Throughout the internet there has been whispers of Valve working on a new, original title. Something that is a bit off-centre for them, given that Valve often produces games that safely tie in to their existing portfolio of well-established titles (like Half-Life, DoTA, you know the ones) – but this time around, it’s a whole new IP.
Those whispers became a bit more audible recently, with a handful of people not only sharing screenshots of this game – but one mad unit actually showed off actual gameplay from a beta client.
The game? Deadlock, apparently a 6v6, four lane third-person shooter MOBA.
LEAK:
— PlayerIGN (@PlayerIGN) May 22, 2024
Gameplay of Valve’s upcoming 6v6 4-Lane 3rd-Person Shooter MOBA—
“Deadlock,” formerly “Neon Prime.”
19+ heroes are currently playable in the Closed BETA. pic.twitter.com/GKG8FCUZVU
Now, it’s hard to judge a game from leaks – particularly if it is an unfinished game. The footage above shows a curious playstyle – scooting around on rails to reach parts of the map – with the player character sporting a firearm and activated abilities. It’s clearly from sandbox or training mode – you can even see the learning objectives in the UI – so any real idea on how the game plays when you are in the thick of it is still a mystery.
Then, others have managed to share a few other screenshotty tidbits – showing the roster of characters and some other perspectives.
Since testers started sharing Deadlock screenshots all over the place, here's ones I can verify, featuring one of the heroes called Grey Talon. pic.twitter.com/KdZSRxObSz
— Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) May 17, 2024
Some will cry out names like Battleborn, or Gigantic or even just common titles like Overwatch. But, there was another title that did the third-person MOBA style gameplay – and while viewing that footage above, I can’t stop thinking about it.
And that game was Super Monday Night Combat. And you know what? It was a great time. Of course, you may ask a hard question – such as, if the game was so great, why is it no longer active on Steam?
A good question, but a hard one to answer. Too many reasons, too many issues – but I can say with a hefty degree of confidence that the games identity as a shooter SLASH MOBA wasn’t the main reason. That space within the gaming landscape is still largely untapped, at least by the larger names. A unique blend of PvPvE, born from very familiar experiences found in other games. Heck it’s 2024– I think every gamer with a pulse has dabbled with at least one MOBA offering by now, and the mere existence of Fortnite means everyone understands how a third person shooter works.
By any metric, I am deeply invested to see where this thing goes – so you can rest assured I willed be sharing information as it crops up. Maybe Valve themselves can weigh in to answer some questions – please? GabeN?
What do you think of Deadlock? Do any of the ingredients making up its unique broth appeal to you? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games