Valorant is a new multiplayer tactical shooter from Riot Games. The game is currently in closed beta testing, with a full release planned for summer 2020. You can gain access to the game through the official website. In any Valorant overview, you can read that the game is essentially just a blend of mechanics from Counter-Strike and the unique hero abilities from Overwatch. But is that really a bad thing? Everything new is well-forgotten old.
There is no storyline as such in Valorant. It's a straightforward shooter where each team has 5 players. The action takes place on Earth, in the very near future. One team needs to eliminate the opponents and plant a bomb (called a "spike" in the game) at specific sites to blow everything to smithereens. The other team must prevent this. The match is played until 13 wins.
Characters
The developers place a strong emphasis on the fact that each hero has their own unique traits, personalities, countries of origin, and unique abilities. Initially, 5 heroes are available, with another 5 becoming accessible as you progress your account. The developers promise that by release, there will be 12 heroes.
All characters are divided into four roles: Controller, Initiator, Sentinel, and Duelist.
Controllers – control the battlefield situation (Brimstone, Omen, and Viper)
Initiators – professionals in tactical actions and gathering information about enemies (Breach, Sova)
Sentinels – hold defenses and heal their teammates (Cypher, Sage)
Duelists – frontline fighters (Phoenix, Jett, Raze)
Gameplay
The gameplay truly resembles Counter-Strike in many ways. Here, the most important things are skill, weapon handling, and accurate shooting. There aren't many weapon types, but each one needs to be learned individually—you have to build up your shooting skills and study the recoil patterns. All of this will improve your proficiency and your chances of landing shots on the first try. Counter-Strike fans will also find similarities in the fact that walking is the key to safety, and you shouldn't switch to sprinting in Valorant. The noise level when running increases sharply, turning you into an easy target for the enemy.
One of the significant downsides in the game at the moment is the unavailability of in-game voice chat for Russian players. Teamplay is a crucial component of Valorant. And the lack of communication between players reduces the chances of victory. But this is still beta testing. We'll see what happens when the game is officially released.
The review of Valorant is coming to an end, but before you go play, you should take a look at the minimum and recommended system requirements of Valorant.
