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Deadlock isn't technically out yet—but it's pretty easy to get into, with invites to its beta being generously granted by Valve and obtainable in plenty of Discord communities if you don't have other mates who're into MOBAs. And boy howdy, have I not regretted a single one of my 350 hours over the past couple years "testing" this game.
I've plenty of glowing words for Deadlock, but its latest update, City Never Sleeps, is like seeing one of the last few hammer-blows of a masterpiece. The entire map's been completely overhauled, with new neutral monsters and a richly-textured remake of its areas, though "remake" doesn't seem like the right word.
Rather than taking what was present in the old map and scrapping it, the new Cursed Apple feels like a deepening of what was already there, adding texture and quirks in the nooks and crannies. The already-bustling centre lane of Broadway has become a glowing neon metropolis full of buzzing signs and advertisements, a miniature rendition of a 1950s times square at its heart.
Greenwich, which was already overgrown with foliage, has been turned into a spooky occult rendition of Central Park, with a university and an arboreal garden. Meanwhile, York, which previously just hinted at industriality, has had its walker arenas turned into a stock exchange and a grit-slathered factory ground.
It's all very, very pretty.
But it's not just the lanes that've been overhauled—the midway points, "districts", have been reinvented with their own flavours, too. Previously these were just extensions of the lanes themselves, but they now each have distinct characters (and neutral monsters, or "creeps", to match).
You've got a theater district full of creepy dolls piloted by phantom hands, floating festival spirits and haunted cabbage pots lurking in Chinatown, a plaza with an ominous demonic Atlas holding a glowing sphere—an Ixian embassy, perhaps?—plagued by decrepit souls and gutter ghouls.
My favourite areas in this map are the library and the haunted lot, especially. The former because it's filled with "past dues", little book goblins that literally attack you with late return stamps. And the latter because it has barrel mimics, my new favourite little guys. They're lurking there with tire irons like an actual organised criminal gang.
This rehash of the Cursed Apple really properly establishes just how supernaturally doused Valve's idea of a 1950s occult New York is. The entire thing is just teeming with creative and inventive design, bursting at the bloody seams with character. I am astonished that the map—which is by all accounts actually relatively small, able to be crossed in a minute or two of efficient movement—manages to feel so sprawling and varied.
All of this is buoyed by two things: Its new characters, and the heap of new dialogue.
Deadlock's character designs are all delightful—but the new roster of heroes is legitimately some of Valve's best work yet. It's kinda telling that the least interesting character, an art student named Violet, is still super charming, with paint smudges on her legs tying the whole aesthetic together.
But these other characters are just delightful. Deadman Danny's a willing skeletal crash test dummy/salesman for Fairfax Industries' weapons, Nurse Harrow is either a lovecraftian entity or a biblically accurate angel wrapped up in a severe, mature nurse that all of my friends are being entirely normal about, and there's the Rat King. Who has over 100 bespoke voicelines entirely calling out his subject's names.
My favourite two designs by far, however, are torn straight from New York's park culture: Solomon, a chess-loving old man who appears to've gained some supernatural powers via all his hours in Central Park, and Baba.
I cannot tell you how much I love Baba. Taking the myth of the Baba Yaga—a witch that traditionally occupies a chicken-legged hut—and reinventing her as an old grandma who feeds pigeons, riding around on a bird-legged park bench? It's just so, so good.
And the already-existing cast has been expanded horizontally, too. The update poured in dozens upon dozens of new conversations and voice lines between the crew, fleshing out characters, hinting at new lore, and—in the case of Pocket and Mina—breaking my bleeding romantic heart.
All of this combined has made Deadlock's Cursed Apple one of my new favourite videogame settings basically ever—so appealing and interesting to me that I almost wish it wasn't wrapped up in a MOBA. However, even if you aren't going to devote the hundreds of hours of masochism required to understand this unassailable genre, I still recommend you check Deadlock out and just soak in its vibes. It's an unfinished masterwork that's almost taken shape.
