Deadlock First Impressions

As a seasoned gamer with years of battle-hardened expertise under my belt and a gaming rig that can run games on maximum settings faster than a cheetah chases its prey, I must say, Deadlock has left quite an impression on me!

As a gaming enthusiast, I’m excited about Deadlock – an innovative creation by Valve that seamlessly combines features from hero shooters and MOBAs into one captivating experience. At this point in time, the game is still undergoing its initial stages of development. Yet, fortunate fans like me have been granted early access to the game. To elaborate, the current mode of play relies on invite codes issued by playtesters.

In this piece, I’ve accumulated a total of 16.7 hours playing Deadlock. Having spent considerable time with the game, we now share our initial views on Valve’s intriguing project. Let me present our preliminary thoughts on the title.

Deadlock – A Perfect Blend of Hero Shooter and MOBA Elements

To clarify, at this stage, Deadlock is still undergoing initial phases of development. Consequently, we’re unable to provide a formal evaluation of the game as of now. Instead, let’s delve deeper into the potential features that the existing version of the game presents.

If you’ve got Deadlock but haven’t dived into it yet, here’s the lowdown: It’s a blend of hero shooter and Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), with teams of six squaring off in combat. While it offers elements from both genres, our playtime suggests that the core gameplay leans more towards traditional MOBA mechanics. In other words, if you’re familiar with games like Dota 2 or League of Legends, Deadlock should feel right at home to you.

Objectives

In this setup, players are distributed across four color-coded lanes: blue, orange, purple, and yellow. Two lanes will house two players apiece, while the other two lanes will have a single player each. The objective for every player is to bring down four towers in their respective lane before advancing towards the enemy base. Upon arriving at the base, they must eliminate several non-enemy shrines that will then enable them to attack and defeat the Patron. When a team successfully destroys the enemy’s Patron, they emerge victorious.

Although our straightforward description of the goals may seem straightforward, actually winning is much more challenging than it appears. Based on the player’s assigned lane, they will encounter either a single opponent or two adversaries in their designated area. Due to the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) aspects of the game, players must also defeat non-player characters (creeps or minions) to accumulate more experience points and in-game currency (Souls), which can be used to purchase items.

How is it a Hero Shooter?

Considering the goals of the game, it appears that Deadlock leans more towards a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) rather than a hero shooter. However, Valve introduced an unexpected element by turning it into a third-person shooting game. While Deadlock shares certain similarities with Overwatch, they are not identical in nature. For example, both games involve players choosing heroes equipped with four unique abilities and eliminating opponents using firearms along with special skills.

One may wonder why Deadlock isn’t a traditional hardcore hero shooter. Unlike other hero shooters where players primarily focus on defeating their opponents, Deadlock offers a richer experience by incorporating elements of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games. Players must consider various aspects such as slaying minions, demolishing towers, strategically targeting enemies in assigned lanes, maintaining map awareness, acquiring items to boost hero abilities, and skillfully leveling up their character’s skills, among other things.

For those who are more accustomed to hero shooter games, here’s a friendly heads-up: While you can certainly enjoy the game without prior MOBA experience, it’s essential to learn the fundamentals of MOBAs to fully appreciate its depth. Merely focusing on killing enemies won’t guarantee victory in MOBAs. These games are known for their dynamic nature, where the tides of battle can change swiftly, even when one team appears to be dominating.

Gameplay

Following approximately 16 hours and 30 minutes of playtime, it’s clear that Deadlock could soon be a major player in the esports scene. Though it’s only newly released, Deadlock has a refined, well-crafted feel to it. While there’s room for improvement with its graphics, the game itself runs smoothly and we encountered very few technical issues.

Technical Performance

In penning my initial thoughts about Deadlock, it’s important to mention that I experienced the game on a gaming laptop equipped with a Ryzen 7 5800H processor and an RTX 3070 graphics card.

To this point, the game has been running flawlessly at 144fps with medium settings, and it seldom encounters frame rate issues. The exceptions occur mainly when the game lasts over 40 minutes or when numerous animations are activated simultaneously during a team fight.

Graphics

Previously discussed, the visuals in Deadlock might benefit from adjustments, yet it seems the intention behind its design is not to replicate real-world aesthetics. In essence, the graphic style can be likened to that of games such as Team Fortress 2 or Valorant.

As a gamer, I believe Valve could enhance the game by focusing on the environment. The current color palette in the map seems a touch monotonous to me. Introducing more vibrant details would undeniably inject some life and excitement into the gaming experience, but it’s important to remember that we don’t want them to turn the entire game into a rainbow spectacle.

Sound Design

Listening to Deadlock’s audio alone gives an immediate impression that it’s a Valve production, as the sound elements bear a strong similarity to Dota 2. The announcer, the hero death sounds, and overall sound design all strongly suggest Valve’s influence.

It was intriguing to notice that the developers incorporated cautionary voice prompts in a manner reminiscent of Wraith from Apex Legends, who alerts players about nearby enemies. When we were exploring the map by ourselves, either our character or the narrator would alert us to potential danger. This safety feature is quite beneficial as it allows us to choose between retreating or getting ready for a confrontation.

An additional beneficial audio cue comes from the announcer informing your team about which player on the opposing side is key to their success in games like MOBAs. In such scenarios, it’s sufficient for one player on your team to be well-fed to gain an edge over the competition. Similarly, in Deadlock, the announcer will guide players by indicating who they need to focus on taking down in order to either balance the game or completely shift its momentum.

Regarding the overall sound quality, it’s just as you’d imagine for a Valve production. The background music ramps up the game’s intensity, the distinct sounds of each hero’s abilities are fitting, and the audio effects from tower destruction to enemy eliminations are well-executed.

Balance

One crucial element in any fresh games is maintaining balance, and while it’s still in its early stages of development, Deadlock seems to lean slightly towards one side. However, keep in mind that this imbalance is common for games under construction. It’s worth noting that Valve has done a commendable job ensuring each match feels like a fair competition, considering the player lobby is populated with seasoned gamers who are already familiar with the game.

In our current experience with Deadlock, the true imbalances we’ve encountered thus far stem primarily from the heroes. Some seem more powerful than others, but this does not make them invulnerable. Just like in any other game, the creators may need to adjust (either reduce or increase) the power level of heroes requiring fine-tuning.

It’s great that the developers provide a Discord channel for playtesters to share their suggestions for improvements. Over the period I’ve owned this game, it’s clear that Valve is responsive to community feedback, consistently releasing updates to address balance problems and fix gameplay glitches.

Overall Thoughts

Even though Deadlock is still in its early stages, it’s already proving to be enjoyable and hard to put down. Imagine how fantastic it will be once the full game launches! We’re confident that Deadlock has all the potential to become one of the most popular PvP MOBA hero shooters worldwide when it goes global.

If it happens that your friend is already testing the game Deadlock, you could request an invite code from them to explore this one-of-a-kind game that Valve is currently developing.

2024-09-10 06:09