Valorant offers a fresh look into first person shooter games, exceeding its popular predecessors and inspirations—Overwatch and Counter-Strike.
Valorant caught the eyes of avid PC gamers by blending Overwatch’s hero abilities and Counter-Strike’s first-person, round-based player vs player (PvP) system.
In the midst of the pandemic, Valorant was officially released in June 2020, proclaiming itself as a first person, tactical shooter. Aside from pin-point gunplay, strategy will have to be utilized in this 5v5 player game.
The tactical part of this hero shooter is mainly stressed on the abilities each agent (character) has, as players will have to strategize when and how to use their skills. There are currently 29 agents to choose from, each being categorized in either a controller, initiator, duelist or sentinel role.
Riot Games made Valorant, which created high expectations. The group is well-known for developing League of Legends, one of the biggest Multiplayer Online Battle Arena games.
As an avid Valorant player for six years and a newcomer to the Esports scene, I find that this game has more pros than cons, despite negative depictions from social media. Perhaps due to the younger crowd this tactical shooter attracts, online it has been called “cringey” with a “toxic” community.
However, I for one, appreciate how the game’s lore is applied heavily into the central conflict of the gameplay –where one team plants the bomb (or the spike) in order to steal the surrounding radianite (the source of major advancements for the fictional world), while the other team defends their homeland.
The narrative primarily revolves around the Valorant Protocol agents of Alpha Earth, who live in an abundant place full of radianite that allow this version of earth to thrive. However their antithesis, Omega Earth, is a place with radianite deficiency, close to ecological collapse. In an effort to save Omega Earth, the agent counterparts invade Alpha Earth to steal their resources.
Besides Valorant’s complex and unique story, their strong anti-cheat system Riot Vanguard is a huge game changer, especially in the first person shooter world where cheating is a prominent issue within the community. From my experience, cheating has been very rare due to this attached system to the game, making it more enjoyable as I do not have to constantly worry of my match being disturbed. And when the uncommon occurrence does happen, Riot Games has implemented a way to return a player’s rank rating in competitive matches that you have lost, ensuring that you are reimbursed if a cheater does make their way into your game.
Another striking aspect to Valorant is its community. In my opinion, it is definitely a melting pot of players who either have little to no experience or are seasoned players with other first person shooter games and that’s the best part. In each match, you meet a diverse group of players that you may end up befriending. I find that one of the most endearing parts of Valorant, it’s really nice to meet people who enjoy the game as much as you do.
The only real adversity I find Valorant has is the amount of “smurfs,” experienced players who create new accounts to play against lower ranked players, that are present. But this issue is not just Valorant specific, I personally find this problem is inevitable as people would like to either play with their friends, even if they’re in lower ranks, or some would like to be boosted up to higher ranks.
While smurfs are one of the only prominent obstacles I see, it is good to note that like every other game everyone encounters different experiences. No game is without its flaws and Valorant is no exception. But its collaboration of engaging lore, strategic gameplay and its interactive community continues to make it stand out in the first person shooter genre.
From both my years as a competitive player and my new experience from an Esports perspective, I confidently find that Valorant triumphs its shortcomings. At the end of the day, Valorant continues to be an entertaining game that keeps players coming back for one more queue.