out of him and use it.” Since Slabs provide very powerful abilities, they are among the world’s rarest items. “There’s not even one Slab per Visionary,” said Bakaba, referring to the eight main targets of Deathloop. “Most of the Visionaries have their own Slabs, and the only way to get those Slabs is to defeat one of those Visionaries and take it with you.” Check out the full IGN Fan Fest panel below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/26/an-inside-look-at-bethesdas-deathloop-ign-fan-fest-2021"] These powers will help you solve Deathloop’s overarching puzzle: how to kill all eight of the Visionaries in one day. Doing so will break the time loop. However, your targets are located around different parts of the island, with two in each of its four districts. You can approach each target individually, but you will run out of time and the loop will reset. The secret is finding out how to bring targets together, at different times of the day, so that multiple Visionaries can be taken out in one assault. Importantly, there is only one way to kill all the targets in time. “In order to line them up there is only one solution, so really the game is a gigantic puzzle that you have to solve and in order to complete that puzzle,” said Bakaba. “There is one way to break the time loop.” While there is a golden solution to ensuring all the targets are in place, the way you kill those targets is entirely up to you. “There are some ways that we open for you, like opportunities in the sense of maybe using the environment, or learning about some dangerous things that are in their levels, or making [the target] weaker in different ways,” Bakaba said. “So there are some things that we kind of prepare for you, but overall, yes, you can get at the target in the way you want.” This is, of course, similar to Dishonored, which offers some suggested methods of execution, but ultimately leaves the approach in your hands. The time it takes to solve that puzzle varies on how long it takes you to discover the individual parts of its solution, as well as how much exploration and experimentation you want to do, but Bakaba suggested a “focussed” playthrough, sticking to the main path of the game, will be “comparable to our former games” in length. For more Deathloop, check out our interview with Arkane about its PS5 features and time loop gameplay, and what comes in each edition of the game. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.