The existence of Valve’s hero shooter MOBA hybrid Deadlock has only just been officially recognized, and seasoned esports pros and star streamers like Shroud are already singing its praises after just hours of play.
“Yeah, this game is gonna easily—and I mean easily—takeover when it comes out,” Shroud declared, sounding convinced about Deadlock’s potential during his first public session with the impending game on Saturday, Aug. 24. Added Shroud: “It’s the first arena shooter MOBA that’s actually good. All the other ones kind of stink.”
Shroud elaborated on this the next day, attributing Deadlock’s pedigree to its deep mechanical complexity. “It has the most mechanics I’ve ever seen in a third-person shooter. It’s f***ing crazy. I don’t even think 1,000 hours would be enough to learn the game.”
One of the biggest things the star streamer said he loved was that Deadlock‘s not just about shooting and hitting abilities, but an amalgamation of many other nuances. Elaborating, he talked about the multitude of movement and traversal mechanics he’s already played with in the MOBA-come-shooter: The infinite ammo-granting slide, the stamina bar-draining double jump and dash, and then the combo of them, like fast dashes into slides.
In fact, the only thing Shroud said was missing was wall riding; a feature he suspects may eventually be added through a new hero ability.
Like Dota 2 has been for more than a decade, Deadlock is designed with the same old Valve philosophy, according to Shroud: if every playable hero is totally broken, none are. However, unlike its more-than-a-decade-old MOBA cousin, Deadlock fuses multiple other genres—namely, arena shooter and MOBA elements—into the mix.
In its current shape, Deadlock is not too dissimilar from older attempts like Smite, Battleborn, Battlerite, and Paladins, at least through a cursory look. But, as Shroud pointed out, with deep MOBA influences and fairly tight early third-person shooter gameplay, Valve’s new game is already delving into uncharted territories.
