Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) has an arch-nemesis in the new first-person shooter released on 2 June by Riot Games called Valorant.
The game has been released for only PC gamers globally and is a 5v5 Free-to-Play game. We checked out the gameplay and a couple of online reviews to see what this new offering from Riot Games has to offer.
The first couple of minutes playing Valorant easily hints at some of its similarities to CS: GO. Apart from the 5v5 missions, the game revolves around one team blowing up specific locations on the map with a bomb before the other team eliminates you or they diffuse the explosive.
Win 13 rounds and you emerge as the winner.
Apart from the aggressive shooting style combat the game also adds special abilities to characters. Each with its own unique combat ability. You get one for free but have to earn other abilities.
In terms of gameplay, it is pacier than Overwatch and Apex Legends as the time to kill is very low and the maps are smaller. More kills get you more money to buy replenishable and abilities. Since rounds end quickly you get results faster.
It’s much tougher shooting the opponent while steady which mean you’re expected to get more kills firing from the hip and with lesser movement.
Animations are a bit cartoonish and more on the grounds of Fortnite by Epic Games. Though the advantage with that is that gameplay is very crisp complemented by clean visuals.
You need to be careful while choosing your character as you’re locked with it for the rest of the game. This is also important for team dynamics.
The game has been released with 11 characters overall, each with their own back story.
Riot Games has made sure cheaters are at bay in this one thanks to an advanced anti-cheat system. They have also made sure that frame-rate drops aren’t an issue for the players as the servers help boost frame rates if your opponent is lagging due to a bad internet connection.
Valorant keeps you hooked for a round or two but that’s just about it. It’ll take you some to get used to the gameplay but that’s the case with most FPS games today.
If you like playing CS: GO but want to switch to a visually lighter genre then you should definitely try Valorant. The game’s available for free to download from the company’s website and needs around 7GB of free disk space.
So go ahead, try out Valorant and let us know in the comments section whether it’s something you can get hooked to.
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