Deathloop is easy to describe, but difficult to classify. You play as Colt Vern. To break the cycle and break free, you must compare wits, learning the strengths, weaknesses, and schedules of eight assassins each time you repeat the loop. In other words, you must find the assassins' clues as you move through the wide, interconnected world, defeating enemies in melee combat, gunfights, or by stealth.

So what exactly is Deathloop? Is it a shooter? Is it a stealth game? An action game? A puzzle game? A roguelike.

All of the above, according to developer Arkane and publisher Bethesda. They call the game a "murder puzzle," and having played it, I think that's a fitting description; Arkane and Bethesda showed off about 45 minutes of Deathloop gameplay in a press demo, and fans of Arkane's previous series, Dishonored Fans of Arkane's previous series, Dishonored, will probably like what they see.

The demo began with Deathloop's protagonist, Colt, waking up on the isolated island of Blackreef with severe amnesia. We can't get into the specifics of how Colt regains his sense of direction, but we can quickly learn the basics of the situation he finds himself in.

Here's the setup: Blackreef is caught in a time loop, and eight notorious assassins and their minions, the Eternalists, are trying to keep it that way. After all, the loop makes them virtually immortal. Colt wants to break the cycle and escape, but the assassins want to protect the cycle and their immorality at any cost. This is especially true of Juliana Blake. Juliana has chosen to hunt the colts herself and enjoys the recurring cat-and-mouse game.

The early part of the demo was less about showing off gameplay and more about explaining how Deathloop's myriad systems work together. Taken alone, the mechanics all sound quite ordinary. The entire game takes place from a first-person perspective, with Colt shooting enemies with a variety of guns, slashing and punching them with melee weapons, and sneaking up behind them to eliminate them with stealth. Colt gains a variety of powers, some of which help him move through the environment and some of which help him in combat. The Black Reef environments range from rocky beaches to bustling cityscapes, and are rich with ideas from Arkane's previous titles, especially "Dishonored."

However, the tools at Colt's disposal are quite small. The developers showed off handguns, submachine guns, rifles, shotguns, and even a silenced nail gun. (Colt can augment his abilities with "slabs," which grant supernatural powers, and trinkets, which grant mild upgrades to Colt and his weapons. For example, early in the game slabs give Colt the ability to fire energy grenades, while trinkets reduce damage, increase weapon output, and give Colt a double jump.

While Arkane does not explicitly state that Deathloop is a roguelike ("It's the community that defines the genre of the game," said Dinga Bakaba, the film's director), it definitely incorporates many roguelike elements. In other words, when Colt dies (not when he dies), the game world resets.

However, Colt can carry over some of his weapons and abilities from playthrough to playthrough thanks to a resource called Residium, which is dropped by enemies. This should reduce the frustration associated with the random item drops of roguelikes and the feeling that not everything is worth playing. At the same time, Residium is limited, so it will not be possible to carry all of your equipment, at least not at first.

Deathloop appears to be a fairly large game (Arkane claims that there is about twice as much area to explore as in Dishonored 2), but there are only three important things to keep in mind during each run. There are eight assassins, four districts that can be explored, and four time periods per day (morning, noon, afternoon, and night). Experiencing each district at each time of day provides valuable information about each assassin, which can then be used to plan the final attack. Defeating all eight assassins at once will break the loop.

After a briefing early in the game, we see Colt take on one of the vicious assassins, a greedy businessman named Alexis Dawson. Colt learned that Alexis would be the guest of honor at a lavish party. Colt learned that Alexis would be the guest of honor at the lavish party. The developers tried to shoot down the front door, but it was quickly blown to pieces. Thankfully, an ability called Reprise rewound time a bit, giving Colt another chance to tackle Alexis. However, Reprise can only be used twice at a time, so it is a limited safeguard at best.

On the second play, the developers took a more stealthy approach, sneaking past the guards or finding another entrance to the party. They also utilized the Hackamajig: it can open locked doors, hack turrets, and wreak havoc with electronics; both the Hackamajig and each weapon create a unique sensation on the DualSense controller, but it was a bit hard to gauge in the hands-off demo.

Nevertheless, assassinating Alexis was not as simple as finding a way in and starting a firefight. Instead, Colt proceeded to explore Alexis' mansion, finding notes and listening to conversations. Some of these were merely coloring and world-building, while others provided potentially game-changing information, such as a code that would open the door to a distant library that was only open during the day.

Colt made it to the party's grand ballroom, where he was gunned down by overwhelming force. In their next move, however, the developers took him to the library, where he learned the exact time Alexis would appear at the party. That night, Colt sneaked into the mansion at just the right moment and dropped Alexis into the meat grinder. It was a bit of poetic justice for the exploitative foreman who treats his workers like livestock.

But getting away from the party was another matter entirely, as Colt encountered Juliana armed with a sniper rifle. Unlike other assassins, Juliana actively hunts Colt during each cycle, adding an element of unpredictability to each run. In addition, other players online can control Juliana, making her potentially even more dangerous than the AI.

Arkane's developers have explained that players want to control Juliana partly for the cosmetic rewards, but mainly for "social interaction" and "creating interesting stories." Nevertheless, it is easy to imagine the potential for disparity depending on the Julianna a player manipulates. It remains to be seen how this feature will translate into the final game, but it seems certain that it will be at least intriguing.

Deathloop's gameplay has a kinship with Dishonored's gameplay. However, in terms of story, setting, and overall game structure, Deathloop is very much its own thing. "Murder puzzle" is a fitting designation for the genre, as the game seems to cohabitate action-packed combat and logical problem solving.

The game will debut on both PS5 and Windows 10 on September 14. It will be a good last hurrah for Bethesda fans on PlayStation. After that, the Bethesda game will likely debut on Xbox consoles.