Valorant first impressions (CBT)

Valorant pulls heavily inspiration from Counter Strike and spices it up with agents and their abilities, but it feels different and not necessarily in good way.

Not so “easy to learn” maps

In CS:GO you get new map, you learn it relatively fast. 1-2 runs from each side and you are aware of map layout. In Valorant maps seems to be more confusing and harder to learn. It’s like maze of hallways without clear Orienteering points, especially maps that have 3 sites.

When CS:GO has map is designed to have a house and paths around the house, then in Valorant you have 4 houses fused into one and paths through that construction. You have no idea where one house ends and another one starts.

Centers around guns

At first glance Valorant seems something that relies heavily on abilities, but that is not true. Abilities are more like grenades that you have in CS:GO, they create openings, but in the end it still comes down to shooting and guns. Lot of of players seems to be focusing on shooting rather than using abilities. I am interested to see how it evolves in the future and what kind of plays players will pull out using these abilities.

Abilities can backfire

Many abilities act as zone controls. They block visibility or make zone not accessible. In CS:GO it takes very short time to deploy your smoke grenade, but in Valorant it can take longer and by doing that you might get killed. So when deploying you abilities, you need make sure it is actually time and place to do that. If you don’t you can easily get killed while trying to use your ability or you make things harder for your team.

Great example can be Sage’s barrier. When deployed at wrong place, it can block out your teammates. Another great example is Omen’s ability Dark Cover, that is essentially a smoke bomb, but deploying it can be pure deathtrap for player, because you don’t just throw it. You first pick the ability, then you select range and then you deploy it.

More information available for players

When it comes to information Valorant is more giving and not only from abilities. You see all your teammates not only on minimap but also through walls. Anytime you see enemy, it will be marked on minimap for everyone. You can also ping on the minimap and that even after getting killed. Addition to minimap and ping information, all throwable abilities have trail behind them, that you can see through the map. This gives you idea where and how your things landed.

Doesn’t quit feel like CS and it isn’t necessarily good thing

In generally the game mode and idea behind the guns is same. You got one team trying to plant bomb, while other tries to stop them from doing that. Before each round you can buy weapons, that all have certain recoil pattern.

Still, for some reason these two game feel much apart from each other. CS:GO just feels more crisp and refined. It might be personal opinion, but guns in CS:GO feel and sound more dangerous, whereas in Valorant they look and feel like toy guns. This is small change, but add it to other small changes and you get big enough difference that might not be step in positive direction.