If you ever feel like too many games slot too neatly into one category – this one’s a platformer, this one’s an RPG, this one’s a city builder – it’s because combining tropes and layering mechanics on top of one another is riskier than just making a straight genre piece. We know what an FPS is. But an FPS mixed with time travel, immersive sims, stealth games, and a roguelike? That’s trickier. Nevertheless, it’s these genre mashups that are normally the most compelling games. Published by Fallout, Starfield, and Skyrim legend Bethesda and developed by Dishonored’s Arkane, Deathloop is one such example. Our own GOTY for 2021, it’s now available cheaper than ever.
Dispatched to the remote island non-paradise of Blackreef, your job in Deathloop is seemingly simple: you’re an assassin, you have eight targets, and one day to kill them all. Naturally, though, it’s not that easy. Somehow, you’ve become stuck in a time loop. If you die, the entire day starts again. Likewise, if by sundown one of your would-be victims is still breathing, it’s back to the beginning. So begins an FPS game by way of a puzzler, stealth-’em-up, immersive sim, and mind-tangling tale of chronological chaos. In 2021, we named Deathloop our own Game of the Year. If you’ve never tried it before, now is the perfect time.
As part of the summer Steam sale, from now until Thursday July 11, Deathloop is cheaper than ever at just $11.99 / £8.99, down 80% from its usual price. If you like Dishonored stealth and environmental puzzles, the time-bending tales of Life Is Strange and Outer Wilds, and the punchy FPS action of latter-day Doom, this one’s for you. Just head here.
Otherwise, try some of the other best story games, or maybe leap forward in time and scope the best upcoming PC games on their way to you.
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