Revealed at E3 2019, Arkane’s next ambitious first-person adventure is the time-twisty Deathloop, which is now set to be released on PC and PS5 as a console exclusive this holiday. With a release so close, and the impressive first couple of showcases Arkane and publisher Bethesda have offered for it so far, we spoke to Deathloop Game Director Dinga Bakaba and Art Director Sebastien Mitton about the unique art style and its inspirations, how Deathloop’s time loop design works, and what it means to bring the game to the PS5. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/17/deathloop-dev-interview-ps5-features-time-loop-gameplay"]

Is Deathloop a Rougelike?

Deathloop will have players living a day over and over as the uncover the mysteries of the adventure’s setting, the island of Black Reef. And while the loop of starting a run, dying, and restarting from the beginning makes Deathloop sound like a rougelike, Bakaba made clear that a few key choices differentiate it from the popular genre. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=deathloop-20-concept-art-images-characters-weapons-locations&captions=true"] “You are piecing together what happened on the island, who you are, and what you are doing here and how you can escape,” he said. “The way it's a bit different from a roguelike is, imagine that I find an important clue, and I die just after that. Progress is still made. You might lose the gun that you found, but the story has moved forward. [The Protagonist] Colt now knows something and the player both knows something important and they need to act on this thing.” Sounding reminiscent of last year’s acclaimed The Outer Wilds in that way, Deathloop also distances itself, according to Bakaba, though the team wants to preserve some of the mystery as to why. “Not trying to say too much, but there is a turning point in the game where the progression becomes even more different than a roguelike,” he teased. “You play that same day over and over, but you don't necessarily do the same things, you are not necessarily in the same places, you don't have the same goals.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/deathloop-gameplay-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"] The Arkane team wanted to make sure that players didn’t feel restricted by the time loop itself, and Bakaba cautions that players don’t need to worry about feeling limited by Deathloop’s timeline. “The one thing we wanted to make sure is that it doesn't mean that the player is literally on the clock in their moment-to-moment gameplay,” he noted. “If you want to play very deliberately, very slowly, and take your time, read every note, look at every painting, the game will not punish you for that.”  

Deathloop on PS5

Deathloop marks Arkane’s first PS5 release, coming at the start of the next-generation console’s life. Both Bakaba and Mitton spoke to what it means to take advantage of the new console technology while also developing for PC. “The first thing that it means for games is just comfort, like higher resolution, higher frame rate, things like HDR, some use of ray tracing, etc.,” Bakaba noted of the next-gen capabilities. “Just having higher fidelity on screen to make Seb's team's work shine in a way that it never did before is really exciting. Of course, I mentioned the frame rate. I think that's something really important. Until now our games and consoles have always been 30fps. Being able to target 60 for an action game, it's very exciting.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=deathloop-playstation-5-screenshots&captions=true"] Bakaba also noted how the DualSense is allowing for a new level of immersion, which is so important to Arkane’s design philosophy. “It's got a lot of nice features with the haptics feedback, the active triggers. We are a first person game. We really value immersion a lot in our games,” he said. “Really feel the weapons in your hand, its reaction, how it reloads, how it reacts to reloading, etc... I think that players will enjoy those functionalities. “This is something that we are...extremely proud to be part of, it's something so big. A new generation of console and the launch of them. It's not every time in a career that you have this opportunity. So, we are really thrilled,” Bakaba noted.

The Saul Bass Inspiration

One of the most striking things about the little we’ve seen of Deathloop so far is its stark, eye-catching art style. Mitton explained how the work of famed artists Saul Bass, responsible for famous posters and title sequences for films like Vertigo, The Shining, and more, played into the design of Deathloop. “At the beginning [of production], we were not sure [it would be] taking place during the ‘60s. When we were discussing the core ideas, the main pillars of the game, the time period was not there. And at some point I was like, imagine you have an isolated island. And if you want to create a huge contrast and a clash with something, it could be the time period instead of just sci-fi elements,” Mitton explained, noting the various inspirations for the world. “We call it the Saul Bass vibe. He did all the posters for The Shining, Vertigo. And you mix it together to get something that is really Arkane.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/10/deathloop-cinematic-reveal-trailer-e3-2019"] Mitton drilled down into even how designing Deathloop’s power set, which looks reminiscent of Arkane’s past work on Dishonored but still true to the world of this new game. “One approach was to make the visual effects more badass but still legible. It's really hard to create a Blink [power] in fact. It looks easy when you see it, but when you work with your team it's back and forth between game designers, visuals, sound, etc,” Mitton noted. “And the idea was to make something half realistic and half.. a bit comic [book-like] in the way you create the particles.”

Revealed at E3 2019, Arkane’s next ambitious first-person adventure is the time-twisty Deathloop, which is now set to be released on PC and PS5 as a console exclusive this holiday. With a release so close, and the impressive first couple of showcases Arkane and publisher Bethesda have offered for it so far, we spoke to Deathloop Game Director Dinga Bakaba and Art Director Sebastien Mitton about the unique art style and its inspirations, how Deathloop’s time loop design works, and what it means to bring the game to the PS5. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/17/deathloop-dev-interview-ps5-features-time-loop-gameplay"]

Is Deathloop a Rougelike?

Deathloop will have players living a day over and over as the uncover the mysteries of the adventure’s setting, the island of Black Reef. And while the loop of starting a run, dying, and restarting from the beginning makes Deathloop sound like a rougelike, Bakaba made clear that a few key choices differentiate it from the popular genre. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=deathloop-20-concept-art-images-characters-weapons-locations&captions=true"] “You are piecing together what happened on the island, who you are, and what you are doing here and how you can escape,” he said. “The way it's a bit different from a roguelike is, imagine that I find an important clue, and I die just after that. Progress is still made. You might lose the gun that you found, but the story has moved forward. [The Protagonist] Colt now knows something and the player both knows something important and they need to act on this thing.” Sounding reminiscent of last year’s acclaimed The Outer Wilds in that way, Deathloop also distances itself, according to Bakaba, though the team wants to preserve some of the mystery as to why. “Not trying to say too much, but there is a turning point in the game where the progression becomes even more different than a roguelike,” he teased. “You play that same day over and over, but you don't necessarily do the same things, you are not necessarily in the same places, you don't have the same goals.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/11/deathloop-gameplay-trailer-ps5-reveal-event"] The Arkane team wanted to make sure that players didn’t feel restricted by the time loop itself, and Bakaba cautions that players don’t need to worry about feeling limited by Deathloop’s timeline. “The one thing we wanted to make sure is that it doesn't mean that the player is literally on the clock in their moment-to-moment gameplay,” he noted. “If you want to play very deliberately, very slowly, and take your time, read every note, look at every painting, the game will not punish you for that.”  

Deathloop on PS5

Deathloop marks Arkane’s first PS5 release, coming at the start of the next-generation console’s life. Both Bakaba and Mitton spoke to what it means to take advantage of the new console technology while also developing for PC. “The first thing that it means for games is just comfort, like higher resolution, higher frame rate, things like HDR, some use of ray tracing, etc.,” Bakaba noted of the next-gen capabilities. “Just having higher fidelity on screen to make Seb's team's work shine in a way that it never did before is really exciting. Of course, I mentioned the frame rate. I think that's something really important. Until now our games and consoles have always been 30fps. Being able to target 60 for an action game, it's very exciting.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=deathloop-playstation-5-screenshots&captions=true"] Bakaba also noted how the DualSense is allowing for a new level of immersion, which is so important to Arkane’s design philosophy. “It's got a lot of nice features with the haptics feedback, the active triggers. We are a first person game. We really value immersion a lot in our games,” he said. “Really feel the weapons in your hand, its reaction, how it reloads, how it reacts to reloading, etc... I think that players will enjoy those functionalities. “This is something that we are...extremely proud to be part of, it's something so big. A new generation of console and the launch of them. It's not every time in a career that you have this opportunity. So, we are really thrilled,” Bakaba noted.

The Saul Bass Inspiration

One of the most striking things about the little we’ve seen of Deathloop so far is its stark, eye-catching art style. Mitton explained how the work of famed artists Saul Bass, responsible for famous posters and title sequences for films like Vertigo, The Shining, and more, played into the design of Deathloop. “At the beginning [of production], we were not sure [it would be] taking place during the ‘60s. When we were discussing the core ideas, the main pillars of the game, the time period was not there. And at some point I was like, imagine you have an isolated island. And if you want to create a huge contrast and a clash with something, it could be the time period instead of just sci-fi elements,” Mitton explained, noting the various inspirations for the world. “We call it the Saul Bass vibe. He did all the posters for The Shining, Vertigo. And you mix it together to get something that is really Arkane.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/06/10/deathloop-cinematic-reveal-trailer-e3-2019"] Mitton drilled down into even how designing Deathloop’s power set, which looks reminiscent of Arkane’s past work on Dishonored but still true to the world of this new game. “One approach was to make the visual effects more badass but still legible. It's really hard to create a Blink [power] in fact. It looks easy when you see it, but when you work with your team it's back and forth between game designers, visuals, sound, etc,” Mitton noted. “And the idea was to make something half realistic and half.. a bit comic [book-like] in the way you create the particles.”

Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans will star in The Gray Man, a new thriller movie directed by Joe and Anthony Russo that will carry Netflix's biggest budget yet. The movie is based on the Gray Man and Court Gentry book series from author Mark Greaney. The globe-trotting movie focuses on two killers, Gentry (Gosling) and his former companion Lloyd (Evans), as they hunt each other down. The movie is meant to kickstart a franchise with this first installment written by Joe Russo. Captain America and Avengers writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, also helped out with the script. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=netflix-spotlight-july-2020&captions=true"] Anthony Russo compared the movie to Captain America: The Winter Soldier in an interview with Deadline. “The movie is a real mano a mano between those two great actors, who represent two different versions of the CIA, in what it can be, and what it can do,” Anthony Russo said. “For those who were fans of Captain America: Winter Soldier, this is us moving into that territory in more of a real world setting. That’s what this movie really means for us.” Joe Russo said their intention is to go on for multiple installments and to keep the stakes, and probably the budget, very high. This movie is expected to have Netflix's highest budget yet at around $200 million. For comparison, a movie like The Irishman reportedly cost around $175 million and Extraction was under $100 million. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/extraction-full-one-shot-scene-breakdown-wchris-hemsworth-joe-russo-and-director"] “The intention is for it to be competitive with any theatrical and the ability to do with with [sic] Gosling and Evans is a dream for us," Joe Russo said. "The idea is to create a franchise and build out a whole universe, with Ryan at the center of it. We have all committed to the first movie and that’s got to be great to get us to the second movie. These are master assassins and Gosling’s characters gets burned by the CIA and Evans’ character has to hunt him down. "We think Netflix is the perfect place for this film." Joe Russo also said that the movie will hopefully begin production by late 2020 or early 2021, but that's “COVID dependent.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] This movie was originally set up with the Russo Brothers at Sony right after the release of Winter Soldier and before the Russo brothers helmed the biggest box office hit of all time. Even before that, Brad Pitt and his Ad Astra director, James Gray, were reportedly going to film The Gray Man. This is the second big franchise for the Russo brothers at Netflix. Extraction was recently crowned on Netflix's list of their biggest opening months for original movies. About half of all Netflix accounts worldwide tried out Extraction in its first month. A sequel is reportedly on the way. Netflix has been pumping out big projects throughout July, including the recently-released The Old Guard and the upcoming Transformers TV series. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who thinks Winter Soldier and Civil War are the best MCU movies so far.

Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans will star in The Gray Man, a new thriller movie directed by Joe and Anthony Russo that will carry Netflix's biggest budget yet. The movie is based on the Gray Man and Court Gentry book series from author Mark Greaney. The globe-trotting movie focuses on two killers, Gentry (Gosling) and his former companion Lloyd (Evans), as they hunt each other down. The movie is meant to kickstart a franchise with this first installment written by Joe Russo. Captain America and Avengers writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, also helped out with the script. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=netflix-spotlight-july-2020&captions=true"] Anthony Russo compared the movie to Captain America: The Winter Soldier in an interview with Deadline. “The movie is a real mano a mano between those two great actors, who represent two different versions of the CIA, in what it can be, and what it can do,” Anthony Russo said. “For those who were fans of Captain America: Winter Soldier, this is us moving into that territory in more of a real world setting. That’s what this movie really means for us.” Joe Russo said their intention is to go on for multiple installments and to keep the stakes, and probably the budget, very high. This movie is expected to have Netflix's highest budget yet at around $200 million. For comparison, a movie like The Irishman reportedly cost around $175 million and Extraction was under $100 million. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/extraction-full-one-shot-scene-breakdown-wchris-hemsworth-joe-russo-and-director"] “The intention is for it to be competitive with any theatrical and the ability to do with with [sic] Gosling and Evans is a dream for us," Joe Russo said. "The idea is to create a franchise and build out a whole universe, with Ryan at the center of it. We have all committed to the first movie and that’s got to be great to get us to the second movie. These are master assassins and Gosling’s characters gets burned by the CIA and Evans’ character has to hunt him down. "We think Netflix is the perfect place for this film." Joe Russo also said that the movie will hopefully begin production by late 2020 or early 2021, but that's “COVID dependent.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] This movie was originally set up with the Russo Brothers at Sony right after the release of Winter Soldier and before the Russo brothers helmed the biggest box office hit of all time. Even before that, Brad Pitt and his Ad Astra director, James Gray, were going to film The Gray Man, according to Deadline. This is the second big franchise for the Russo brothers at Netflix. Extraction was recently crowned on Netflix's list of their biggest opening months for original movies. About half of all Netflix accounts worldwide tried out Extraction in its first month. A sequel is reportedly on the way. Netflix has been pumping out big projects throughout July, including the recently-released The Old Guard and the upcoming Transformers TV series. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who thinks Winter Soldier and Civil War are the best MCU movies so far.

We've gotten a first real look at the PS4 and PS5 controller side-by-side. Revealed after a Geoff Keighley livestream about the new DualSense controller, the presenter posted a side-by-side comparison of the two:

A new member of the family. #PlayStation5 #SummerGameFest pic.twitter.com/xuCTkBmq8h

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) July 17, 2020

As expected, the PS5 controller does look a tad heftier than the DualShock, but not hugely so. Keighley mentioned during the stream that the controller felt slightly heavier, but only slightly. After a reveal in April, we've learned a lot about the new controller's haptic feedback, adaptive triggers (and a little less about its still-mysterious Create button). Microsoft has already revealed the Xbox Series X and its controller, and we've broken down how these new controllers compare to each other. For more on PlayStation 5, be sure to check out the PS5's full specs and how it compares to Xbox Series X, why audio could be Sony's next-gen console's killer feature, and read Sony's comments on how the COVID-19 pandemic should not delay the launch of the PlayStation 5. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ps5-hardware-accessories&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.  

We've gotten a first real look at the PS4 and PS5 controller side-by-side. Revealed after a Geoff Keighley livestream about the new DualSense controller, the presenter posted a side-by-side comparison of the two:

A new member of the family. #PlayStation5 #SummerGameFest pic.twitter.com/xuCTkBmq8h

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) July 17, 2020

Developing...  

Earlier this week, rumors began to swirl that the PlayStation 5 would go up for preorder, much to the surprise of, well, everyone, including Sony. In the wake of those rumors, PlayStation has promised that PS5 preorders won't catch players by surprise. Speaking to Geoff Keighley after a brief showcase of the PS5's DualSense controller, Worldwide Head of Marketing Eric Lempel said "I think it's safe to say...we'll let you know when preorder will happen. It's not going to happen with a minute's notice. We're going to at some point let you know when you can preorder PlayStation 5. So, please, don't feel like you have to go run out and line up anywhere until you receive official notice on how that will work." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/17/playstation-5-dualsense-controller-hands-on-livestream"] Rumors kicked into overdrive on Monday, with many speculating that the PS5 would go up for preorder, in part because the PS5 Amazon page of information was added. And while website updates like that only fanned the flames of speculation, the system never ended up being available for preorder. And that fervent expectation even surprised Sony. "We don't know what happened there, we had nothing to do with it. I got a message from someone saying 'People are lining up at stores' and we had no idea why," Lempel said. So while players can't still buy a PS5, it's safe to say Sony is aware of the demand and will give players some warning ahead of when it is available to preorder. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=playstation-5-and-playstation-5-digital-edition-console-design-images&captions=true"] Earlier this week, we learned via a new report that PlayStation is allegedly upping its production of PS5 consoles, and last week we got a first look at what PS5 box art will look like. For more on the PS5 and everything PlayStation, be sure to tune in to our weekly PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, for the latest news, impressions, and more from the world of PlayStation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of Podcast Beyond! Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Earlier this week, rumors began to swirl that the PlayStation 5 would go up for preorder, much to the surprise of, well, everyone, including Sony. In the wake of those rumors, PlayStation has promised that PS5 preorders won't catch players by surprise. Speaking to Geoff Keighley after a brief showcase of the PS5's DualSense controller, Worldwide Head of Marketing Eric Lempel said "I think it's safe to say...we'll let you know when preorder will happen. It's not going to happen with a minute's notice. We're going to at some point let you know when you can preorder PlayStation 5. So, please, don't feel like you have to go run out and line up anywhere until you receive official notice on how that will work." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/17/playstation-5-dualsense-controller-hands-on-livestream"] Rumors kicked into overdrive on Monday, with many speculating that the PS5 would go up for preorder, in part because the PS5 Amazon page of information was added. And while website updates like that only fanned the flames of speculation, the system never ended up being available for preorder. And that fervent expectation even surprised Sony. "We don't know what happened there, we had nothing to do with it. I got a message from someone saying 'People are lining up at stores' and we had no idea why," Lempel said. So while players can't still buy a PS5, it's safe to say Sony is aware of the demand and will give players some warning ahead of when it is available to preorder. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=playstation-5-and-playstation-5-digital-edition-console-design-images&captions=true"] Earlier this week, we learned via a new report that PlayStation is allegedly upping its production of PS5 consoles, and last week we got a first look at what PS5 box art will look like. For more on the PS5 and everything PlayStation, be sure to tune in to our weekly PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, for the latest news, impressions, and more from the world of PlayStation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of Podcast Beyond! Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Animal Planet has released a trailer for its upcoming Tiger King documentary, which was filmed just four months before Joe Exotic's arrest. The new trailer offers fans a sneak peek at the one-off special that is set to follow the stories of the animals that were rescued from the G.W. Zoo and given a second chance at life after Exotic was sentenced to 22-years in federal prison for two counts of murder-for-hire in an attempt to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, as well as numerous other wildlife violations, per The Washington Post. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/31/netflixs-tiger-king-murder-mayhem-and-madness-season-1-review"] "Four months before he was arrested on murder-for-hire charges, Animal Planet cameras were given special access to Joe Exotic's tiger empire," the teaser reveals before showing an interview with Exotic (real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage), which was originally filmed for Animal Planet's Wolves and Warriors program in 2018. Paired with never-before-seen footage, the documentary shares some insight into Exotic's day-to-day running of the animal park, while the crew conducts interviews with some of its former employees, including Gaylynn Eastwood and Saff Saffery, who lost an arm to one of the tigers, and others with firsthand knowledge of the animal trafficking and breeding, such as rescue leaders and exotic animal experts. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-true-crime-shows-and-movies-to-watch-online&captions=true"] Netflix's Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness documented the vicious rivalry between big cat enthusiasts Exotic and Baskin, with the former making it his personal crusade to destroy Baskin, which ultimately resulted in his conviction in a plot to try to murder her. Exotic repeatedly resurfaced rumours that Baskin murdered her husband Don Lewis, whose disappearance has never been solved. Surviving Joe Exotic airs on July 25 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on Animal Planet. In the meantime, find out what happened to Tiger King's cast of characters after the docuseries ended and discover all of the revelations made by the motley crew of Joe Exotic's big cat park in the aftershow. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Animal Planet has released a trailer for its brand new Tiger King documentary, which was filmed just four months before Joe Exotic's arrest. The new trailer offers fans a sneak peek at the one-off special that is set to follow the stories of the animals that were rescued from the G.W. Zoo and given a second chance at life after Exotic was sentenced to 22-years in federal prison for two counts of murder-for-hire in an attempt to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin, as well as numerous other wildlife violations, per The Washington Post. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/31/netflixs-tiger-king-murder-mayhem-and-madness-season-1-review"] "Four months before he was arrested on murder-for-hire charges, Animal Planet cameras were given special access to Joe Exotic's tiger empire," the teaser reveals before launching into an interview with Exotic (real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage), which was filmed for Animal Planet's Wolves and Warriors program in 2018. While following Exotic around the park, the crew will be shown conducting interviews with former zoo employees, including Gaylynn Eastwood and Saff Saffery, who lost an arm to one of the tigers, and others with firsthand knowledge of the animal trafficking and breeding that fueled Exotic's empire, such as rescue leaders and exotic animal experts. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-true-crime-shows-and-movies-to-watch-online&captions=true"] Netflix's Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness documented the vicious rivalry between big cat enthusiasts Exotic and Baskin, with the former making it his personal crusade to destroy Baskin, which ultimately resulted in his conviction in a plot to try to murder her. Exotic repeatedly resurfaced rumours that Baskin murdered her husband Don Lewis, whose disappearance has never been solved. Surviving Joe Exotic airs on July 25 at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) on Animal Planet. In the meantime, find out what happened to Tiger King's cast of characters after the docuseries ended, and check out our rundown of recommendations for other true crime shows and movies available to stream right now. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.