Valve is known for setting the standards rather than just following the hype. For instance, Half-Life revolutionized how shooters tell stories, Counter-Strike created the standard for tactical multiplayer that has been followed for years, and Dota 2 eventually became one of the largest esports ecosystems in the world. So, when Valve was secretly experimenting with a new game called Deadlock, people’s expectations were extremely high. This time, however, the hype is real.
Deadlock doesn’t seem like a game where Valve is just following other trends. It is not trying to be yet another Overwatch-type character shooter or a Valorant-style game with ultimates. Rather, it is doing something much riskier – combining the MOBA structural elements with shooter mechanics to create a challenging experience for a single player. Imagine the strategic awareness and teamwork of Dota 2, but in a third-person shooter that requires you to have a sharp aim, fast reactions, and constant movement. The kind of game design this is, it immerses you very quickly – and it becomes very hard to put the game down.
Deadlock is very different from other games in the way that the game events are experienced by the player. The matches are held in a grimy, supernatural New York City, and even before you queue up, you are chilling in a shared hideout rather than going through sterile menus. After that, you jump into extensive maps that revolve around typical MOBA ideas: lanes, neutral areas, and the powerful objectives protecting your Patron. But you are not coming from the top view here; you are running, sliding, dashing, and ziplining in the vertical spaces. The rooftops, alleyways, and hidden paths turn every encounter into both a positional and a mechanical skill test. Movement is not just an important part here; it is the core of the game.
Valve’s design style can be seen in the lineup up which seems like a weird, fashionable, psychedelic dream: occult gangsters, mechanical beings, and weird robots, all having different abilities and characters. The use of traditional class roles is quite loose, and players are given the freedom to choose the roles without being forced into rigid boxes. The items purchased during the matches do not interrupt the flow of the game, and the environments also have many interactive features–breaking cover, side paths, and vertical angles that can be of use to the creative ones. Even building experimentation is made simple through the use of built-in tools that allow players to easily test and share ideas, a very Valve-style acknowledgement for theorycrafters.
Deadlock is more than just the mechanics of a competitive ladder; it is an ecosystem designed for the long term. Valve’s preceding with community-driven games like Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 seems to be the major influence on the roadmap here. The support for custom modes and user-generated content through Steam Workshop is on the cards, which means players have the liberty to change the game in ways no one had ever thought of. This community-first approach is the main reason why Valve’s games usually last for years rather than months.
However, with ambition comes risks. The skill ceiling of Deadlock is alarmingly high as it requires the combination of precise shooting with complicated movement and macro-level decision-making. Such profoundness may drive away some new players if not handled properly. Valve seems to be cognizant of this problem and is already talking about improved tutorials and newbie-friendly matchmaking. The fate of this game will depend on the extent to which it balances the ease for newcomers with the hardcore mastery that its systems encourage.
Even long before its official alpha release, Deadlock has managed to hook tens of thousands of players, and the buzz is only increasing at a rapid pace. If we combine this with Valve’s usual commitment to refinement and support in the long run, it’s not that hard to envision this as a future genre-defining work. Whatever the result might be–reshaping hero shooters or becoming a fresh category–one thing is pretty obvious: Deadlock is not playing it safe, and thus, it is definitely worth your attention. Just don’t count on it to leave you a lot of free time once you’ve jumped in.