Valorant-An Honest Review

Riot Game’s latest tactical FPS shooter- Valorant, has been generating a lot of excitement in the gaming community recently. It initially kicked of in the form of a closed beta program in a few countries.During this time,it was available only for a few streamers to play. Since the game’s official release on 2nd June 2020, it has become available to play for everyone. Valorant has received critical acclaim from several professional players like Shroud and Ninja. In this article, I will be giving an honest review of the game , so that you can decide whether you want to play it.

 
So without wasting any more time let’s dive right into the article!

Gameplay:

Valorant is a tactical-shooter with a 5vs5 team-based gameplay . The game combines elements from both - CS:GO, and Rainbow Six Siege. Players from Counter-Strike will feel very comfortable playing this game as it’s shooting mechanism feels exactly the same as CS:GO. The game requires a player to have quick reflexes and the ability to make good strategies.

Valorant is set in the near-future where players control various playable characters called agents. These agents have unique abilities, diverse appearances, and even have their own dialogues!

 

Much like Counter-Strike , there are two teams in each match-The Offense and The Defense. The Attacking team’s objective is to plant a bomb called the Spike at one of the various bomb sites. The Defending team’s goal is to stop the Offense from planting the spike or to eliminate all members of the Offense.

 As of now, there are two game-modes in Valorant-

•  Standard Unranked Mode- In this mode, the match is played over 25 rounds. The first team to secure 13 rounds wins the match.One player in the Offense carries the spike which he needs to plant on one of the bomb sites.If the defending team is able to defuse the spike before the timer finishes,they win. However, if the spike explodes, the attacking team wins. This round generally lasts for around 30 minutes.

• Spike Rush Mode- This is a shorter and more dynamic mode which lasts for 7 rounds with the same objectives for each team as in the previous mode.To make the rounds faster both teams are given random weapons and each player on the Offense has his own spike.This round lasts an average of 10-15 minutes.

Agents:

• Controllers- These agents block sight-lines and support their team in both Offense and Defense.

• Initiators-These agents gather useful information on the opponent team and are essential for team strategies

• Sentinels- These agents specialize in defense and generally play from the back of the team.

• Duelists- These agents excel in rushing into the opponent team and making offensive plays

Each agent possesses 4 abilities- 1 signature ability, 2 regular abilities, and one ultimate ability. Agent abilities can be movement-based , utility-based or offense-based. The ultimate ability is charged over time and can be charged faster by eliminating opponents.



These abilities have been extremely well designed and make the game extremely fun to play. Personally, I loved using different abilities and liked the versatility of the game. If you want to become a true master of this game, you have to excel at using abilities at the right time.

 This guide will help you to choose the right agent for yourself- https://gamehag.com/news/valorant-the-3--strongest-agents-in-the-game

 Weapons:

Valorant has 17 weapons, divided into 6 categories. The weapons have been well designed, with each weapon having its own unique quality that seperates it from the other weapons. Weapons are another thing that CS:GO players will feel very comfortable with as the developers of Valorant have basically incorporated weapons from CS:GO, given them different names and modified their appearance. For example, the Operator is the AWP, the Vandal is the AK-47 and the Phantom is the M4.

 Here’s a complete weapons guide for Valorant:

https://gamehag.com/news/valorant-complete-weapons-guide

Maps:

Valorant currently has 4 maps which are chosen randomly during match-making.

These maps are-

• Split
• Bind
• Ascent
• Haven (My personal favourite)

 Each of the 4 maps is unique and has a totally different environment. All of the maps have several tactical spots, hallways, bomb-sites and entry-lines. This makes the playing experience fresh every time that you play the game and ensures that matches don’t seem repetitive or boring. I can guarantee you that you will love the maps in Valorant and appreciate the unique theme of each map.

 Graphics And Audio:

In-Game graphics is one place where Valorant is mediocre. The graphics in the game are’nt bad, but are not that good either. Though the graphic effects of abilities have been superbly portrayed, the environmental graphics are not that great. One advantage of this is that you can get high frame-rates even on low-end PC’s . This makes Valorant a great choice for budget gamers 

The audio, on the other hand is better than almost every game out there! Each character has his/her own dialogue in a unique voice, which actually has the accent of their country. The sounds of the weapons are also great and sound different. The developers of Valorant deserve a huge round of applause for the sound effects they’ve crafted.

Rating:

8.5/10

 Valorant perfectly combines the elements of CS:GO, Rainbow Six Siege, and Overwatch- giving us a superbly designed and lovable game. The pace, excitement, and feel of the game is perfect and makes you want to play it again and again. You might be wondering why I did not give it a 10/10…That’s because somewhere at its core Valorant lacks originality. This could be because we have played so many FPS shooters over the years, and though it is unique, Valorant does not bring anything revolutionary to the table. Overall, it is a good game that definitely deserves a try.

Hope you guys liked the review!

-SoulMortal45