“Deathloop” extends Microsoft’s well-reviewed game series

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Rave reviews for this week’s time-traveling assassin game “Deathloop” officially make it a trend: Microsoft is finally on its way to producing great games.

Why it matters: Game quality has been an issue for Microsoft for years, while console rivals Nintendo and Sony have shown their ability to repeatedly become title contenders for the game of the year.

The details: “Deathloop” follows August’s much-praised “Psychonauts 2” and the 2020 Game of the Year nominee “Microsoft Flight Simulator”.

All three are the result of Microsoft’s aggressive expansion of its gaming operations. Deathloop comes from Arkane Lyon, a subsidiary of Bethesda Softworks / ZeniMax Media, which Microsoft officially bought this year for $ 7.5 billion. Psychonauts 2 hails from Double Fine Productions, a team that bought in 2019 amidst a studio buying spree. Microsoft’s 2020 flight simulator, developed by third-party studio Asobo, saw Microsoft focus more on PC gaming and successfully revive an overlooked franchise. (The game arrived on Xbox in July.) “Psychonauts 2.” Image: Double Fine Productions / Microsoft

There’s a catch: Only one of these games is Xbox-only, which prevents Microsoft from using this series to immediately sell its gaming ecosystem.

Psychonauts 2 was released on PC, Xbox and PlayStation, honoring a cross-platform commitment it made prior to the purchase of its studios. Deathloop is, oddly enough, only available on PS5 for a year, the result of a timed exclusivity agreement between Bethesda and Sony that was reached prior to the purchase of Microsoft. Image: Arkane Lyon / Microsoft

How it works: Deathloop puts players in control of a man named Colt Vahn, who wakes up on a beach and quickly discovers he is in a violent time loop.

Players see the world through Colts’ eyes and can explore four main areas of the island four times a day, before the cycle resets. and generally explore the world to understand why it is in a loop. As players progress, the game keeps track of their discoveries and allows players to set goals for the next step. For example: a key code discovered at the end of one cycle could be used to unlock a door at the beginning of the next. The ultimate goal is to kill eight enemy leaders in a one-day cycle, a feat that initially seems impossible given their location and limited time.

The big picture: Microsoft’s series may be covered in asterisks, but it’s real and meaningful to those who knew why Xbox was selling itself based on its services, not its exclusive games.

Microsoft’s hit franchises Halo and Gears of War had cooled over the past decade and other Xbox productions have failed to reach the quality levels of the best on PlayStation or Switch. problems with tight production times that didn’t give the teams time to make spectacular releases. Microsoft’s solution involves buying large studios that already existed outside of Xbox, funding their best ideas, and giving everyone more time.

What’s Next: The series is likely to continue with November’s Forza Horizon 5, the latest in a reliable series.

But all eyes should be on December’s Halo Infinite, the work of an in-house team that has had its ups and downs and been given an extra year to make something great.

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