Riot Games, Inc. has finally decided to take a big step aside from its main MOBA project, League of Legends. The case in hand is a new game by Riot – Valorant. Initially, the project was called Project A, that is how it was announced during the stream dedicated to LoL’s tenth anniversary in October. Valorant is a tactical shooter with unique characters and skills, a kind of mixture of CS GO and Overwatch.

Features of Valorant

The new Riot game is a free tactical shooter where players have to compete in teams with five players in each. Just as in CS GO, the game will have rounds. One gaming session will consist of 25 rounds, the first team taking 13 rounds will win. Every match will start with picking a character, so-called Agent, with unique skills and an ultimate as in Overwatch or Apex Legends. The skills stand for the situation on the map, make it advantageous for the team and cause extra problems for the other one.

The main game mode (at least, at the beginning) is detonating a bomb, as in Counter-Strike. One team attacks, another one protects. The attacking team has a bomb (Spike) which has to be activated in one of several special zones on the map. The bomb has to be protected for some time for the opponents not to be able to detonate it. The bomb explosion means a win for the attacking team in the round and a failure for the protecting team. You can win even without involving the bomb – the opposite team has to be completely destroyed. As in CS GO, every person has one life for a round and after death, they are able to just watch the actions of teammates.

Valorant setting

Valorant world is the Earth in the nearest future. A global catastrophe has completely changed the world: governments and power balance are becoming different. But that is not where the changes stop. reshaped. The Valorant organization gathers all people with special abilities together and uses them to solve various problems on the planet Earth. These people are called Agents.

Valorant will have plot elements but they will be provided to players in the Overwatch style. Each character has their own back story. The events will be cast beyond the game by means of additional resources such as animation short films. The results of the events will also be deployed in the game itself thanks to the change in appearance of the characters, dialogues between them and weapon.

More of CS:GO or more of Overwatch?

There is no doubt that the main emphasis of Valorant is on the competition. The skills of gamers and teamwork will impact the outcome of each battle. Alongside, Valorant is not trying to bring in any new conceptions on the online FPS mode (First-person shooter). Even though the game has bright characters and the map gets the effects of applying special skills, so gameplay looks more like CS:GO. The skills will not protect a character from dying from regular weapons. In Valorant, it is all up to several accurate movements and shots. And instead of the longstanding gathering of players in one zone in the Overwatch style, there are instant confrontations with shots from cover as in CS GO.

Skills may improve the situation on the battlefield and give some advantages, but may not destroy the whole team of opponents in one go. For example, these are creation of little smokescreens or impenetrable walls, treatments for the team or their resurrection, finding of the location of the opponents or special movements. At the moment the beta in Valorant is going to have nine unique Agents and one is planned for the nearest future. It is also peculiar that Valorant has no ability to change the character during a match, so the picked role will have to be played till the end. The roster of the team needs to be though on thoroughly before the beginning of the game.

Gear in Valorant is bought before the start of each round. The arsenal is standard for a tactical shooter: assault rifles, shot-guns, sniper rifles. Some weapons are so powerful that it allows to frag making a precise headshot. The weapons remain with the player for the next round if they are alive. In addition to regular weapons, it is also possible to buy skills. At the same time, unused skills move to the next round, even if the character died.

Using special skills or «aim»?

Valorant is a game where the skills catch all attention. The basis is shooting – reaction and accuracy of movements play a crucial role. The skills themselves are unlikely to affect the power balance on the battlefield. Nevertheless, to win in Valorant only thanks to shooting itself will be difficult. To succeed, you need to develop two skills simultaneously: shooting and using characters’ skills.

Gaming «cosmetics»

The creators of Valorant decided to refuse from the lootbox system. The decision could be influenced by intolerance of modern society to lootboxes. But the game will have cosmetic items which may be bought by players (though, Valorant is free to play). Besides, the main accent is made on the skin of weapons, as this is what the players are first to see on their screen. The game will have unique skins for weapons and also theme kits. As for changes in characters’ appearance, the developers are not going to add this ability yet. As in Fortnite, Valorant will have a system of Battle Passes. The gamers will be able to get cosmetics for the time spent in Valorant matches.

Conclusion

Valorant is undergoing the final development stage. You can see the gameplay of the new game on Twitch or even take part in the beta-test even now. Riot and Twitch give a chance to get a pass to the beta-test – you have to join your accounts and watch Valorant streams. The release of the game is planned in summer 2020