{"id":7745,"date":"2020-11-16T13:17:56","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T11:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/playlab.uta.fi\/?p=7745"},"modified":"2020-11-16T13:17:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T11:17:56","slug":"valorant-watch-out-valve-and-blizzard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/valorant-watch-out-valve-and-blizzard\/","title":{"rendered":"Valorant – Watch out, Valve and Blizzard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valorant<\/span>\u00a0is a team-based<\/span>\u00a0tactical<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>first-person shooting game<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>by Riot Games, the company behind\u00a0<\/span>the hugely popular League of Legends<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Within the last year, Riot has revealed\u00a0<\/span>plans for several games in different genres, and after their step<\/span>\u00a0into card games with Legends of\u00a0<\/span>Runeterra<\/span>, they\u2019ve\u00a0<\/span>been focusing on their big gun \u2013\u00a0<\/span>Valorant<\/span>. The game is clearly meant to compete\u00a0<\/span>in the same landscape as\u00a0<\/span>Counter-Strike<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0Overwatch<\/span>, and Rainbow Six: Siege<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>all<\/span>\u00a0huge first-person team shooters with their own\u00a0<\/span>stren<\/span>gths<\/span>\u00a0and weaknesses<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>In terms of gameplay styles,\u00a0Valorant\u00a0sits comfortably<\/span>\u00a0between Overwatch and\u00a0<\/span>Counter-Strike<\/span>, mixing\u00a0<\/span>heroes<\/span>\u00a0equipped<\/span> with distinct abilities and playstyles with slower, more tactical gameplay<\/span> that\u2019ll punish you for running in without a plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The colours<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and details<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>pop<\/span><\/span>\u00a0out in the simplistic maps and their<\/span><\/span>\u00a0neutral<\/span><\/span>\u00a0colour schemes.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

T<\/span>his mix between a serious, slower military themed shooter and a wacky superhero-<\/span>like game with colourful characters work<\/span>s,<\/span>\u00a0surprisingly well even.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Though a<\/span>lmost nothing in the game feels original, with weapons and the main\u00a0<\/span>game mode of attack vs. defence bomb planting taken straight from CS, and<\/span>\u00a0many<\/span>\u00a0abilities<\/span>\u00a0like exploding fireballs or\u00a0<\/span>summoning an<\/span>\u00a0ice wall being nothing new or special<\/span>, they have been balanced just right to create a hybrid<\/span>\u00a0where those elements work together to create a game where you can pull off entertaining stunts<\/span>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/span>fun or<\/span>\u00a0feel the adrenaline in tense moments that decide whether you\u2019ll win or lose the entire match.<\/span>\u00a0The abilities are not too overpowered or easy to use for you to just instantly win firefights by pressing a single button,<\/span>\u00a0since they all come with their drawbacks: your blinding ability has a short range and blinds allies as well, and\u00a0<\/span>teleporting behind the enemies\u2019 backs leaves you vulnerable for several seconds. You\u00a0<\/span>must<\/span>\u00a0master\u00a0these abilities, and that makes it\u00a0<\/span>even more<\/span>\u00a0enjoyable when you<\/span>\u00a0do amazing\u00a0<\/span>things\u00a0<\/span>with them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Each<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>character<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span><\/i>distinguishable<\/span><\/i>\u00a0even<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>with only a picture of their face.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each character is visually distinct<\/span>\u00a0from one another<\/span>, and<\/span>\u00a0they<\/span>\u00a0all have their unique abilitie<\/span>s<\/span>, voice lines, and\u00a0<\/span>unlockables<\/span>\u00a0like sprays or profile banners. Though Riot has put a lot of effort\u00a0<\/span>into making the characters their own personalities, there\u2019s a certain magic missing that I can\u2019t put my finger on. I don\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>really know the characters stories<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>what they are really like inside<\/span>, or what their motivations are<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0Why are they even fighting?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>There isn\u2019t enough information to really start getting invested with them<\/span>\u00a0or the games overarching story, which has by the time of this writing been left sadly unexplained. This might change in the future, and we are<\/span>\u00a0seeing promises of that in the form of short animated clips, which will hopefully tell us more as time goes on.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Valorant<\/span>\u00a0is not that original or well developed\u00a0in terms of lore and themes, but it copies the right things and uses them just\u00a0<\/span>right to create a gaming experience that might someday stand up there with the greats.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All pictures were taken from the game by the author.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Publisher: Riot Games<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Developer: Riot Games<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Platforms: Microsoft Windows<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Release Date: 2.6.2020<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Genres: Free-to-play, Multiplayer, Tactical first-person shooter<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

PEGI: 16, ESRB: Teen<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Riot Games has decided to take over the gaming sphere in all genres, and Valorant is their take on arguably the biggest competitive genre there is \u2013 shooters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":7749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[226,1208,1209,1207],"class_list":["post-7745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews","tag-fps","tag-riotgames","tag-tacticalshooter","tag-valorant","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tuni.fi\/playlab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}