Hey everyone!
…wow, it’s been a while, huh?
The last several years have been bonkers, but amid all the chaos, we’ve noticed a rise in DEADBOLT content, whether it be retrospectives, artworks, quality maps, more mentions of the game throughout Hopoo-related spaces, and everything in-between. Figured it’s time to jump on the belated bandwagon, and see what these years have had to offer.
Don’t be mistaken, though, this is purely a community highlight, there aren’t any plans or teasers for future DEADBOLT content from Hopoo Games themselves. Yet.
Keep that counter going, y’all.
VIDEOS
There's been plenty of videos on DEADBOLT to keep the community going, from analyses to retrospectives and more!
Story
Among the most influential videos in the community is the extremely high-quality lore recap from Squatch Gaming. Paired with excellent narration, it retells the story of DEADBOLT in minute detail, making even the most savvy nerds like us a bit jealous:
Watch on YouTube
Retrospectives
DEADBOLT is seemingly old enough to get retrospectives, as these standout videos showcase. One of these we especially appreciate, analysing the gameplay and the themes of the narrative, breaking the game down like a modern piece of art:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEB2fkDxqnw
But hey, there's nothing wrong with a light-hearted tone either. Sometimes all that you need is a handful of memes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7uxOTX3mzA
Honourable Mentions
It's well-known that Chris' amazing music is responsible for the game's reputation. Though we haven't had any fan made original tracks (that we know of!), there exists at least one vocal cover that grabbed people's attention:
Watch on YouTube
And hey, we wouldn’t be a niche little community without at least one fan film. A pretty nifty live-action one, at that:
https://youtu.be/EExPLWRtriU
Heck, you know what, let me plug my own stuff too. Want to see some inhumanly fast gameplay? Quite literally, in fact, for this is a Tool Assisted Speedrun, completing the game in an impressive 19 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-MUQboGV-w
ARTWORKS
If your eyes hunger for something a bit more… static, there’s plenty of that too.
By far one of the most significant surges in the art sphere was thanks to the Bloodrain contest, hosted on the Risk of Rain 2 Discord server. The prompt was "a Halloween poster", and allowed anything Hopoo-related, including DEADBOLT. Here’s just some of the winning artworks:
by Sigma ( Incorporeal ∑#9197 ):
by @eliworks:
There’s also been a lot of other fan made art posted over the years on social media such as Tumblr and Reddit (r/deadbolt), as well as the #creative-db channel in our community Discord server (we also encourage you to check out the #creative-archive channel to see more like this!):
by SupremePineapple:
by brainheadbot/Toni Mijatović:
by touyaloid:
by lampthesadone:
And as a special highlight, here's a wonderful Reaper-ified Chris Christodoulou drawn by Bluerogue. She is the designer/illustrator for the CHASEVGM magazine about videogame music, where this artwork was featured.
Here's a link to the magazine, feel free to give it a read! Page 14 features the handsome Chris, while page 15 features a great writeup on the Chris/Hopoo discography from RoR1 all the way to Survivors of The Void. Really though, we encourage you to read the whole thing, it's a real love letter to the medium.
And heck, we might as well count some stuff related to modding. Classic_Cheese18’s contribution to the scene with his sprite work is particularly noteworthy, even if it’s not implemented into any existing mods just yet.
CUSTOM MAPS
“But what about the videogame itself?” I hear you ask. If speedruns and other self-imposed challenges don’t take your fancy, people over on the Workshop to this day are making quality custom maps and even entire campaigns to keep the game replayable. Let’s have a look at those released since the last Map Highlight.
A worthwhile mention — all of the screenshots that you're about to see were taken with DEADBOLT Community Patch (DCP). Though it's not actively maintained at the moment, it's a must-have mod for any fan of the game, boasting QoL improvements and fixes, extra weapons, and features like hiding the HUD. You can read our detailed overview of DCP here.
Operations
It would only be fair if we covered officepunk’s “Operations” here, since we covered the first in the series back in 2020. The campaign presents us with a long series of difficult levels in each chapter, challenging the players’ wits, knowledge of the game, and, at times, patience. There are a lot of stages in each level, and I’d wager each will take about an hour of playtime. It’s worth it, though.
Operation Cocaine Carnage
Cocaine Carnage might genuinely be one of the best sets of levels I’ve ever played, despite its limiting nature. Armed with only a Silenced 9mm Pistol, Reaper must sneak his way through the docks that are way too crowded to tackle head-on. This is a sneaking mission, and Cocaine Carnage further facilitates this by utilising some of the game’s unused assets. Smoke detectors will sound an alarm if you exit out of a vent within their vicinity unless shot, and closets allow the player to hide from patrolling enemies. Keep a lookout for patrol patterns, blind spots, and those moments where someone’s head is turned.
Operation Branching Bridleway
If the stealth-only nature of the previous level was too much for you, Branching Bridleway is a much more traditional DEADBOLT map, as a level more focused on shooting. Still, there’s plenty of interesting gameplay scenarios to go through.
Depending on which route you take throughout the level, the challenges that you’ll face change drastically. Left side will be a treat for those more predisposed to action. Relatively tight time limits on ash totems? Check. Huge levels with plenty of vents and possible routes? Check. A Sawn-Off only stage with nothing but Bouncers? Yeah, sure, why not.
If you want a real challenge, though, the rightmost route has rundown zombie apartments, hordes of Patriarchs, and gruelling traps from the cunning Timur. I mean, just look at this:
Operation Refracted Reflection
Refracted Reflection puts a lot of effort into its aesthetics, and it absolutely pays off. Described as an “alternative look at the final level of DEADBOLT”, it is precisely that, and more. As we’re hunting down Ibzan, we close in on his location and get closer to the Portal.
…huh, but if I interact with the portal, won’t I…
Oh.
OH.
…and you know what, I’m not gonna spoil it any further. Find out more yourself! But rest assured, this is a great conclusion to a quality campaign.
Tahazzar’s maps
Tahazzar is a long-standing mapmaker, renowned for his unusual takes on gameplay scenarios and gameplay design, often going beyond the level editor’s limits. What you’ll find is a mix of puzzle and gameplay-centric levels, requiring the player to carefully think about their strategy. Although the rate of released levels has slowed down, there’s still plenty that Tahazzar made in the recent years.
Here’s some of our particular recommendations (bonus points if you tackle them with just the .32 Revolver):
The Other Night
Contained within a single screen, this small level challenges the player to take out a club full of vampires with a limited arsenal. The rooms are full of enemies, the claustrophobic layout doesn’t allow for much leniency when lining up shots, and the ammo is really scarce if you’re only equipped with the standard revolver. Nevertheless, it’s a solid level overall, and very much manageable after a bit of trial and error.
Eve of New Light
Eve of New Light is more skewed towards the puzzle side of things. You’ll need to take advantage of the cover of darkness to carefully navigate the level, avoiding enemies and sniper fire all the while.
Heavy-Underhanded
Do you like sledgehammers? You’d better, for this is a sledgehammer-only level. A lot of careful positioning, timing, and bravely running away is required to make the slow sledgehammer swings really pay off. What, you’re expecting more? Get sledgin’, Reaper.
The Hangout
The Hangout is frustratingly difficult, but the gimmick is too good to pass up. Far from the first of its kind, it’s the most recent example of a completely upside-down level. The threat of being shot or seen from an unexpected angle is higher than ever, and the positioning is likely to mess with your muscle memory. Just remember to aim for the head.
Down-Low
Last on our list, we’ve got Down-Low. See that ladder? You can climb it. In fact, you have to. Just don’t get shot along the way.
Solve various vent-based puzzles, explore hidden routes, pick up whatever weaponry you can find, and most importantly, don’t give your life for the honour of reaching the top of this level.
Flatline
Those of you who’ve been around here for long may recognise both RPD_Survivor himself, and his campaign, “Flatline”. Some of the maps from the collection even made their way into MOTW/Map Highlight posts every now and then. Six years in the making, RPD is still diligently working away at it, especially with a recent spree of quality of life updates across all maps.
Now, this post would be twice the length if we went into all the details on the changes or gave each individual level the coverage it deserves, so just take our word for it: it's a quality campaign, for those seeking a challenge, and especially for those seeking an involved storyline. In fact, it's part of the same continuity as Nintee's Last Stand series, which we covered around 2019.
While Last Stand focuses on the same Reaper as in the campaign, Flatline takes place long after with a completely new one.
That's right - this was secretly a recommendation for both collections all along! We're efficient like that.
The screenshots that you're looking at right now are from the latest entry in the series, "Two Sides of the Same Coin". Similarly to Operation Branching Bridleway, this map is split into two routes, each with its own (mostly stealth-centric) challenges.
Lastly, we’d like to highlight the maps of a couple newcomers to the community.
The Underdogs
First up is The Underdogs by “born handsome instead of rich” (a sentiment I, of course, can fully relate to), a short 4-level campaign that stands out with its tight level layouts and challenging gameplay scenarios. There’s plenty of stealth and action to go around, and the moderate length prevents the whole experience from dragging out for too long.
Rise, Fall and Downtrodden
And you know what, we’re even going to cheat a little. Released just last month is “Rise, Fall and Downtrodden” by zgsanmts (or, well, that’s what they go by on Discord). While fairly simplistic and light on the story, the mapper shows potential with what they can achieve with the level editor. Much like all the aforementioned maps, it’s a fairly well-designed set of challenges that’ll test your skill and prowess both in stealth and in loud.
And that’s as much as we can fit before this post gets ridiculously long. Even though a lot of time has passed since the release, it’s evident that a lot of people are still really passionate about this niche little videogame, and they deserve the spotlight.
Of course, we couldn’t possibly encompass everything. There must be plenty of stuff we’ve missed or neglected to mention. Search for/post about deadbolt on social media, subscribe to random custom maps on the Workshop, and see what gold you can uncover. Feel free to shill something you’ve made, in the comment section here or on our aforementioned Discord server – the centralised place for any fan of the game. We’re very much encouraging you to shill your works.
Thanks for reading this blog post up until the end, and sharing the same enthusiasm for the game as us. Hope to see you again someday!
deadbolt 2 when?