It’s been nearly five years since Valve released a truly new game, and that number continues to grow. Valve hasn’t announced it yet deadlockits new hero shooter draws from special attack, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2 etc. But that didn’t stop nearly 20,000 people, myself included, from trying the game.
And I don’t have an NDA. I haven’t signed any contract or made any verbal agreement; I haven’t even clicked on the EULA yet.
Earlier today, I received a no-strings-attached invitation to play deadlock on steam. Steam claims that the game is made by Valve. It displays Valve’s copyrighted logo when launched, and its executable file is digitally signed by “Valve Corp.” The game’s directory contains a Valve legal notice and many other text files referencing Valve, making it feel like a Valve game. Although Valve did not respond to my request for comment, I fully believe it is legitimate.
So: what is deadlock?
It’s a 6 vs 6 shooter, just like the original special attackyour team of heroes attempts to dominate the map by slowly wearing down the opposing team and pushing them back. But you also lead an army of NPCs along four different lanes to destroy the opposing team’s stationary defenses, sort of like Dota 2 Or other MOBA games.
No downtime. It’s a constant war between your team’s soldiers (infantry) and the enemy team’s soldiers, who constantly respawn and advance towards the enemy positions in wave after wave. But they can’t break through unless human heroes provide them with powerful weapons, abilities, and upgrades.
Without an army of NPCs, humans can’t easily break through – or at least, that’s what I saw in the first game. Taking out those flaming heads, energy-spewing guardians, or hulking walkers blocking your passage requires at least a somewhat coordinated effort by a human and their little autonomous friend. The climax of each game is an all-out battle against the enemy’s Patronus, a giant floating sphere with weapons and a death ray.
When I say “coordinate,” I don’t mean aim. this is not a Valuation or vertex legend– Game-like, agile aim is key. feels like special attackor even more so Team Fortress 2 Its ethereal, life-consuming gameplay. You can tank, heal, and retreat even when a lot of enemy fire is coming your way.
Each match becomes increasingly deadly as you unlock your hero’s abilities and purchase skills, many of which will give you more damage per second. Others provide life steal, shields, and more. Each character also has powerful and light melee attacks, and you can parry incoming melee attacks to stun your opponents.
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it helps to have a a lot of Ways to dodge enemy bullets and get across the map: You can slide, dash, air dash, dash jump, second jump, and climb up ledges. Each of the game’s four lanes features an aerial tram, giving you a free ride into (or out of) combat.
The ziplines don’t feel overwhelming; after earlier leaks, I’d heard they were paired with TitanfallAn all-around attack traversal game, but Valve keeps them out of the actual line of fire. You must retreat to territory you own before they can take effect.
They also look to lead to fascinating swap mechanics as the game progresses. To power up, I need to take my heroes back to the shop and buy new perks with the souls I’ve accumulated by destroying enemy soldiers and heroes, but this leaves my territory undefended. When I returned, the front line was further behind than I expected.
Even in this “early development version” there are already 20 different heroes, many of which look like heroes I would enjoy playing. Yes, some of them are common archetypes, like the archer, swordsman, sniper, and shotgun teleportation specialist, but it’s not that simple: Have you ever seen an Inferno that literally blasts enemies to smithereens with a finger gun?
I was initially attracted to Ghost because of her style and the sheer power of her rapid-fire tommy gun, and then when I found out she was the best, I switched to McGinnis. Team Fortress 2 Engineers and heavy weapons experts rolled into one: turrets, barrier walls, and A giant mini-gun with a longer range and faster fire rate.
I haven’t played it enough to even begin to judge whether the game is balanced or if the heroes have any backstories, but I’d love to try it out with my friends – and it doesn’t matter that Valve seems to be doing it.
While Valve has yet to publicly announce or even acknowledge the game’s existence, the current version allows anyone with a copy to invite as many of their Steam friends to give it a try. That’s why I got the invite, and that’s why my friends are getting the invites now.
It’s an unusual way to release a game, but we’re talking about Valve – and it’s an unusual company.
Updated on August 12th: It turns out that the valve is no I can try a deadlock with a friend; I’m banned from blind dates! Oh well. Feel free to tease me in the comments!
