“Basically, fast-paced interesting ADHD gameplay. Combination of Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, Valorant, Smite, Orcs Must Die.”
That’s how notable Valve leaker “Gabe Follower” describes Deadlock, a Valve game that is seemingly in playtesting at the moment, for which a few screenshots have leaked out.
The game has been known as “Neon Prime” and “Citadel” at prior points. It’s a “Competitive third-person hero-based shooter,” with six-on-six battles across a map with four “lanes.” That allows for some of the “Tower defense mechanics” mentioned by Gabe Follower, along with “fast travel using floating rails, similar to Bioshock Infinite.” The maps reference a “modern steampunk European city (little bit like Half-Life),” after “bad feedback” about a sci-fi theme pushed the development team toward fantasy.
Y’all remember Battleborn? That hero shooter with minions and lanes that released right at the same time as Overwatch and got absolutely buried? This reminds me of that.
That said, I feel like if anyone can knock OW2 out as the top hero shooter, it’s Valve - and if there’s any good time for them to do it, it’s now. Although for my money the best take on the genre is still Titanfall 2.
Reminds me of Paragon, a game Epic was struggling with just before Fortnite popped off.
Bad omen that the other closest analogs did not do well.
Titanfall 1 & 2 were such great shooters