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by Philipp Rüegg
"Valorant": Is the replacement for "Counter-Strike: GO" coming?
15.4.2020
Translation: machine translated
"Valorant" has only been playable in closed beta for a few days and has already broken audience records by the dozen. The mixture of "Counter-Strike GO" and "Overwatch" could prove to be a killer combination.
"Valorant" is the first game from the makers of "League of Legends" that is not based on the world of the successful MOBA. Under the name "Project A", it was presented last October together with four other titles to mark the ten-year anniversary of "LoL". This is the first time that developer Riot Games has ventured into new territories after the studio had long relied exclusively on the success of "LoL". Although, the paths that "Valorant" is taking are not entirely new.
The best of both worlds
But what am I beating about the bush here, the templates are obvious. Riot drew a lot of inspiration from "Overwatch" and "Counter-Strike GO". The latter seems to have been the more important template. In "Valorant", two teams of five players compete against each other. The aim is to either wipe out all opponents or, as the attacker, to set the spike - in other words, to plant the bomb. The defenders try to prevent this. If a player dies, they must wait until the round is over. The game is played to 13 points. A match lasts around 40 minutes.
Not only is the gameplay reminiscent of "Counter-Strike", but the layout and style of the maps are also heavily inspired by Valve's tactical shooter. The graphic style is a little more comic-like, which in turn is more reminiscent of "Overwatch". This brings us to the second major role model. Riot has copied the ten selectable characters from Blizzard's hero shooter.
The focus in "Valorant" is on shooting with typical firearms such as submachine guns, assault rifles or revolvers. Instead of real weapons as in "CS", there are slightly different fantasy counterparts such as Vandal instead of AK-47 or Odin, which corresponds to the Negev in "CS:GO". You can't buy grenades and the like in "Valorant". This function is taken over by various hero abilities. Take Sova, for example. He can shoot an arrow that tells you the position of enemies through walls. Or Phoenix, who can create a wall of fire that blocks enemies' view and path. Viper, on the other hand, has a range of poison gadgets.
You buy the skills in the same way as your weapons. Each hero also has an ultimate. This is charged over time or by activating certain items in the game. The ultimates range from rocket launchers to revival spells and air attacks.
"Valorant" is still in closed beta. However, the game already shows enormous potential. The gameplay is mature, the maps are appealing and the heroes provide plenty of variety. Until recently, the only way to get a key was to watch certain streamers on Twitch and hope for a key drop. This system is likely to have been a key article in "Valorant" breaking several viewer records. The game was watched for 34 million hours in a single day, by up to 1.7 million viewers simultaneously.
Riot has softened the system somewhat. Now you have the chance to win a code with every "Valorant" stream on Twitch. So also with us.
We usually stream on Wednesdays on Youtube and now also on Twitch. Also take a look at our Discord channel.
This is how we stream:
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
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