Did you know Valve, the company behind the massive PC video game distribution platform Steam, makes its own games? Well if you’ve ever enjoyed Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Defense of the Ancients, Counter Strike, or Team Fortress you can thank Valve for that. Because Valve is so focused on running Steam their output of new games has been incredibly slow, but in recent years a few new projects have begun to emerge. One of these new games is Deadlock, a third-person multiplayer online battle arena hero shooter set in a 1940s New York City filled with monsters, magic, and the occult. The game is still in closed beta, but anyone already in the beta can invite any of their Steam friends to join so it’s not actually that hard to sneak your way into The Cursed Apple so long as you know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy.
I vaguely remember hearing about Valve’s worst kept secret when the closed beta first went live, but for one reason or another I never really investigated the game until very recently when I learned about a batch of brand new characters being added to the game which included a Catholic Priest called Venator(Hunter in Latin). Needless to say my curiosity peaked and using my network of Catholic gamer friends I got into the beta and started playing in preparation for the release of this mysterious new clergyman. Since the game is still in closed beta this article will NOT be a full review of Deadlock, but now that Venator is finally in the hands of players I want to talk about his portrayal.
In Deadlock’s backstory Venator’s real name is Father Quinn Rourke, an Irish Priest who is part of a fictional order of Vatican sanctioned monster hunters called The Venators of St. Benedict. Among the few who bear the name Venator, Fr. Rourke stands out as a battle hardened professional uniquely suited to deal with the supernatural chaos running rampant in New York City. Mechanically speaking, Venator is an offense focused character who utilizes big guns, bear traps, incendiary grenades, and wooden stakes to immobilize and execute enemy players. Not the kind of move set we typically see with religious-type characters in games, but I would be lying if I said Venator loading his crossbow while shouting: “In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti” wasn’t one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in a video game.
The church on the green lane has a monster infestation. Time for some cleansing.
Beyond the gameplay, Venator is largely characterized in his interactions with the game’s other characters. Venator is thankfully not the stereotypical “religion bad” strawman we usually get from corporate media, but he is by no means depicted as a flawless saint either. His zeal stems mostly from his desire to dispense God’s justice more so than offering God’s mercy, which leads some characters like Infernus to see him as angry or unhinged. His most hostile relationships however, are with clearly immoral characters like Seven who try to brush him off as a blind, insignificant pawn of the Vatican. On the slightly less hostile side, professional killers like Yamato respect Venator for his skill and ruthlessness as a hunter.
In terms of positive relationships, Venator has a soft spot for smaller, weaker characters like Rem whom he promises to shepherd on the battlefield. He also attempts to bring comfort to characters like Holliday, who constantly brood over their troubled pasts, by inviting them to pray with him. He also shows much concern for characters like Graves who aren’t inherently evil, but endanger their souls by relying on evil artifacts as the source of their powers. Overall Venator is portrayed as a complex individual with a mix of virtues and flaws that elicits a variety of reactions from the characters around him. I’m sure some of my fellow Catholics will be irked by his downplaying of mercy in pursuit of justice, but Deadlock largely positions him as a force for good in the cosmic struggle unfolding on the mean streets of Manhattan and that is a huge win for Catholics compared to the far less charitable depictions we get elsewhere.
Though the game is still in beta, I have been enjoying Deadlock immensely and the inclusion of a character like Venator is the cherry on top. While there’s always the possibility of things going south before launch, I’m confident I’ll be there to help review the game when it fully releases. Catholics aren’t treated kindly by most media these days, usually as cartoonishly evil villains or only good if they reject Catholic values that contradict popular secular values. Valve’s choice to create a (mostly) positive depiction of a Catholic among a legion of tiresome strawmen has earned my respect ten fold. I can only pray this development signals the beginning of a positive trend for Catholics in video games. St. Benedict, Ora Pro Nobis.
