Deadlock prototype had Half-Life 2's Antlions marching along beside you

Having been officially revealed in a very un-fanfare-y way this weekend, a Valve developer has given us all an extra peek at a prototype of the studio's hero-shooter Deadlock.

The video itself was spotted by social media account Gabe Follower, which regularly keeps us up to date with titbits of Valve-related news (clue is in the name, really).

As you can see in the embedded post below, the prototype footage for Deadlock features a very rudimentary urban area, complete with placeholder assets such as those of Half-Life 2's alien insectoid creatures, Antlions.

As this is of course just a prototype for Deadlock, the footage itself is very basic, but having played Deadlock myself (I can actually say that now) you can certainly see the bones of the game as it is today.

In Deadlock, players make their way through its urban map accompanied by a gaggle of AI minions known as Troopers. These chaps "periodically spawn in the base and then run down a lane, fighting any enemies they encounter". This is much like the prototype's Antlions did for the player.

You can check out the prototype footage via the post below, followed by a screenshot I just took showing Deadlock's Troopers as they appear in the game's overview section.

Deadlock reached a new peak concurrent player count this weekend, of 89,203. There is still no actual release date for Deadlock, however, and it can only be played via invite at the time of writing.

"Deadlock is in early development with lots of temporary art and experimental gameplay," the Steam page explains.