Arkane Studios is responsible for some gems that players treasure.
Arkane Studios has spent over two decades solidifying its position in the game industry. Despite specialising in the highly oversaturated genre of first-person shooters with the occasional addition of supernatural powers or stealth, Arkane has established a distinct and distinctive voice that distinguishes it from its contemporaries. Deathloop and Prey sparked interest not because they were FPS games, but because they were Arkane creations.
Since the early 2000s, the firm has created six full games, a well-regarded expansion (as well as a few non-standalone DLC), and two shooters alongside MachineGames.Redfall will also make its debut in early May 2023; while previews have been mixed, the forthcoming game will at least launch directly on Xbox Game Pass, allowing fans of the developer to check it out through that channel. Arkane has yet to entirely miss the target on a project, although the studio’s output is not uniform.
Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot
| Release Date | July 26, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Genre | First-Person Shooter, VR |
| Platform/s | PC, PS4 |
Arkane’s involvement with Wolfenstein coincided with the license’s decrease in quality, however this era still generated several valuable items. While the company assisted in the production of Youngblood, Arkane was in charge of Cyberpilot, a brief VR experience that received little attention when it premiered in 2019.
The game, which is brief but nevertheless engaging, puts players in command of mechas popularised by MachineGames’ franchise. The adventure takes players through a Nazi-occupied France as they fight for the resistance over four levels. Like many VR packages, Cyberpilot prioritises style over substance, and the too simplistic gunplay provides no incentive for a revisit; however, for the roughly two hours it lasts, this is a terrific experience.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
| Release Date | July 25, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Genre | First-Person Shooter |
| Platform/s | Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox One |
While Cyberpilot is merely a diversion, Youngblood is a more worthy sequel to Wolfenstein 2, but it falls short of the heights attained by The New Colossus or even The New Order. The tale follows Blazkowicz’s daughters as they strive to find their father decades after the events of the second game. Naturally, their hunt entails killing legions of Nazi troops and robots.
Youngblood’s moment-to-moment gunplay is excellent, which should come as no surprise given that it is mostly based on its predecessor. Everything else, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. The campaign’s structure emphasises repetition, and the addition of RPG-style levels for opponents results in dragged-out encounters. The plot is also incredibly boring and uneventful, especially when compared to MachineGames’ prior reboot entries.
Arx Fatalis
| Release Date | November 12, 2002 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action RPG |
| Platform/s | PC, Xbox |
Despite the fact that everyone has favourites, Arkane’s resume is quite stable. When it comes to solo productions, Arkane has a very impressive track record, with very little distinguishing his “worst” and “best” creations. Arx Fatalis, the company’s inaugural product, is an ambitious first-person RPG set mostly under the surface in a world devoid of the sun’s warmth.
As with most fledgling studios, this 2002 game has some growing pains, whether it’s the engaging but awkward fighting or the odd perplexing mission. Arx Fatalis, on the other hand, exemplifies why Arkane has become such a beloved developer over the last 20 years. Arx Fatalis, like Dishonoured or Prey, prioritises player freedom through build modification and unconstrained level design. Slope Game also has an interesting magic system that includes mixing rune symbols to perform attacks.
Dark Messiah Of Might And Magic
| Release Date | October 24, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action RPG |
| Platform/s | PC, Xbox 360 |
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic may be the most difficult Arkane project to rate because it is the company’s least remarkable offering in many aspects. The game features a weak tale with nothing notable to offer, a statement that cannot be applied to the majority of the developer’s past titles. Ashan was a very uninteresting fantasy realm in 2006, and time has done little to improve things.
Despite these issues, Dark Messiah remains a strong recommendation thanks to its great fighting system, which compares favourably to Arkane’s following titles. This RPG is a murder simulator, and the game makes certain that players have all of the instruments necessary to create magic, both literally and metaphorically.
Dishonored
| Release Date | October 9, 2012 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action-Adventure, Stealth |
| Platform/s | PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One |
Dishonoured launched Arkane, and some feel it is still the company’s crowning achievement. Corvo is the protagonist of the campaign, who is wrongfully convicted of murdering Dunwall’s Empress; understandably, he sets out to redeem this wrong. Dishonoured is one of Arkane’s strongest works narratively, as the developer did an excellent job not only fleshing out its protagonist and supporting characters, but also creating a gripping environment that has attracted players to return for more.
Dishonored’s environments and missions emphasise adaptability. Players can select their preferred style of addressing events, and they can pick whether they want Corvo to kill everyone on sight or take a more peaceful stance. Because Dishonoured has numerous endings, this freedom encourages repeat playthroughs. While still playable, the game’s combat is one of Arkane’s worst points.
Dishonored: Death Of The Outsider
| Release Date | September 15, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action-Adventure, Stealth |
| Platform/s | PC, PS4, Xbox One |
Someone’s experience with Death of the Outsider, Dishonoured 2’s standalone expansion, will most likely be determined by their expectations. In comparison to previous editions in the series, Death of the Outsider restricts build and playstyle possibilities; simply, Death of the Outsider puts players in an already well-defined role (Billie Lurk) that does not allow for as much experimentation as Dishonoured 2. The expansion is based on Emily’s three main talents, which are available right away and do not alter much throughout the game. Because there is no Chaos system, there is no reason to choose a pacifist run other than a change of pace. However, it remains a possibility, even if it is not rewarded.
The tighter approach of Death of the Outsider may turn off some long-time Dishonoured fans, yet this creative decision has its advantages. For one thing, the level layouts in the expansion are some of Arkane’s tightest because they are planned around fewer viable approaches than the core entry. The battle system has also been changed to allow Billie’s skills to be used more freely.
Deathloop
| Release Date | September 14, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Genre | First-Person Shooter |
| Platform/s | PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S |
Deathloop follows Colt, an assassin who is locked in a temporal loop that can only be broken once he completes his mission (killing eight targets in one day). The appearance of another assassin, expressly targeting the protagonist, complicates matters even more, and the former can even be controlled by a second player. While it does include a story, Deathloop is more action-oriented than most of Arkane’s other releases, particularly those from the 2010s.
The fighting system in the game feels like a mash-up of the developer’s past games, combining gunplay, stealth, and unlocking abilities. The time loop system is rather forgiving, encouraging players to not only experiment with alternative techniques, but also to gather information about each target in preparation for later runs. As enjoyable as it is, Deathloop can be polarising, especially because its intrinsically repetitive nature can lead to boredom after a while. With each fresh restart, the game’s less-than-fantastic enemy AI becomes more apparent.
Dishonored 2
| Release Date | November 11, 2016 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Action-Adventure, Stealth |
| Platform/s | PC, PS4, Xbox One |
Mechanically, Dishonored 2 improves on everything that worked in the first game. Following a brief introduction, players can choose between two protagonists: a resurrected Corvo or the Empress herself, Emily. While their primary mechanics are mostly the same, they each gradually earn distinct skills that set them apart. As a result, Dishonoured 2 is undoubtedly Arkane’s most replayable game, especially as Corvo and Emily both enable different playstyles. Narratively, the protagonists largely follow the same tale, which is adequate but not as good as Dishonoured or Arx Fatalis.
While the plot isn’t out of this world, Dishonoured 2’s world more than makes up for it. The game is set mostly in Karnaca, a beautiful, dynamic, and adaptable city rich with overt and subtle environmental narrative. More importantly, Karnaca functions admirably as a playground for players to build their own identities.
Prey
| Release Date | May 5, 2017 |
|---|---|
| Genre | First-Person Shooter, Horror |
| Platform/s | PC, PS4, Xbox One |
Prey places players on a barren space station with an alien invasion. Players embark on a thrilling, exhilarating, and fascinating trip that blends action, stealth, and horror components with minimal context and relatively generic directions.When compared to Arkane’s earlier efforts, Prey runs at an intentionally sluggish pace, which heightens the setting’s gloomy and frightening nature.
Talos 1, the space station, is Arkane’s greatest sandbox, and this is not a boast. Even though it can be disconcerting at first, Talos 1 is beautifully constructed and, at times, appears to be a large puzzle that must be carefully solved. Prey’s combat takes a time to properly get going because the more fascinating skills aren’t unlocked until a few hours in, but once it does, it’s a lot of fun.