Natus Vincere players talk about Valorant

Jack "Doki' Robertson

I feel this game is really similar to CS:GO more than Overwatch: its gunplay feels the same along with the movement of your character. The abilities are very interesting and it is why I think people are comparing the game to Overwatch. I think these abilities are way more in-depth and how they can work together with one another, to be sure ill need more time to play them all but so far I like what I see!

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

I'm going to be one of very select few that isn't a fan of the game, its like CS:GO gunplay mixed with Overwatch/Siege characters, lore, and abilities. It's a new take on FPS.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

First impressions are really good: gunplay is really fun, and abilities add that fun factor of verticality to the game. It's more like CS:GO with abilities because you can't spam them like in Overwatch and you rely much more on your aim than just pure abilities

Jack "Doki' Robertson

It's hard to say. I don't think any 1 game will solely kill another, I just feel that Valorant is purely built around the competitor at the highest level and the devs are more focused on making this game a successful esports instead of JUST a successful game.

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

I feel like this game is being made with esports in mind, and I feel like it will take really good steps and do a lot of things right in terms of communication and balancing with its pro-community. I don't think it will be ''the killer'' of any game, I think It will have its place, and if anything help other games' devs become more open-minded with their pros.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

I don't see it as CS:GO killer, but it's a really good game. I want to see how the game will develop with time in  terms of coordinated teamplay and meta; I think it will be in the top 5 FPS titles in future 

Jack "Doki' Robertson

Graphics are amazing, nice and simple - no clutter and nothing eating my FPS!

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

League of Legends is cartoon-like, so is Overwatch, Dota, a lot of T1 esports. The graphics and aesthetic of a game mean nothing — as long as the mechanics and playability are the main focus, lore and clean graphics come second, to me at least.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

I honestly don't care about graphics, as long the game is fun and competitive. I would rather have graphics like this and everything is clear and visible than realistic

Jack "Doki' Robertson

Yes I believe it does, it will attract the same viewers mainly from CS:GO as the play is very similar.

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

It will be very interesting to see how Valorant does as an esports, it already has a strong aura and a lot of people are waiting for it to be released. However, this game is made by Riot who, as we know by the LEC, LCS, etc, have a strong esports foundation, and they have patiently waited and watched FPS esports from aside to make sure they get it right.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

Valorant is built to become a competitive shooter and Riot definitely has plans for their esports program. I'm not sure we need some high tier gameplay to judge that.

Jack "Doki' Robertson

I think it's difficult to be good at this game, and the skill gap is way higher than other games. I'm not the best at it but I guess you could say I'm decent, I'd really enjoy watching how a top Valorant player plays and how he compensates with all the different recoil patterns, as well as movement. I believe both are hard to master especially if you haven't played other FPS games like CS:GO. 

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

It's just a less strict CS:GO, there are recoil patterns you need to learn, but the patterns are not as harsh as the ones in CSGO. Invest time into learning spray patterns and you'll be a better player, just like in CS.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

Shooting feels good; what I've noticed is that the models are really slim so AWP (Operator) is harder to play. I would say there is a slight peek advantage sometimes 

Jack "Doki' Robertson

Weapons all seem fairly balanced, my favorite right now is the Phantom assault rifle - similar to CS:GO's M4. 

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

I didn't find any weapon to be too strong, all of them are situational. I'd change the pricing of snipers and abilities a tad, but other than that, I never experienced a weapon I consistently had an issue with.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

I think most of the weapons are fine — I didn't see any weapons that are abused constantly.

Jack "Doki' Robertson

I like Jett and Viper, along with Omen. They just suit my aggressive playstyle

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

This was my issue with the game: to me, it felt like abilities were to easy to get and some abilities like Ryze's grenades and Ultimate abilities gave you no chance to counter, a lot of smoke and flash abilities through a wall, for me it just wasn't that fun to play.

I played Sage, the support healer. I liked to be able to take risky plays and be able to heal myself and resurrect my friend.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

Raze seems op at the moment: she has so much utility with nades and her ult (rocket launcher) is quite nice. Underwhelming... hmm, maybe Breach: I didn't have the chance to play him, but I don't see people pick him a lot.

I like Cypher a lot; I think his utility and info gathering is amazing: you can hold one part of the map on your own and rotate more people to other sites

Jack "Doki' Robertson

Honestly — no, I think you need good gun skills to be good in this game, and the ultimates can be strong but to get them you need to kill without them first, if that makes sense. 

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

I don't think you can be that good without investing in your mechanics, aim, etc. Learning the abilities and mastering abilities will be the difference between someone who's just an aimer, and a really good player, unless...

... you pick Ryze and just instakill everyone with your ultimate and nades.

Leon "neLo" Pesić

Some ults are strong but they won't win you the game just on their own, you need to have a good aim to win, and you need to work with your team

Jack "Doki' Robertson

Haven is my favorite as it has 3 different bomb sites instead of just 2, which requires more team coordination, unlike the rest. I like the design of all the maps though, easy rotations and good power positions.

Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew

Two of the maps are fine, they have two sites. However, there is one map, with A site, B site and C site. 3 sites in an FPS are... for me, a bit questionable

Leon "neLo" Pesić

There was a map with 3 sites which was pretty weird but there is a lot of chokepoints. Also a map with teleporters — whenever someone uses them, everyone on the map knows it because of the sound. And the last map, which is my favorite one, is a 2 site map, which felt like a normal CS:GO map

All of the maps had something different and none of them play the same