First Impressions on Deadlock, Valve's new MOBA Hero Shooter

The fact that we’re treating this content as a first impression rather than a final verdict on the game is because this access to Deadlock is early and focused on testing and feedback. Therefore, everything seen here is subject to change before the official launch, which doesn’t even have a date.

Deadlock offers a third-person experience, where you will control one of 21 available heroes, see the hero list here:

Each of them has four unique abilities, as well as a different main weapon and statuses. This leads us to understand that the characters have specific functions, for example, Mo & Krill has high HP and more defensive or combat initiation skills, which clearly makes him a tank, one who stays on the front-line protecting the team.

One of the main requirements when evaluating a title, and Deadlock's gameplay is certainly a positive highlight. In a match, we are faced with a field with four lanes, in a 6v6 confrontation, each confrontation lasting an average of 35 to 40 minutes.

Objective

The way to win will be identical to that of a MOBA, take the “towers” ​​and advance to the enemy base to destroy their Patronus.

To reach this objective, focus on eliminating troops to get Souls that are equivalent to Gold from other games, and thus buy items to strengthen yourself.

The towers, in fact, are large Guardians, but they work in the same way, attacking you if you enter their range without minions, and grant a global reward when they are destroyed.

Basic Deadlock Commands

There are no controls that are very different from other games in this style. W A S D will be the movement keys, in addition to being able to jump (including double jumps) with Space and use Dashes with Left Shift, it is also possible to do Aerial Dashes with the same command, just make sure you are in the air first.

The right mouse button is responsible for zooming in on your aim, the left button shoots, to reload just use R.

Holding Space near a higher surface is used to climb it, see the list of basic commands in the right corner of the image below.

Holding Space also makes you slide along the ziplines that take you to the paths on the map.

Each skill is activated by clicking on its respective number, whether 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Farm

Eliminating troops is the main way to gain Souls, being essential to winning the game. It’s worth noting that only the minions that actually took the last damage, the last hit, from you will give Souls. They will also drop a small blue sphere that will float for a few seconds.

When you shoot this orb, you will receive an extra number of resources, focus on destroying them quickly, as the enemy will be able to steal these extra Souls if they hit the sphere before you, similar to Dota 2's farm deny system.

For your opponents, these orbs will be orange. When they eliminate a troop from your team, these orange orbs will appear for you, allowing you to steal your opponents' resources.

Note: Eliminating enemy heroes will spawn many spheres.

Jungle

Another way to gain resources is by eliminating Monsters that are between the lanes of the map, known as “Jungle” in other games, as it’s usually a jungle. In Deadlock it's not really a forest, but I'll use that term because of the players' dialect.

There is also a large Mid Boss on the map. When defeated, it will grant more Souls and a buff to the respawn time for your team.

Shops and Items

This contest of destroying minions and orbs takes place to grant you Souls, useful for purchasing items. You can strengthen yourself with them by pressing B when you are dead, or when approaching a Shop.

When opening up the menu, we see a range of different products, divided into three large groups: Weapon, Vitality and Spirit. Each sector is designed for a specific type of advantage.

In addition, the game also offers a recommended build, just like it already exists in other titles. But an innovative feature is the ability to access builds created by other users even in the middle of the game, including a number of favorites for you to use as a metric.

Tutorials

If you still have any doubts about the game's mechanics, Deadlock offers tutorials that cover everything from the first commands to the behavior you should have during a game.

These instructions are very robust and know how to introduce you to all the game's mechanics, deserving praise!

Even playing in low quality, the graphics satisfied me, Deadlock's artistic style is very original. The designers successfully managed to build their own visual identity for the game, which portrays an alternative reality, where we had early technological advances in the 50s or 60s.

I believe that the following image symbolizes what I want to say, we see a man wearing a popular outfit from that time and also having a mechanical arm.

The interface is also pleasing, providing the necessary information while not being visually polluted.

It is possible to analyze some character and match information at the top, along with status, number of Souls and items in the bottom-left corner, abilities in the bottom center, and the mini-map on the right.

Deadlock's sound effects are a well-done basic. The sounds of the abilities make sense, the voice acting is good, there’s music in some moments of the game, but nothing very remarkable.

Deadlock is working with some very delicate visual bugs, in addition to small and occasional frame drops during my gameplay, nothing that hindered my immersion too much.

Given the context that this is a test, I was really surprised by the performance, I imagine that small refinements are enough to transform the game into a reference in this regard.

This Valve title really pleased me! It's really fun to play PvP, especially with friends.

The game has characters with unique characteristics that really bring diversity to the gameplay, in addition to the original art that makes you feel immersed in this universe.

As mentioned, the tutorials teach you very well, which makes your journey easier and without much stress in trying to understand some mechanics.

I expect it will be a great title from Valve. Of course, it’ll still undergo changes, but if the game maintains its essence, it has everything it needs to become one of the great competitive MOBAs on the world stage.

It's no surprise that Deadlock already has a high number of players still in early testing. According to the SteamDB website, it has already reached a peak of 92,707 simultaneous players, and the graphs show a trend towards even higher marks.

However, it’s not all roses, since Deadlock also provides a Hero Shooter experience, I believe it will attract fans of Overwatch and other games of the genre, who are not used to so much game time. And even MOBA players can feel a little tired after a game, as my average time in Deadlock is longer than in League of Legends.

Deadlock reminded me a lot of Smite, but it certainly innovates and has its own personality. I loved playing it, and I recommend that both MOBA and Hero Shooter fans give the game a try!

I hope you liked this article, and I'm open to questions and suggestions in the comments!