Valorant closed beta: The tactical hero shooter I never knew I wanted

Enlarge / Kind of looks like a mid-'90s Sega Genesis box cover. We're not mad about it. (credit: Riot Games)

In October, the makers of League of Legends announced an ambitious plan to roll out new games in entirely different genres. A fighting game, a card game, a possible action-RPG, and more-Riot Games is up to 10 announced "future" games at this point. That's a lot for a company whose second legitimate game didn't launch until last year.

Most of these new games are set in the League of Legends universe, one that we're admittedly not bullish on at Ars Technica. That's one reason why the biggest exception to the newly rising LoL-iverse caught our eye: Valorant.

Previously known as "Project A," this PC-exclusive game was first teased as a "character-based tactical shooter." That description, combined with brief footage, had us asking: was Riot seriously going to slam Counter-Strike and Overwatch together in such shameless fashion? The answer is a loud and clear "yes." And after diving into the new game's first public test this week, we've come away utterly impressed with this chocolate-and-peanut-butter combination. Shameless as it is, this early version of Valorant is already as thoughtful and compelling an entry in the online-shooter fray as we've seen in years.

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