Hey everyone!
Today marks the 33rd instalment of MotW, and there’s a lot to talk about here. For instance, the fact that 3 is a super cool number.
First up, a mysterious countdown has shown up on the DEADBOLT Twitter. Over in our Discord server we’ve figured out what it’s probably counting down to, but feel free to speculate yourself or join the discussion with us.
Next, you may remember a long time ago that hopoo highlighted a map by COMBO BREAKER named “To root out evil” – in fact, it was the third one posted – which was a good quality map and one of the first that tackled a large-scale level. In today’s MotW, we’re finally returning to this series and highlighting its sequel – “Hit the clubs (To root out evil, part II)”.
The map’s main mechanic of note are the demons – they litter the level, and if you kill any of them a large group of reinforcements will be teleported in shortly after, ultimately stopping the player from engaging in simple run-and-gun tactics, and instead forcing a sneakier approach. This is further supported by the large amount of silent weapons, such as melees, throwables, and a silenced shotgun. A window that looks across the building into a meeting room, paired with a sniper rifle just waiting to be used, allows you to take care of the largest group of enemies with no risk to yourself.
Being unable to kill demons, you’ll have to take advantage of vents and distraction items to sneakily avoid any demons while taking care of keycard-carrying skeletons. After collecting all that you need, you’re prompted to use the elevator to enter a somewhat less exciting part of the map.
A few killed demons later (thankfully they don’t summon backup) you’ll rescue a bartender from being killed and will enter a dialogue segment with him. The rest of the map is entirely story-based, which was sadly never resolved since the series ended here. You’re given the option to kill the bartender or leave him be. Either way, pick the safe and grab the intel before taking your leave.
While the map isn’t entirely focused on stealth – in fact you can purposely kill the demons if you want an extra challenge – I like that the author encouraged stealth over direct confrontation in an interesting way. It’s well decorated, the enemies are fairly placed, and it’s overall just a fun map to play.