From the LoL developers Riot Games comes a new first-person shooter called Valorant. While it features different characters, it is said to resemble Counter-Strike more than Overwatch. 10 former professionals were able to test the game 6 months ago. One player is now raving about Project A.
Who is raving? The player Ronald “Rambo” Kim was previously a pro in Counter-Strike. He started playing at LANs at age 15, made a name for himself, and then had a great career as an eSports athlete for over 10 years.
He has now reached the biblical age of 35 for a gamer and runs a YouTube channel (via YouTube).
As he reports, 10 former professional players were able to test the game 5 or 6 months ago. Among them are FPS experts from Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike GO, and Quake 3.
Kim himself was invited by “Volcano,” a former teammate of his. He later worked on CS:GO and is now employed by Riot Games. For a long time, no one knew what Volcano was doing.
Since the major announcement from Riot, it’s clear: He is working on Project A, and that now makes sense.
The pros played Project A for 5 days:
- For 3 days, they learned about the characters and the game
- For 2 days, Project A was played as if a tournament had already started and it was all about money
Kim can’t reveal too much new information, but he describes his impressions of what he was able to play.
I am very critical – the game is phenomenal
This is what Kim says: He says he is critical about FPS games: he takes them very seriously. A first-person shooter must feel good, have good balance, provide the right pace and deliver precise aiming.
Project A has met all of his high expectations.
The game feels very precise and rewarding. It reminds Kim of his favorite games (likely Counter-Strike).
Kim explains how important it is to him that a game rewards good positioning – and not weird “peeking.” He believes Project A addresses this problem well. Riot is also heavily working on anti-cheat measures, which are very important for competitive players.
Beyond shooting, the characters have their own abilities with cooldowns – this opens up more possibilities and allows for combos and synergies.
However, the skills are not too strong, and the focus is on shooting and the mechanics.
Pro predicts beta for Project A as early as 2020
Kim says the game felt phenomenal 6 months ago, and he wouldn’t have been disappointed if this had already been the release version.
He believes the game is already quite advanced. A beta could start soon – perhaps within a year.
Project A – the “new” CS:GO?
This is what it’s about: It seems that Project A has been fully geared towards eSports from day one and aims to please the professionals of the scene. This aligns with Riot Games.
Project A appears to be clearly positioned as a competitor to CS:GO: a classic, competitive shooter without much fluff. There is certainly an interesting market – CS:GO is already 7 years old. And Riot Games knows how to do eSports and stage it.
