What would you get if Counter-Strike (CS) and Overwatch had a baby? Well, you get Valorant, the first person shooter with added abilities and highly stressful bomb defusal situations. The live game has not been out for long and already Valorant has garnered quite a large player base. Of course, it is not the first time players have experienced the game as it both had an Alpha and Beta stage, but this is the first time everyone has access to the game.

Having watched some Valorant games through streams I kind of had an idea of what to expect from the game when I played it myself. For the most part, my feelings towards the game have not changed since first watching it to now playing it.

My first impression of the game upon playing it was that it was not the kind of game I would play solo. Much like CS and Overwatch, you have to rely on your teammates to win games. Valorant is more similar to CS in that there is more potential to carry solo. However, Overwatch is the only game of the three I play solo simply because it is a game I play competitively. Valorant I see as purely a game to play casually and have fun with others. Being able to communicate effectively and know that your teammates will react to calls makes Valorant far less tilting and stressful.

With the abilities that agents have, it feels like Valorant is a much easier game to get better at initially compared to CS. This is because the game is less reliant on raw aim and just using these abilities can get you kills. However, the skill ceiling seems to be higher than CS since the best use of these abilities is going to be very difficult to get to. At the highest level of play, I would think the raw aim would still be very similar to CS, making the ability usage a defining factor when it comes to the best players.

Regarding the agents themselves, it does feel that, so far, Riot has done a good job of creating agents that all feel different from each other but still have abilities that achieve more or less the same. Examples of this being flashes from agents like Breach, Omen, Phoenix, and Reyna. All four flashes are used differently and create different effects on the other agents’ screen. However, all four are for some kind of initiation tactic for both attack and defense.

The different classes of agents are also something I think adds a lot to Valorant. It allows players to play how they would want to play the game, whether it be as an initiator, a duelist, a controller, or a sentinel. So far you have two aggressive options and two defensive options making for a nice balance. I also think the playstyles are not so different that it can be possible to play other agents in different classes without having a large drop off in contribution. Of course, because Valorant is a shooter, skill is still a big aspect so you can still contribute off just being able to click heads even if your ability usage is not that good.

As for the different guns and the economy, it feels very similar to CS. Pretty much all the guns in Valorant have a similar counterpart to CS so it makes it a lot easier for players that have played CS before. The spray pattern is a bit different and does require quite a bit of time to dedicate to before you get muscle memory for it. As for the economy, it feels like there is no real change with it aside from the fact that the utility (abilities) is cheaper in comparison. The saves, buys and eco buy specific rounds that are seen in CS are apparent in Valorant as well.

My biggest gripe about Valorant is only to do with me being South African. Having to play with 160+ ms makes the game difficult to play and often detracts from the core principle of Valorant at times. With Valorant giving peaker’s advantage, that is pretty much null and void when playing with ping this high. Very often you can peak an angle first and still die before even getting a shot off because of ping advantage. Another issue that it causes is dying when you’re behind walls on your screen however you were not on theirs. This is of course purely a high ping issue so it is not something that dictates the overall game. It only makes it harder for me to play and gives me less incentive to play it.

Ultimately for me, Valorant is a casual competitive game that I would only really play with other people. Having players on your team that are competent and will listen to you when positions and abilities are called out, makes Valorant far easier to play as well. The agent aspect of Valorant is the most interesting. In my opinion, it will make or break the success of the game since it seems to me as having fun agents will draw players to play Valorant. Lastly, this is just my opinion on Valorant and does not mean you should just believe it without playing the game yourself. So go out there, click some heads and perfect those abilities!