Following the release of Deathloop last week, Arkane Studios has made a triumphant return to the spotlight. The all-new IP has been showered with critical acclaim almost unanimously across games media, with much of the praise focused on its clever design and brilliant gameplay. In so many ways, the lineage of the studios’ esteemed Dishonored series can be felt throughout Deathloop, and so it’s only natural to compare the two. Here we’ll be running over which we think is better across three different categories before giving the verdict on which we think comes out on top overall.
Story
Unraveling the enigma of Deathloop’s story by piecing together various clues scattered around Blackreef is certainly compelling, but even though the narrative has some clever twists and turns, it’s not quite on the same level as Dishonored. The stealth-action series’ sprawling tale of treachery and revenge is altogether deeper and more nuanced, marked by some incredibly captivating personalities along the way.
Deathloop’s story, by comparison, is more of a story premise, a context, to the events of the game and the existence of the time loop, rather than a conventionally structured narrative. Again, in many ways, it’s extremely clever, but there just isn’t the same imperative put on actual storytelling and character development. It plays a much lesser role in the overall experience.
To be fair, Dishonored’s story takes place over multiple games and DLC, so the comparison isn’t quite apples to apples. Still, if you’re interested in experiencing signature Arkane gameplay with a brilliant story to tie everything together, Dishonored and its sequel is clearly superior.
Winner: Dishonored by a good margin.
