Monsters Within

There is seemingly no end to the asymmetrical multiplayer games, with mainstays like Dead by Daylight and newcomers Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which is still wild to me that it’s getting a game. The genre maintains its popularity, so I was excited to try out the latest game in the genre Deceit 2. Deceit 2 will see players take control of one of 9 members of the Truth Seekers Anonymous group. They have never met in person, and all agreed to come to the Millhaven Asylum in order to solve the mystery of the massacre that occurred years ago. Of course this is a trap, and now the members must figure out who they can trust as there is a monster among them.

There are three teams within the Ritual; The Innocent (blue), who must complete tasks in order to collect 20 souls to escape with their life, the Infected (red), who can turn into a monster in the in-between, and must pick off each of the others, and the Cursed (purple), a neutral team who is out for themselves and must play both sides to escape. Innocents have a few roles that will be assigned to random players each match in order to help figure out who the traitor is. For instance, the Guardian role will allow a player to save someone from being executed by the terrors. The Inquisitor can see footprints and can tell when a blood alter has been activated by a member of the infected. Deceit 2 plays more like Among Us than the Dead by Daylights of the world, and its all the better for it.

MSRP: Free
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC

As you can guess chat is an important aspect of Deceit 2, while the game offers a sound board of sorts to say hello and make basic responses. Having a mic and being able to plead your case, or send people down a rabbit hole if you are the infected is the way the game is meant to be played. The pair of players who are the infected can communicate with each other via a private voice chat, the screen will have a red tint at the bottom when using the monster chat. Setting up ambushes with fellow killers and stuff was a lot of fun, this game is chock full of various strategies to employ and I can almost guarantee that no two games will ever be the same.

Players will begin each match in reality, where they will run around the map doing various tasks to collect souls. This will be immediately familiar to anyone that has played Among Us, players will match colored wires, set clocks to certain times, and turn off valves as an example of some of the chores. As these are completed the shopkeeper will announce new items available, players will be given a choice of helpful tools to use. Things like a camera which can stun the creatures, or tracking devices which can be implanted on someone in order to see if they transform.

While the innocents are busy the experiment players will have to do their best to blend in. This means faking tasks, but you really want to find a activate the blood alters. These will give the creatures mutations that will allow them to toy with everyone. Things like muting every for 30 seconds or teleporting everyone to a random location. When used correctly these things can help to turn the tide in your favor if you are one of the terrors. Every so often everyone is pulled into the “in-between” a shadow real of darkness. Players won’t be able to see further than what’s in front of them, innocents can still complete tasks but now the creatures can transform into their monstruous forms and start to pick off the innocents. Each in-between will end once one of the innocents are caught and executed or they can survive the entire time without being caught. Players will return to reality where everyone will begin to accuse everyone else of being the killer. I have not been in a match yet that didn’t devolve into paranoia and I honestly loved it. The last role is the cursed, and they work alone. This lone member can mimic one of the players who has been banished, so they play both sides until they see who is going to win and then can switch to one of the terrors or innocents and from then on will work on their side.

Deceit 2 is a lot of fun but its not without its problems, there have been multiple crashes on Xbox since release. Queueing for a match will see players unceremoniously sent back to the main menu screen with no rhyme or reason. A few of the tasks were bugged but I think that’s been patched out. These are minor issues and honestly not enough to deter from this becoming one of my daily played games. Really the only thing that aggravated me the most is this game has no traditional tutorial. There is a glossary that will teach players terms, and rules but everything you try will have to be in a live match. Which makes the first few matches kind of frustrating but luckily asking people what to do is an option, just don’t ask them “what does it mean if I am the experiment” because you will be voted out and your game will be over.

Deceit 2 is billed as an online social deduction horror game and it definitely is. Players will have to play attention to their surroundings as well as make sure they aren’t being to weird as to make someone think they are the traitor. I really enjoy Deceit 2, its feels like a ‘grown up’ version of the great game Among Us. With a rewards track that includes costumes and even skins for tools there is always something to unlock, not to mention all the various tools that are unlocked as players progress as an innocent. Deceit 2 is a great game to play with friends or randoms, and being the perfect price of Free makes it even better.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.