Deceit 2 PC Review

You've probably had that one nightmare where you wake up alone in an unfamiliar place with something hot on your heels. Luckily, it's just a nightmare, and you'll wake up eventually. The developers of Deceit 2 must have also had that same nightmare and decided to make it a game but make it multiplayer and a whole lot more terrifying.

Deceit 2, as you could probably surmise from the name, is the sequel to Deceit, which is a first-person multiplayer horror survival game where you and up to 5 other players wake up in a strange place after being kidnapped by a mysterious individual known as the Game Master. Some members of your group have been infected with a strange disease, which will lead them to hunt the other innocents of your group. There is a catch: you don't know who in your group has been infected, and it is up to the innocent to team up to try and get rid of the infected, but they can trust no one, not even their best friend.

 

Both Deceit and Deceit 2 were developed by World Makers, a small development studio that formed in 2015. The studio is based in Cambridge and London in the UK. Deceit was the studio's first notable release, which came out on March 3, 2017. Now, if you read the previous paragraph, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Wow, this sounds a lot like Among Us. Is this just an Among Us clone?".

Don't worry, friend, I have some good news: the first Deceit game actually predates Among Us by well over a whole year, meaning, while Among Us is the more well-known, Deceit came first. When the first Deceit game came out, it was adored by fans and is currently sitting on a mostly positive Steam rating. With such high praise, along with both terrifying and addicting gameplay, it's no wonder World Makers decided to make a sequel.

The best way to approach Deceit 2 is to look less at the game as a sequel and more at it as if it were a soft reboot; many of the original game's mechanics are present but have been vastly built upon and refined. There is now a much larger cast of characters as well as more items for you to use. The game has also massively expanded on the setting's lore, fleshing out characters' back stories, who or what exactly the Game Master is, and in general, has just made a good base to work off of. That's not to say things in the first Deceit game were bad; it's just it was the studio's first game, so it would only make sense for them to improve what had already been established.

As for the differences between the first Deceit game and Deceit 2, it’s not that surprising. Both games begin in a very similar fashion, and that is, once again, you and your other teammates wake up in a strange place, that being the Mill Haven Asylum. The main difference is that the developers have increased the number of players, going from 6 to 9 players, as well as a few changes to the story and gameplay.

 

In the first Deceit game, infected players needed to collect blood bags in order to increase their blood bar so that they could enter their terror form. However, in Deceit 2, there are no longer any more blood bags – Instead, infected players need to destroy altars to bring forth the in-between, a strange world that increases the infected's power and allows them to transform and hunt down the innocent.

In Deceit 2, we see the return of the two roles of the original game, that being Innocent and Infected, but we also get a new role, Guardian. Both Innocent and Infected play the same way they did in the first game; innocent players need to complete various tasks located across the Mill Haven Asylum, and completing these tasks will free trapped spirits. The more of these trapped spirits you free, the more bonuses you get.

And the more items you unlock from the Peddler's shop, such as the oh so valuable key, which will open a door that will easily allow you to escape but will permanently activate the In-between. Who is the Peddler? We'll go into that a bit later. It's important to note that certain tasks will require two innocents, and this is where the whole "Trust No One" motto comes into play, as there is no way to tell who are the innocent players and who are the infected, so choose your allies carefully. 

There are two ways of winning the game as an Innocent - The first and arguably the easiest method is to acquire a key that unlocks the way out; you gain access to this key by freeing the aforementioned souls. The big catch is that the second you use this key, the In-between will come into effect permanently, which also means that the infected will transform and chase you down one last time. Now, this seems a little unfair, but there is a catch: only one innocent person needs to make it to the exit in order to win the match.

 

The other way to win the match is by voting out the Infected; this is where things get tricky. If you suspect someone is Infected, you must take them down, then a banishing circle will appear, where a majority vote will be cast, and if the person is found guilty, they will be banished. Just make sure whoever you're banishing is actually an Infected, as Innocent players can also be voted out, which will probably lead to some rather awkward post-match discord calls.

As for the Infected, your job is to destroy the Altars, which we briefly touched on earlier. When one of these Altars is destroyed, the In-between will arrive, and the infected can now take their monstrous true form. In this new form, the Infected are both granted increased movement speed, increased health, and devastating attacks. However, the in-between doesn't stick around forever, so you’ll need to take advantage of your new buffs while you have them. You can increase the longevity of the in-between by destroying more Altars. Destroying Altars also increases the speed at which the In-between comes into effect.

The in-between also adds a whole array of other obstacles for the Innocent, such as Portals that allow the Infected to quickly move from room to room; even though the Innocent can use them too, it’s a slow transition, and the Infected can still grab you. There are also Eyes that will appear in the walls and scream whenever an Innocent moves past them, alerting the innocent of the Innocent's location and will drain your sanity. Another more terrifying ability offered to the infected is the ability to randomly teleport Innocents from their location to a random spot; this will either move them closer to the Infected or move them further away, so this acts more like a wildcard move and should be used carefully.

 

Now, another thing that's new in Deceit 2 is the addition of a third role, the Guardian. The Guardian role plays similar to your normal Innocent role, except with a very nifty trick. As a Guardian, you have the ability to protect one Innocent player from being killed by the Infected, essentially sparing them from the gnarled mandibles of death.

This protection ability only lasts for one In-between cycle, meaning it's important to stay in a team, which is easier said than done, considering you're most likely going to be voted out because of standing suspiciously. Again, you can't trust anyone, not even your saviors. Playing a Guardian is incredibly useful but can also leave a mark on your head; if the Infected know you're a Guardian, you are most likely going to be hunted down first.

An important character you will encounter, who also just so happens to be your key to survival, is the Peddler. This rather ambiguous being seems to be from the In-between world and seems to show a large repository of useful tools and items. Things don't come for free, and the Peddler requires a trade of sorts. Items and other cosmetics can also be purchased from the Emporium, which is an in-game store that you access from the main menu. Also, at the Emporium, you will be able to buy new powers for your Infected Terror Form, such as new attacks or other powers that can slow down the Innocent or make your hunt easier.

In addition to the original cast of characters returning from the first game, Deceit 2 has added three new characters to play. These are Priya, Beck, and handsome Jak. The characters that you play in Deceit 2 aren't really that visually interesting; many of them seem like pretty normal folk. Each character has a reason for being in the Asylum and a rather interesting background. Hans, for example, was a hospital orderly who tended to keep to himself but had advanced military knowledge.

 

While the characters don't look visually interesting, that's intentional. In terms of story and gameplay, players need to look unassuming so as not to draw attention to themselves. The character's backstory, while not having an effect on gameplay, ties quite nicely with the whole "trust no one" schtick. So, while these characters are ordinary, they all have dark secrets and troubled pasts, which makes you wonder why they were chosen to participate in the Game Master's ritual. 

Deceit 2 is an excellent game that doesn't really feel like a sequel; the game is a much more refined version of the first game that has fleshed out many of the original mechanics and added even more. The gameplay is both equally fun and terrifying while fully immersing you in the experience. While there is still more content on the way, as it stands, Deceit 2 is an excellent game that will leave you both terrified and with a lot more trust issues.

Daman Shelley (@UndeadandTired)
Editor, NoobFeed