Valorant is a free-to-play, competitive first-person shooter from Riot Games that was released in mid-June 2020. I felt that the release was sensational, with all my friends jumping on board and playing the game.
Gameplay
This is how the game goes: Two teams of five players square off, with one team on offence and the other on defence. After 12 rounds, the teams switch places. The first team to win 13 rounds, wins the match. The attacking team attempts to plant a bomb, called the Spike, at one of the bomb sites on the map. The defending team has to stop them, either by killing everyone on the opposing side, or defusing the bomb once it has been planted. Each player only has one life per round (unless certain skills are used), so either side can win simply by killing everyone else on the other team.
As a fan of counter-strike, I am familiar with these kinds of FPS games. The two games are similar, aside from the fact that Valorant features ‘Agents’. Different agents boast different abilities and skills that you can use during gameplay.
Maps
Currently, there are 5 maps in Valorant. They are Ascent, Bind, Heaven, Icebox, and Split. Among them, Bind, Heaven, and Split launched with the game, while Ascent and Icebox were launched in Episode 1 Act 1 and Act 3, respectively. The maps are fun with additional mechanics that are integrated into the map, such as teleporters and closable doors. This gives rise to many different types of strategies and gameplays.
Set-up
Valorant is able to run smoothly on lower-level systems, hence players do not need to spend large amounts of money for a competitive advantage. The game’s recommended specs are reasonably low, and should keep you competitive even on aging hardware. As long as you practice your aim, you could do well.
Female players
There are also an increasing number of female valorant players, with Cloud9 recently launching their first all-women esports team for Valorant. The increase in female representation is very heartwarming, and it keeps me looking forward to playing the game!
Valorant, though similar to some FPS games, still has its distinct features that keeps it fun and engaging. The slight differences in the mechanics of the game, though small, makes a big difference. It is available on Windows PC, downloaded through the Riot games client. Overall, I would say this was one of my top games of 2020 that I am bringing into 2021.
