Valorant marks Riot Games' debut in the world of FPS, a genre already dominated by the heavyweights Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch and Fortnite.

While many mocked the entry of Valorant in the competitive-shooting scene, calling it names like copycat, rip-off or the biggest game development failure by a vast and reputed studio, Valorant is undeniably a success, is way more than a copycat and definitely has the potential to offer much more. It's true the game drew its inspirations from CS:GO and Overwatch; many would even argue that the character designs are Overwatch-styled. However, Valorant is thriving because of its exciting gameplay, precision gunplay and the unique abilities of the characters which can be tough to both control or handle if you aren't familiar enough.

Right now, Valorant offers three different modes of gameplay: Unrated, Competitive and Spike Rush. In the Unrated mode, the first team to win 13 rounds wins the match, whereas in the Spike Rush mode, it is the team winning 4 rounds. The competitive mode is unlocked after the completion of 20 Unrated matches. Once unlocked, based on your performance, you will find yourself progressing through the ranking system in this mode through the completion of placement matches.

The fast paced 5 vs 5 gameplay within four different maps involves two teams: the attacking team and the defending team. The attacking team plants the spike at the designated sites and defends the spike from being defused, while the defending team tries to eliminate the attacking team or defuse the spike, all within a short, fixed time interval. The sides are switched around halfway during a match. There is a buying phase before the start of each round when the players can buy shields, ability charges and their weapon of choice from the 17 guns available, using the credits they are allotted according to their performance in the previous rounds.

There are 11 agents to choose from, each having unique abilities, distinct personalities and character designs. However, no matter who you choose, winning isn't possible with the abilities of the agents alone. Rather, it requires accurate aiming, good in-game reflexes and tactics. Getting used to the specific recoil patterns of every gun is a must for handling guns efficiently and through this, Valorant yet again manages to bring out the best of competitive shooting with its calculated game dynamics.

Having spent the past three weeks playing Valorant, I must say I loved the thrill it offers, especially because even the underdog can end up winning the match. Switching between Jett, Viper and Reyna, I personally found Reyna to be most convenient because of her ability to regenerate her health by absorbing the souls of the players she killed.

Riot Games has done a great job in developing a light-weight, fast paced and most importantly, a completely free to play game. If you love the FPS genre, then Valorant is a must try.

If only H. Rainak Khan Real was as fast as Jett, his life would've been much easier. Wish him luck at rainakkhanreal@gmail.com