Okay so Valorant has been out for a while now, right? So I feel it's safe to say that just about every interested party is already well acquainted with it. Now that the beta period has come to an end and the game is looking to fully release as a free-to-play title any day now, the question on some folks' minds (like mine) is how worthy such a game is to join the pantheon of online gaming. Because make no mistake, dear reader, Riot Games have tripped backwards over themselves in a desperate bid to have this title be the next sensation of the gaming world, and I have a funny feeling that it just might be. But at the end of the day the real question is whether or not this title will have the sort of staying power to justify it's existence, or whether or not this just ends up being a 2020 fad that received inflated attention due to the lockdown and will wind down in the new year. (Let us discuss!)
So first of all I should probably address the elephant in the room; yes, Valorant's anti-cheat program is still as invasive as ever. The way it's system worms it's way into the core of the user's computer is unreasonable and honestly unjustified (the game has still suffered from a minor cheating problem) so that may be something of a sticking point for people once the wide release hits. (Or it may not, it's hard to tell with crowds.) In the pre-release stage everyone was just so taken by the prospect of partaking in an 'exclusive program' that no one wanted to question just how smart they were being in entrusting their computer to it's systems, but maybe that star power will fade once the free-to-pay drops early next month. Whatever ends up happening, for me the anti-cheat is a deal breaker in it's current state and thus I'll be avoiding a title that I otherwise am quite intrigued by. (Such a shame.)
But talking more about the game itself, I think it's quiet easy to draw parallels between this game and another incredibly popular tactile FPS romp, (In fact, I'd say that Valorant practically invites comparison) and that's because this game is quiet literally a remake of 'Counter Strike: Global Offensive'. (Or just Counter Strike in general, I guess.) I remember when CS:GO first launched and how so many people raved about the title's storied past and theorised that this would be the sort of game that would remain active for years to come; little did they know how right they were. Despite, or perhaps because of, the games simple premise it stuck around through all the Call of Duty craze, Overwatch mania, Battle Royale frenzy and even survived a couple huge scandals against itself. (At least one of which was explicitly criminal. The other was just unethical.) So you can see why it would behove a studio to try and copy that formula, but it would take a talented studio with a good idea in order to pull it off. (Along comes Riot.)
To be clear, I have nothing against Riot but I have to admit that the core of Valorant is one of the most unoriginal and transparent get-famous-quick schemes that I have ever seen. In terms of gameplay it is almost exactly CS:GO; teams take turn to hunt each other in one-life matches whilst one side attempts to plant a 'spike' and the other tries to stop them. ("Oh, but it's not a bomb so that's different, right?" Guess what happens if this Spike isn't defused. It blows up.) In order to shake up that formula, however, Epic decided to dip into the Hero Shooter craze which tanked many a prospective multiplayer darling in the wake of Overwatch to add some class mastery to the equation. So yeah, this idea is essential a hodgepodge of other successful games thrown together into a pot. And does the resulting recipe compliment their talents?
Why yes, yes it actually does. Anyone who has played a hero shooter for any prolonged amount of time knows the amount of nuance and replayabilty the inclusion of Heroes can lend to a game, and for a formula as already repeatable as CS:GO's search-and-destroy gameplay; it's really a match made in heaven. Learning how each character functions, the times to use their abilities and the tactics they gel with is almost as important as learning your favourite gun, and it also adds sufficient room for the title to grow in the future. I imagine that if this title can be supported under the weight of it's overpriced premium store, then players will enjoy the sort of live-service additions that just weren't a thing when CS-GO first launched; neatly placing Valorant on the trajectory to entirely eclipse the predecessor it 'borrowed' so shamelessly from. ("Well, the old game getting on a bit there anyway. Probably about time they took her out back with the twelve gauge...")
However, at the end of the day you can craft all the clever systems that you want but without a playerbase and community it won't mean jack in the longrun. Luckily Epic were no strangers to amassing both and their campaign to get Valorant into the mouths of every gamer in the world was as ingenious as it was supremely tacky. You might remember earlier how I said that the game was yet to be released, however most still know literally all there is to know about this game and that's due to the Beta keys system. Essentially, this took advantage of the huge live gaming audience on Twitch by encouraging them to watch Valorant streamers in return for randomised Twitch drops of Beta keys for the game. Of course, this would then encourage that individual to join in on the program and suddenly the pyramid scheme has begun. (Okay, maybe that comparison is being a little unfair, but the FOMO exploitation was real with this title and I'm slightly perturbed by that approach to game marketing.)
You can't argue with the results though, and oh boy did it work! Look around today (Well, maybe not today as the game is down in order to prepare for the F2P launch) but any other day and you'll see literally tens of thousands of Twitch-folk watching various Valorant streams. Whether that be in order to get their own key or simply to check out the game, it skyrocketed interaction with the public which logically resulted in a meteoric rise to stardom. It's unreal to see how huge the Valorant community has grown so quickly, and quite honestly that's not the kind of momentum that looks like it's slowing down anytime soon, even for the anti-cheat debacle. (Not everyone is as concerned with protecting their data from hackers as others.)
So is Valorant the start of something special? Yes, I think it is, although it does pain me to admit that, seeing how manufactured and synthetic that promising start was. In the months to follow I can easily see this title becoming the next Overwatch and honestly I don't think this is the sort of title that'll peter out with the changing seasons. Too much work has gone into fitting this game into a competitive state that I seriously wouldn't be surprised if Riot are in talks now, before the game has released to the wider public, to get tournaments going for Valorant as soon as possible. Mark my words, this time next year Valorant will be sitting in the hall of online video game honours, even if it's seat at that table may have been notably bought and paid for. Although, despite all my snark I will admit, I'd play it. (Maybe the inferior console version though, like a scrub) That's just a power of a good, if appropriated, idea.
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