Deathloop explainer video calls it a "murder puzzle" and that sounds about right

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A new Deathloop video answers some of the questions you may have about its looping world, but it may leave you with even more.

Arkane Lyon game director Dinga Bakaba presents the video, in which he introduces Deathloop as "a murder puzzle where you play an assassin trapped in a time loop." The explainer video itself is on a loop, with Bakaba taking a slightly different tack each time as he tries to explain how everything works together - and since this is from the same studio behind Dishonored and Prey, there are a lot of moving parts to go over.

Our hero, Cole, is trapped on an island where the same day endlessly repeats. The island is run by eight people - artists, scientists, party animals, and "cold-blooded murderers" - called The Visionaries. The only way Cole can escape is by killing all eight of them, and by doing it all in the same day, since otherwise they'll just be alive again in the morning. Still, failing to kill 'em all doesn't mean you lose everything.

You'll have the chance to keep the weapons and abilities you unlock between loops, Bakaba explains. Just as importantly, you'll build out your own mental map of where the targets will be and when: "This may be a game about time, but you're not on a timer. You can figure things out at your own pace, in any order you want, as you piece together the perfect loop to freedom."

Deathloop will be released on PC and PS5 on May 21, 2021. There's a strong chance it will come to Xbox Series X later on, what with Microsoft buying Arkane's parent company and all.

Timed or not, check out our big rundown of PS5 exclusives to see what else is coming only to Sony's console.