Gamer Score - 8.5

Difficulty Score - 7

With Valorant approaching its 1 year anniversary soon, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my thoughts of the game thus far.

I remember watching the League of Legends 10 year anniversary stream in 2019 when Valorant was announced under Riot Games. It was a shock to say the least. Riot games was finally going to have more than one game?! At this point whether you have or haven't played League of Legends, it's a household name for so many. Branching into the tactical shooter genre is a move that nobody saw coming. I was interested in the game because of my history playing Counter Strike growing up. I also was pretty addicted to Overwatch for quite a while after release. This was the first time I had really stepped away from League for more than a couple of days without playing regularly. Of course I was back on League within about 4 to months and would continue for 3 ½ more years, until Valorant came out. This was one of the only other games to truly has kept my attention for a significant amount of time.

Like my comparison earlier, Valorant is a close adaptation of the Counter Strike series. The guns are similar, game play, plating or diffusing a bomb/spike, using an economy system to buy guns and utility is all similar. This type of game takes practice, more so than your average Call of Duty, it is geared towards being competitive in a team scenario. The mechanics of the game are so much different than most shooters as well. You are more accurate while standing still, and you don't re-spawn until the following round. There is a real challenge to avoiding enemies while not moving to shoot them. It really doesn't even make sense to the player in the beginning. It takes true determination, and focus to make progression at the game. Which is what makes it so damn fun, always seeing your improvements, however big or small. Learning to check corners, and work as a team to out smart or outplay the opposing team.

This can make for especially fun multiplayer with friends. All progressing and getting better together individually, but also as a team to communicate, and play together. The beginning is definitely the worst stage of the game because of how similar, but different Valorant is to most games that the casual player will have prior experience with. After a few times playing there will be noticeable improvement rather quickly for someone starting out as a beginner. Just enough to make the new player think that they can get better at the game, which ultimately hooks them in! It can get repetitive after awhile with only 5 maps in the rotation, but remember, I've been playing League of Legends for years, with just one map. Regardless this isn't too much of an issue because of how much diversity there is between one match to another.

With that being said, Valorant has added 4 new characters, a new map, and 2 new modes since releasing less than a year ago. This is a fantastic amount of support for a free to play game, and is reminiscent of Leagues new champions being designed frequently for the game. When there is good growth happening, a game can strive for a great period. I believe that the developers are just getting started with this game, and that it will be around for years to come.

Something different about Valorant compared to something like League is that while it is a team based game, one team member can make a large impact on the game through skill and knowledge. It is one of the first multiplayer team games I have played in a long time that one player can determine whether his or her team wins the game by whooping ass on their own! Of course as the player gets higher and higher rank it will be harder to say the same, but at that point the player will have teammates of equal skill to help lighten the load.

Overall I have loved my time playing Valorant. My friends and I have played together getting better, and seeing each other grow as players. We have also met new friends while playing through matchmaking and utilizing the in game voice chat system. The game play is fun, tight, and refreshing for the genre. I would recommend that any video game player try this game at least a couple of times to give it a chance, and remember, it's better to strike first!