When news broke in August that thousands of gamers were already playing Valve’s “secret” shooter Deadlock on Steam, many’s first reaction was: “How can I get this?”
Since then, many more players have joined the invite-only playtest, giving them a first look at the project. Valve published the game on Steam a few weeks ago, but has not revealed a release date for the game. “Deadlock is a multiplayer game in early development,” Valve writes on the game’s Steam page.
If you haven’t played it yet and are interested, here’s what you need to know.
What is a deadlock? Why are people so excited about it?
Valve, the famous developer of franchises like Half-Life, Portal, and Counter-Strike, has been slowing the development of new titles considerably, so a new IP is a cause for excitement. Deadlock is a 6v6 game that combines the personality of hero shooters like Overwatch, Apex Legends, and Valve’s own Team Fortress 2 with some of the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mechanics popularized by League of Legends and Valve’s games. is a team game. Dota 2.
Typically, MOBAs have elements such as a home base, a tower that each side must protect, minions that help the protagonist in battle, and skills that level up gradually over the course of a match. If you’ve never played a MOBA, Deadlock may seem overwhelming at first due to its action-shooting elements as well as resource management.
Okay, sold. How do I play?
Requires a Steam account and a playtest invitation. While some players are randomly invited to play games by Valve, presumably based on their history with other Valve titles, the easiest way to participate is via the in-game menu option Playtest. to request an invitation from someone.
To see which of your Steam friends are playing Deadlock, visit the game’s page and look under (Friends Playing) in the right panel.
Invitations may take a day or more to arrive after you send them. Once you have it, you can download and install the game.
This might be a good place to warn you. Deadlock is a work in progress and may change significantly between now and its official release. As of this writing, there is only one map called “street_test”, and the roster of 21 heroes and their skills may evolve in future updates.
My playgroup found the game to be surprisingly stable and polished considering it’s in its early stages of development, but that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter any bugs, glitches, or crashes within the game. It doesn’t mean anything. Playtesting is free. Don’t expect the kind of customer support or full-featured experience you get with retail games.
Learn the ropes (and rails)
First things first: Deadlock’s set of tutorials in Learn to Play are a must-have, whether you have any MOBA experience or not. Learn how objects and controls work in Get Started, learn how to ‘build’ the game’s 21 characters and their skill sets in Hero Training, and learn how to win with Lane Training, a guided quest. explains how the path works. City map.
After completing these three guides, you’ll have a basic understanding of how the controls work, how to purchase and level up your character’s items and abilities during a match, and how souls, the game’s currency, work. It will be.
