When does Deadlink get good?

Give it 3 hours. In the first 2 hours 1 in 4 reviews are negative (23%); after 5h it's 1 in 12 (9%). 4% of players who start reach the ending.

How many players finish Deadlink?

4% of players who start reach the ending.

All games

ActionIndie

Deadlink

Jul 27, 2023 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 3 hours

Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3

Reach the ending 4% of players who started

Started playing 76% of owners

Steam reviews 89% positive of 3,677

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 4 reviews are negative (23%); after 5h it's 1 in 12 (9%).
4% of players who start reach the ending.
The biggest drop-off is between “Little Boy” (Reach Tora streets) and “Fat Man” (Defeat the Torantula): from 100% to 71% of starters.
76% of owners got the first achievement.

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 3,724 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 297 reviews: 7.7h for positive, 5.1h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (76.2% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Started playing 100%
Little Boy Reach Tora streets. 100%
Fat Man Defeat the Torantula. Most players quit here 71% −29
Evolutionary Dead-End Defeat the Phoenix Apex. 48% −23
Iconoclasm Defeat the Trinary Iskra. 39% −9
Actually, it does Defeat the Femto CEO. 30% −8
I read Plato Beat the story campaign. 4% −26

story milestone ending biggest drop-off

Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.

All achievements (74)

story milestone ending side

Little Boy Reach Tora streets. 100%
Baseline Complete the tutorial. 86%
I cast FIST! One shot an enemy with a melee attack. 74%
Better than sex Insert a Legendary Implant into Implant Matrix. 73%
Watt's Up Doc? Reach Watts-Rucker labs. 71%
Fat Man Defeat the Torantula. 71%
Newt-owned Kill a heavy enemy with fall damage. 67%
Demolition Man Destroy 5 objects with a single grenade. 54%
Evolutionary Dead-End Defeat the Phoenix Apex. 48%
Wage Slavery Reach Interport warehouses. 48%
Fire in the hole! Kill 3 enemies with a single grenade. 46%
It werfers flammens Kill the Torantula with fire damage. 45%
An honest man Die to self-damage. 43%
Size doesn't matter Reach Femto offices. 39%
Iconoclasm Defeat the Trinary Iskra. 39%
Longinus Podbipięta Score 3 headshots with a single shot from the ARC Cannon. 37%
Actually, it does Defeat the Femto CEO. 30%
Trivial information Complete a full run on VR Orientation difficulty. 30%
Merciful Kill an enemy that is ignited, corroded, and recently got shocked. 28%
Air superiority Kill 6 enemies in a row without touching the ground. 25%
College dropout Skip the tutorial. 23%
Vishnu Complete a full run using the Engineer Combat Shell. 18%
Black Hole Sun Survive 20 waves in Extant Existence mode. 15%
Proton Decay Survive 40 waves in Extant Existence mode. 15%
Big Freeze Survive 50 waves in Extant Existence mode. 14%
Hercules Complete a full run using the Juggernaut Combat Shell. 13%
Mars Complete a full run using the Soldier Combat Shell. 13%
Eyes Wide Shut Find the Sex Club. 13%
Nimrud Complete a full run using the Hunter Combat Shell. 13%
Capitalism, hoe! Buy all 'Deep Pockets' Deadlink upgrades. 12%
Big Iron Kill 500 enemies with headshots using the Peacekeeper. 12%
Min-max Max out 1 Implant during a single run. 11%
Excellent! Kill 3 enemies with a single shot from the Particle Accelerator. 11%
Pussifist Beat a single combat arena without firing a single shot. 10%
Go no farther. Complete a full run on Deep Dive difficulty. 9.7%
You are locked in here with me Eliminate every enemy during survival event, before time runs out 7.2%
Followed a guide Max out 3 Implants during a single run. 6.2%
The Black Rider Buy all Hunter shell upgrades. 6.2%
Military Industrial Complex Buy all Soldier shell upgrades. 5.9%
What a riot Buy all 'Shield Boost' Deadlink upgrades. 5.8%
Erecting a sentry Buy all Engineer shell upgrades. 5.6%
Man of integrity Buy all 'Shell Integrity' Deadlink upgrades. 5.6%
Gruby Damage Buy all 'Damage vs Marked' Deadlink upgrades. 5.6%
I'm the Juggernaut, bitch! Buy all Juggernaut shell upgrades. 5.5%
Close call Complete a full run with 5 or less HP. 5.4%
Duck Hunt Kill 500 enemies at point-blank range with the Scrapper Shotgun. 5.1%
Mike Conley Kill the Phoenix Apex with a melee attack. 4.6%
Shish kebab Ignite 3 enemies with a single Fire Ant round. 4.5%
Open Source Find all the secret Implants. 4.3%
Call Of The Void Throw the Combat Shell off a bridge. 4.2%
I read Plato Beat the story campaign. 4.2%
Speedrunner Stay airborne for 15 seconds. 3.8%
The Big Crunch Survive 100 waves in Extant Existence mode. 3.5%
Hard Lesson Get killed in the tutorial twice. 3.5%
Alexandria Unlock all Codex entries. 3.4%
Arachnophobe Kill the Torantula without using any implant. 3.1%
Mujafedin Kill 200 enemies from at least 20 meters with the Bonegrinder Rocket Launcher 3.0%
Johnny Neurotic Complete a full run on Neuromancy difficulty. 3.0%
It's just a fucking laser! Keep firing the Electrolaser for at least 15 seconds. 2.4%
Toxic attitude Kill 300 enemies with Prox Mines. 2.4%
Backwards longjump Complete a full run in under 30 minutes on Deep Dive difficulty. 2.4%
Sisyphus Complete a full run without spending a single Credit. 2.4%
Headhunter Destroy all head sculptures. 2.0%
Games Done Quick Complete a full run in under 40 minutes on Neuromancy difficulty. 2.0%
Apex twin Kill the Phoenix Apex without using any implant. 1.8%
Imagine my shock Zap 5 enemies with single link from Stormblight Cascade activation. 1.8%
Dissociative violence Kill 200 enemies with unattached Tarball Launcher grenades. 1.7%
Amish paradise Destroy the Trinary Iskra without using any implant. 1.6%
Half o-pressed Complete a full run in under 20 minutes on VR Orientation difficulty. 1.6%
Butlerian Jihad Kill 50 robotic enemies with EM Charges. 1.4%
Flame War Kill 50 enemies with Flame Assault grenades that bounced off surfaces. 1.3%
Exodus 10:1 Kill 50 enemies with toxic puddles left by the Locust Swarm. 1.3%
Blow your load Break armor with Matter Converter salvo 200 times. 1.3%
Hisashi OSHA Die to every type of elemental explosive barrel. 1.2%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.