DEATHLOOP
A Guide to DEATHLOOP’s Blackreef
DEATHLOOP
The inhabitants of DEATHLOOP’s Blackreef are living out an endless party.
Every looping day is a celebration of chaos, grandiosity, and debauchery. This spirit has infused itself into all elements of the island – from the drunken spectacles taking place in the streets, to the brightly colored and sometimes ominous graffiti covering the island, and even to the music you’ll hear in each of the four districts dividing Blackreef. But Blackreef’s history is a tainted one, poisoned by the existence of a strange anomaly that – many years ago – drew the attention of military forces and, eventually, the founders of the AEON Program.
A Troubled Past
“There are a lot of 1930s/40s-era influences on Blackreef, with its bunkers, abandoned labs and rusty structures,” says Art Director Sebastien Mitton. “We pulled from locations like Prypiatt in Ukraine, Hashima in Japan, and Pyramiden, which is an abandoned Soviet coal mining settlement on the Norwegian archipelago. Then we dipped into the Cold War and looked to the show Lost and its DHARMA Initiative. This source of mystery was a huge inspiration for our artists.”
These architectural inspirations laid the groundwork for an isolated island plagued by decades-old conspiracies and beset by various organizations and their strange experiments. Layered on top of these cold military structures are the markings of the island’s current inhabitants – the eight Visionaries and the Eternalists that follow them.
Exploring the Island
Once you get through the prologue, the entire island (and the entire day) are open to you. You’ll be able to jump between four times of day and four districts – Updaam, Fristad Rock, The Complex and Carl’s Bay – whenever you choose. There’s no timer for you to keep an eye on. Time will only pass when you finish what you’ve set out to do in a district, but you can only visit one district per time period and time will always move forward. You won’t be able to jump back in time throughout the day. You can, however, return to that same district later in the day if you want to see how your choices as well as the time of day affect an area.
All four districts are open, like what you might remember from Dishonored, but unlike Dishonored they aren’t tied to a linear succession of levels. It’s completely up to you how you explore. Say, for instance, that you start a new day, but you know there’s something you want for a future attempt that can only be found at the very end of the day. You can choose to skip past the first three time periods, and head straight to your objective for this cycle. If it was a specific weapon or ability you were after, you’ll be able to spend Residuum to keep it for the future. If it was intel, well… knowledge is power in DEATHLOOP. Campaign Designer Dana Nightingale describes it as a “player-authored experience.”
“You can follow your curiosity, or focus on one location or one Visionary, mastering it,” says Nightingale. “You can follow a lead, wanting to discover (for example) how you could possibly kill Frank when there's obviously not enough time in the day to do so. This could take you all over the game world, with one clue leading to the next. But maybe you saved Frank until last, because you care a lot more about what's going on with Fia and her mystery. You could hear a rumor about a unique weapon and descend into an obscure new area that you only discovered by happening upon the right clues.”
“You're really crafting your own campaign, tackling each part of the mystery in the order you're most interested in, or ignoring it completely and losing yourself in the loop,” she continues. “Sometimes a ‘mission’ is ‘This Visionary has a Slab that I want, so I need to go get it.’ Sometimes it's ‘The next clue in my Lead is in a dangerous area – but with the right tools I can pass through easily, so where do I find them? I think I saw a gun with a perk that is useful here in a safe three loops ago. But to open that safe I need...’ Sometimes it's ‘I want to fight Julianna, so let's visit Aleksis' party and see if she invades me.’ But it's always up to you.”
Where the Party Never Ends
Each of the island’s districts have their own stories that will play out throughout the day, whether you’re there to see them or not, and these stories could have an impact on the layout of the district as the day progresses. Because of this, some areas might only be accessible at certain points of day. Similarly, some of the Visionaries might only be accessible at certain times. That’s why you’ll need to use the timeloop to study them and pay attention to their routines.
Blackreef is a living island, with hundreds of stories to tell. Taking the time to explore and do some digging could net valuable rewards. Visiting the same spot at different times of day may reveal a new facet of DEATHLOOP’s story or give you a new clue to breaking the timeloop. You could even overhear a conversation that leads you to a new item and new opportunities.
A Different Side of Blackreef
Want to see Blackreef from a different perspective? Maybe one where you aren’t being hunted by everyone on the island? Try exploring it as Julianna instead of Colt.
Where everyone on the island of Blackreef is out to kill Colt, Julianna is free to explore unimpeded by Eternalists. She’s the one calling the shots every day, after all. When Julianna walks the streets of Blackreef, rather than being met with a storm of hot lead, she’s met by greetings. For players, this experience offers some unique options. You can use this advantage to carefully lay traps and play detective, hunting Colt across the district like a jungle cat, prowling rooftops or mingling with crowds of Eternalists. You can stalk him and alert enemies to his location, sending droves of your “allies” after him.
Or you could take this opportunity to play tourist. When you play as Colt, you’re constantly watching your back. But as Julianna, you can take a moment to stop and explore the island. Look at the graffiti and the posters on the walls. Do some sightseeing.
“We always see our levels at Arkane as a sort of ant farm with the little ants doing their thing and you’re here to disturb this,” says Game Director Dinga Bakaba. “But interestingly, as Julianna you don’t disturb them. On the contrary, they will greet you and just be doing their thing. It’s always nice to see the world like that and sometimes approaching the space differently. Knowing that NPCs are not a danger makes you sometimes approach a space in a different way. I have, myself, discovered spaces that seemed unimportant when I was playing as Colt, but that I felt like I went back to a lot more when playing as Julianna."
