It is no news that Riot games’ Valorant takes strongly after Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch. While playing the game, it felt like I was playing Counterstrike with characters straight from Overwatch, except that instead of being called heroes, the character here is called agents. In my opinion, Valorant finds a fine balance between the gunfight centered world of Counter-Strike and the hero-shooter world of Overwatch.

Developed and Published by Riot Games, Valorant is a f2P, first-person hero PC MMORPG; the game was released in June of 2020 as a live service game. Valorant has been criticized for being too slim in terms of contents, map, and all; however, being a live service game, we can’t expect that a lot of content would be released in no time by the developers. If there is anything to glean off the last blockbuster game released by Riot Games, League of Legends, it is more important to establish a strong base before dropping massive content. Taking a look at Valorant, it becomes obvious that the developers have established a strong base, the base being its gunplay.

Game Overview

The first thing right after queueing up is that the game takes you straight into a character selection screen. There are fourteen agents options, each with their unique skills and how they affect the team’s overall tactical balance. We would discuss more on this in the proceeding paragraphs. You have to be extremely strategic in selecting an Agent because once an agent has been chosen, there is no switching, and there can’t be two of the same Agent in each team.

Each game of Valorant involves two teams of 5 players each, locked in a 25-round match. The teams get to play the Offense and defense and can switch sides after the 12th round. The first team to get to 13 wins the match, except that there is a tie, thus leading to a sudden death round. When your team plays the Offense, your team is given the Spike – a plant-able bomb that takes about 45 seconds to get detonated. Your task is to plant the Spike in one of the defenders’ objective sites on the Offense.

On the other hand, the defending team is expected to ensure the Offence does not plant the Spike, and should it get planted, and they have 45 seconds to diffuse it. This invariably means that the attacking team wins if the Spike gets planted and detonated, and the defense wins if the Spike gets diffused or prevents the attackers from planting the Spike before the time elapses. Either way, the last team standing wins the round, so you might want to focus on staying alive because there is no respawning during rounds.

Before the fighting begins, the teams would go through the buy phase, when the teams buy their weapons and agent abilities and prepare for the round. The game operates an Economy based Arsenal system, meaning that the amount of currency you have is determined by your performance in the previous rounds. Each player is given 800 Credits (just enough to purchase a sidearm). By the next round, you get to carry over unused credit. Team play is also very important. Even at this stage, the game allows teams to share a currency. The more currency you have, the more you can afford stronger weapons. 

Valorant demands that you know your guns. An understanding of each gun’s recoil and gun behavior will come in very handy. Valorant allows each player three weapons: one primary weapon, one sidearm, and a melee knife. The guns in Valorant are very similar to those of Counter-Strike, so if you’re familiar with Counter-Strike, it would be easier to adapt to the gunplay of Valiant. Newbies can get as much practice as they need from the very demanding Practice area. Whatever your status, very few games would demand quicker reactions and perfect aiming like Valorant, the learning curve can be a little steep, but it’s every bit rewarding once you catch a grip of it.

Choosing an Agent The Right Way

 In selecting an agent, your choice of Agent is largely influenced, not just by the change you are most comfortable with but also by what Agent your team needs for a balanced fight. The only Agent which, ought to be in every team is Sage. The reason being that she alone can heal and resurrect a dead teammate, thus making her a must-have for every team, and my personal favorite.

Agents in Valorant have distinct personalities, nationalities, and of course, abilities. Agents are probably the second most important element in Valorant. Unlike other hero shooter games, in Valorant, the Agent’s abilities act as a secondary attack system to the gunplay.

Each Agent has three classes of abilities: the signature ability, which is given for free at the start of every round and refilled by a cooldown or by kill counts. The second class is the secondary abilities. These abilities can be gotten during the buy phase before the round begins; they are two in number and can be carried over to the next round. The third and most powerful are the Ultimate abilities, which build up by accumulating kills, winning streaks, spike plants, etc. Ultimate abilities can’t be carried over to the next round, so it’s best you use them once you have them. However, it must be used with caution because while they are stronger than your other abilities, they are not strong enough to guarantee a win and cannot substitute robust gunplay.

Verdict

Regardless of this obvious imitation, Valorant creates an identity of its own through its tactical gunplay, exciting character-based skills, unique and beautiful maps, and scenery. The game manages to appeal to both fans of the gunfight and hero-shooter games.