Image by: Sebastian Hernandez. Top: Characters by Valve.

After six years in development, the video game company Valve released a new game called Deadlock in beta testing, and I got the chance to play it and lend it out to a couple of friends to see what they thought.

Deadlock is a third person MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) that was released publicly on August 24. With an art style similar to Overwatch and Team Fortress 2, with a dash of 1930s noir, Deadlock is a mix of real time strategy, role-play, and action like League of Legends and DOTA 2. Micro managing, positioning, and target selection are some of the skills shared in those games. 

The main goal in Deadlock is to destroy the enemy team’s base. To get to their base requires teamwork and communication, and when you eliminate an enemy troop, they drop a “soul,” and said souls can be used as a currency to upgrade your hero with such extras as stamina, sprint boots, and sharpshooter skills. There are many ways to get souls other than eliminating the enemy’s troops, like using the slot machine or breaking wooden crates.

I have zero experience with MOBAs and this was an enjoyable introduction. The game is very polished, with tons of movement options and an informative tutorial showing the powers each of the heroes have. The many movement options that were at my disposal are similar to Quake TDM in the way that you can take on multiple enemy players when you upgrade your gear and stay with your team.

Gurmukh Singh, a junior at Washington High School with a great extent of experience in the MOBA genre says, “I would say that Valve did great with Deadlock, since I play Overwatch and League a lot. I like Deadlock because it builds upon them and adds more stuff, especially the attack moves of characters are something I really like.” 

Rayhaan Faiez, a senior at Washington High School, acknowledges that everything isn’t all perfect with Deadlock. “Honestly I kinda see the angle they want to take with it and it is still in open beta,” he says. “There’s another chance to build on the game but I think the map is way too big.” 

One highlight that Deadlock has is its individuality. “Players can get more of a chance to show their individual skills and not just play with having teammates close to you,” says Gurmukh. Having to play with your team can be a bit frustrating sometimes. Fortunately, it’s nice that Valve designed it so you can play by yourself and collect souls which also transfer to teammates, so you’re still contributing to the team. 

Another highlight that Deadlock has is its ziplines. “It was a good way to implement the fact that the map was big. And it was a good way to get from point A to point B but there was a boost on the zipline that I think should be a little shorter. It was kinda long like three hundred seconds and it could be a lot shorter,” says Rayhaan.

Deadlock’s unique approach to the MOBA genre provides fun and competitive gameplay that can be refreshing if you’re a newcomer or a seasoned veteran when it comes to MOBAs. If this is your first time learning about the MOBA genre, you should definitely give Deadlock a try.