Riot Games has gone ahead and announced the release of VALORANT which was initially being dubbed as ‘Project A’. The game which has quite a few things similar to CS:GO, also brings to the palette a few unique features that poise it as a competition for the age-old shooter.
From the information available via its website, Riot Games define VALORANT as “A 5v5 character-based tactical shooter where creativity is your greatest weapon.” While CS:GO might not be a ‘character-based’ game, strategizing different ways to execute a certain plan or retake a site can be also be labeled as ‘creativity’.
A few things that VALORANT promises to offer is ‘precise gameplay’ as they state that “Shooting in VALORANT is precise, consequential, and highly lethal, we want you to win on your skill and strategy alone.” This is something that the two games might witness a similarity in, shooting mechanics in CS:GO is a bit complex and it takes some time to adapt to the recoil pattern of different weapons, players can expect something similar with VALORANT as well.
Along with this the game also promises 128-tick servers, 30 FPS on old systems, 60-144 FPS on modern rigs, <35ms in major cities around the world, and commitment to anti-cheat right from day one.
Talking about the similarities and differences between the two games, apart from the core gameplay and the mechanics already discussed above, one important feature that VALORANT will be borrowing from CS:GO is its economy-management system while granting it's characters various special abilities which are absent from the latter.
The ‘buy menu’ feature will be something that VALORANT will be taking from CS:GO, a feature that has defined counter-strike not only aesthetically but its gameplay as well. The money system that comes along with it is a crucial factor in strategizing and deciding the outcome of a game.
Image Credit: VALORANT
On the other hand, the main feature that distinguishes the two games is the addition of ‘abilities’ to VALORANT. The game has various different ‘hypernatural powers’ like raising a wall that blocks vision, increased jump height, improved movement speed, granting vision to see through obstacles, etc. These abilities will not be free-to-use though and will need to be purchased at the beginning of every round, also they can be used only a limited number of times every round.
This is the single most important feature that differentiates between the two games and will be the deciding factor that makes it or breaks it for VALORANT.
The gameplay released looks really good but a bit confusing as well in terms of the abilities being used, apart from that the core gameplay is the same as that of CS:GO. The graphics and aesthetics are very different but suit the game really well.
It is still early to say if the game will be a threat to CS:GO or not, but it will surely be a great game to play none the less and I am personally quite excited to get my hands on the game as soon as possible.
