DEADBOLT News

Welcome to the Workshop Map Highlight #47, Initiate.

Your next assignment is “Cold Embrace”, a custom level created by Tahazzar. This level is built with a lot of verticality in mind, so be sure to practice your landings. As well as that, the level has a focus on a mysterious weapon of unknown origin.



The level disregards narrative and instead focuses on gameplay alone. Due to its vertical design, you should expect to be using both stairwells and ledges frequently to navigate, along with windows and even a ventilation system that will allow you to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.



Given the circumstances, you will have to exercise great caution and pick your targets carefully. Intel suggests that, while incredibly lethal, the aforementioned weapon has a limited ammo pool, and the majority of enemy operatives in the area will not drop their weapons when eliminated.



When taking the intel into account, the level indeed appears to be difficult, but the Moderator and his assistant found it enjoyable enough to be worthy of being covered here, as the level enforces practice in ammo management and strategic planning.

Happy hunting.

Hey folks!

Now that the summer break has finally started, we... have been busy playing other games instead of writing these. Procrastination may have gotten the best of us this time, but we’ll get back into the groove of writing these consistently soon enough, don’t you worry.



Today we’re spotlighting “Revival Herbs” from LittleHorn’s “Something Strange” series. It’s a rather short map, but it’s got a cool gimmick at the end, which was executed well enough to catch my attention and deserve a spot on the pedestal.



We start on a relatively simple map with few enemies, in search of some intel. The path is fairly linear, but this aims to be more of an introduction to the second part of the map than anything particularly challenging. Clear the building (and burn their ash while you’re at it), pick open the safe, and be on your way.



As mentioned before, the map is petty short, with the second stage serving as the finale, but it delivers really well. Entering an eerily empty building, save for a couple skeletons, you’re greeted with… a boss fight!

Think fast!



You’ll be fighting a respawning General, along with occasional backup that just means there’ll be more bodies to revive as the fight goes on. You’re going to have to be quick to find where the General next appeared and dealing with him before he can get to any of the fallen enemies. Remember to keep a spare bullet or two, because you never know how close the General’s next spawn location will be.

Teach the General that he’s no match for you no matter how many times he comes back.

Play it now!

Kept you waiting, huh?

Hey everyone, apologies for the sudden (and rather lengthy) pause in your MotW intake,which you would be aware of if you were in our Discord server (wink wink nudge nudge), but anyhow, now we’re back on track and ready to go.

Today’s Map of the Week is “High Profile Club” by Loaf. As you can tell by the title, this is a high class event, so be sure to bring only your fanciest bullets when introducing yourself.



You should all know by now that I’m a real sucker for large maps, and this one is certainly no exception. It’s filled with all sorts of different areas, from vampire-infested bars to storage rooms packed with drugs, and all the while being beautifully decorated and intuitive to move around in.



As it’s a single-level map with barely any story to it, we'll unfortunately have to stop right here as there isn’t a whole lot to say about this that wasn't said in every other MotW, and besides, we don't wanna spoil the experience too much, so just be sure to go try it for yourself. We’re sure you’ll agree that it deserves this spotlight.



Play it now!

E͝c͜h͡o̷.̴̀̕ ̡N̸̕ę҉ẁ̵ ͏yo̧r͠k̛.҉͡ ̡͢T͘͞a͠͡ng̕o. ̴̡I͘da.̀ ̀T͏h̴ó̧͟m̧͏a͢͞s̨̕.͡ ́Yo̧̕u͡͏n̡g̷͟.́
Ę̢ç̶͜ho͟.҉̢́ No͏v̢͡em͘͡b̴̛͟er̢.̀͜͏ ̛T͜h̴͟omaAAAaAaaAAAAA

...phew, glad I finally took care of that.
Hello, everyone!

RoR 2 may be taking the world by rainstorm right now (and we couldn’t be happier for its success), but that doesn’t mean we’re forgetting about our fellow Reapos.

This week’s highlight is one of my personal favourites. I’ve been conflicted about covering this in the past due to its length, but at last here it is: “Hightower” by Lil’Leto.

It’s a rather small map (so much that there’s almost no horizontal camera movement whatsoever), but the small space is packed with enemies, opportunities for elimination, and rich scenery in return.

https://chrischristodoulou.bandcamp.com/yum

This level doesn’t make it easy for you, either, with plenty of hiding skeletons, traps, and formidable foes like Patriarchs, Bartenders and Nightcrawlers. Oh, and there’s also your target, Ibzan, located at the top of the tower.



Yep, after clearing out the small warehouse at the bottom of the map, we’ve got to climb a long ladder to reach the top of the building. Inside is a club/apartment, which is even less forgiving with the amount of enemies it packs into a small space. Still, no task is too difficult for a dedicated Reaper!



Overall, Hightower is a short but sweet experience, filled with interesting design choices and a lot of firefights.

Play it now!

Yo wadup

As you may know, there's a downside to everything, and with DEADBOLT's success we sometimes have to suffer because of all the garbage we're sent to review. We were promised a free copy of RoR 2 and a pack of nachos for this though, so to hell with it.



This week’s Map of the Week is “DNA” "HELLO WORLD" by Alex Pine - a collection of levels with “checkpoints” in-between (no actual connection between levels is made) where users have to make choices in order to give up their privacy for data-hungry companies to determine what variation of a level they’re gonna play, though I haven’t noticed any differences between routes. So far.



The first level starts us off at a zombie hideout with both Roland and Puff on site. For a random douche whom I’ve never heard of, the level design is surprisingly nice, it ain’t too hard nor too easy, the decorations look pretty and the enemy placement’s fair. Also there’s a crane which makes it an automatic MotW material. In fact, it’s the only reason I’m covering this map in the first place. Free stuff aside, it wouldn’t be worth it without one.



The second level has us clearing a few vampire buildings, Madam Stela included, and for once the doors are all the proper height unlike what usually happens. Not much to say other than that, all’s fine and dandy here too. Some 4th wall breaking is cool every once in a while I guess.



Uh, anyway.



TH̹̞̘e thirddd level has us… clearing some skeleton hideO̷͂ͭ́ut? There’s an overwhelming amount of weaP̡͟͜҉̻͎̹͇̣onry on the lower floO̡͂̓҉r, which makes it a breeze. You gO̧̢͡ through the thing, pick a safe and ggggGggGg…



Oh, huh, that’s k̦̠̙̞̯̯͟i̧̗̰̭͍͍͉n͏͙͇̗da͕͇ s̺̠̠͕͖̥̱͖̪̤̟͙̟̕m̡͘͟͟͏̹̪̻̦ạ̧̮̞̺̲̙̝͕̣̙̰̳̜̘̜̰͔͠ͅr̢҉̞̼̻͓̝̱̣̗͉̪ͅt͍̝͈͈͚̘͍̤͚͓̖̦͉͟.̸̸̨͖͈̫͍͈̺̜͇͔̳̬̪͇

A̧̬̳f̼̗̜̪͕͕̊̈́̆̔̏ͫt͙̩e͔͍͂͆͊̿r̸͌ͭ̈́̉ͧ we’re done with that though, we ç͓̯̬̫ͨͨͦͭͯ̃an move o͆ͤ̾n to…



uh, hang on a second here...…



0h Wo̡̹̰̥̻͍͍̮ͧW h4hа th̩̞̝̫̖͖ͅi͎̳̝̙̣͔͙ͪ̋͒ͤs̺̮̟̦̰̘͐̑̎͌̊̚ ̰̺̖͓̪̝̼̪͕̐ͥͫ̉̋i̴̸̲̘̬̪ͥ́ ki1iIlnda creę̸͞ee̡͟͢EE҉͏̶̛͟



Hi Čau Привет d͢oe̛s̴ any̸on͘e͟ ̵fё͞e҉l̡ li͜k͝e ̶a ̶v̕ìlla͟i͜ņ i҉ǹ thi̡s g̶am͟ё͢ /̵̷̨́*̷̸̧̀À̧͝͝Z̵X̴̵C̵̕͟͞/̴̨-̴̧́͢͠A̡͏̧Q̴̴̴͠E̢̨͘&͟͟͟*͟͝(͘͡V͏̛̕͞C̢̧Į̛͘A̧̢P̴͝Q̨͢͞!̷̛#̡̨+̕͏+͜҉*̵͜(̧̛̀͢&̛͡&̷̨̡͟D̴͏҉I̵͘͜N̸̷̨̨͢A̶̢͏Į̀́͝Y͠͝C̛͟͝͞


*click*

Hey, look, I know how you’re feeling. I wasn’t sure about this whole thing from the start, and many of our men are still worried about cooperating with creatures we didn’t know existed. You’re right to be creeped out, and you’re right to be unsure. But this is our only option!

What, you wanna wait and see as the reaper takes our men one by one? You wanna bet everything on a plan that might not work, that might make things worse? There’s nothing in this world for us. Everyone’s just cold. We all just want this to stop, and not just want, like really want, like every cell in our bodies is screaming for this to stop. This right here - this is our opportunity for something else. A whole new world. This might be what we need to make it warm again. To make it safe again.

Look, we’re running out of time. We’ve managed to communicate with the Candles, and it seems like the flames and Charon are in on it too, and they’ll bring friends. Everyone, with the exception of the offering, is being brought together in hope of fixing everything. The endgame is approaching. Everyone’s slowly come to the realization that it’ll be fine, except you.
Please, friend.

Let us join together with the Entity.

*click*