We still remember the hype when Riot Games released their Counter-Strike-style shooter VALORANT on PC a few years ago - there was a lot of excitement around such a respected developer tackling head-on Valve's giant FPS series. Four years later, the team is bringing the game to console, and its initial beta is off to a great start on Xbox.
We've been able to access this beta for about a week now, and aside from playing the helpful tutorial and playing in the game's practice area, we're just starting to get into public matches in the grand scheme of things . Riot designed VALORANT to attract players with a fairly simple team-based shooter concept, while still offering plenty of depth for hardcore FPS fans – and it seems to be striking that balance well.
So consider this beta review a first compilation of our thoughts on VALORANT. You will have to dedicate hundreds of hours to this game to properly learn all its mechanics, maps and different heroes - but we can say that the game plays very well on console and you can say that Riot has prepared this version for sometimes.
When you participate in public matches, you will immediately feel the feeling of Counter-Strike. Gunfights are intense and also depend on your character's position, the angles you shoot from, and your overall accuracy when trying to take down enemies. The weapons are powerful and heavy, and they're not afraid to punish you if you decide it's a good idea to move too much while shooting. Certainly not.
Therefore, it is best to be patient when it comes to combat in VALORANT, especially if you are playing one of the traditional game modes that do not require respawning. The question of planting the bomb is what Riot's shooter is all about - as you'd expect - and the game's intricate map design, combined with the huge variation in player abilities, gives the Lots of fashion depth for something that has been done a lot. over the years. We had a lot of fun here, even if we took a lot of hits.
This mode also borrows the CS-style weapon purchase economy, where players earn money during matches that they can spend at the start of each round on different weapon and equipment upgrades. This means you'll start with a pistol and be heavily penalized when you fall in combat - but it provides a nice balance during matches. Knowing what to buy and when to buy it is something you'll learn over time, and even something you'll experience game by game.
There are other modes here in VALORANT, and we have to admit that we spent quite a bit of time playing good old Team Deathmatch here (it actually allowed us to get a few kills, okay?). It's exactly what you'd expect from the game mode - although it operates in a 'Gun Game' style progression system where weapons rotate as the game progresses. This keeps things nice and even as each team moves from basic pistols to powerful assault rifles. If you want a casual VALORANT PvP experience first, we recommend heading here first.
Well, the characters. VALORANT has a lot of "Agents" built into its multiplayer pool at this point, and this - along with the visuals - is where the game seems closer to Overwatch than Counter-Strike. All heroes have two abilities as well as a paid "Ultimate", and while some of them overlap in nature, we can see that there is a lot of depth to learning all of these mechanics and finding the hero that suits you. The truth is that we need more time to dig deeper into our feedback on this system and find our top pick, but we're sure we'll be on that path as the game progresses from beta to full launch.
From a technical standpoint, VALORANT looks great on Xbox Series Great on console. The team split player bases between console and PC in the name of fairness, and we think that was probably a fair cry. You just need good aim assist in a game like this for it to run well on console!
Ultimately, what we care about is where VALORANT ends up on Xbox. This demo is certainly a good start, and it's very different from most console shooters on the market in terms of weapon mechanics alone. It will take some time to properly learn the game, but with the power of Riot behind it, VALORANT looks like an FPS game worth investing in. For now, the demo is a sign-up and watch mission, but the full game will be free when it launches properly – just like on PC.