Ignore the section tag for this article, because while Deadlock may technically have the DNA of a MOBA or a third-person shooter, it is actually a horror game, and a bloody scary one at that.
How did I come to this hypothesis, you ask? Well, a few reasons come to mind, including one huge one that loves pizza. You see, I predominantly play Rem, and one of Rem’s perks is that he can run around the maze of tunnels beneath the map, farming souls and just generally getting up to no good. Until recently I was largely left alone in said tunnels; I hardly ever play against a Calico and Mo and Krill rarely use them.
And then came Deadlock’s latest major update City Never Sleeps, which brought six new heroes, the first of which being the Rat King. Ironically I actually voted for the Rat King, and that decision haunts me.
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Picture this. I’m skedaddling around the tunnels minding my own business when, in the corner of my eye I see something staring at me from the end of one of the adjacent tunnels. It’s the Rat King, he’s seen me, and he’s running my way.
I throw everything I have at the rat but that still isn’t enough to defeat him. I decide my only option is to turn tail and run, the only problem with that is that when you’re locked in combat the map closes down the exits and entrances to the tunnels, something I forgot until I ran head first into a grated exit. Needless to say I died in that cold dark tunnel, and there wasn’t much I could’ve done about it.
I have been jumpscared by that bloody giant rat more times than I care to admit. Each time I enter the tunnels now my blood runs cold, marred by memories of him hunting me down and throwing Miguel, Jacques, or Abbie with an I at me.
But the horror isn’t restricted to the tunnels. Just the other night I was walking through one of the new districts, Chinatown, and accidentally crossed paths with the enemy Abrams. At first I thought that he might not have seen me. I was wrong. I looked back just once to see him right behind me, before I knew it I’d been shoved into the wall and the enemy Seven appeared out of thin air to solo ult me for some ungodly reason.
Perhaps I’m too horror-coded for my own good, and thanks to this I managed to find myself in terrifying scenarios no matter what game I play. But I’m also of the mindset that any online multiplayer game is inherently scary simply because of the fact that people are unpredictable and are almost always out for blood.
