Riot Games release Valorant gameplay preview video

A video released by Riot Games has allowed insight into the gameplay of the character-based tactical shooter game coming in 2020.

The video shows one full round of alpha gameplay footage from an internal developer playtest.

Here’s what we’ve been able to confirm from the video:

Weapons

Firstly, we see a preview of the weapons. The weapons are split into categories, with sidearms, primaries, and shields, and abilities. Also shown is the ability to buy things for other players on your team. It shows what teammates have bought, too, so players have an idea of what their team is doing and who may need some help.

The sidearms seem to be a mix of small weapons, with what looks like pistols, SMGs, and shotguns. There are five weapons to choose from and they can cost up to 800 in-game currency.

The primary weapons are split up further, with SMG’s, shotguns, rifles, snipers and heavies. There are 12 primary weapons overall, ranging in price from 900 to 4,500.

To round it off, players can buy light shields or heavy shields. Both shields are effective against all damage, and not just from enemy weapons.

We were unable to confirm the cost of abilities from the gameplay preview as the developer had already purchased all of the abilities before the round commenced.

However, we can see that the abilities run on an ammo system. With their three abilities unlocked, all of them are marked as ‘Full.’ The charges can reload over time, so it is either that certain abilities will recharge over time and others don’t, or that players are able to buy charges at the start of a round rather than needing to wait for them to recharge.

Gameplay

The video shows the game from the perspective of the team that seems to be defending. As the countdown slowly ticks to zero, we can see an Overwatch style coming through, with the defenders having access to the points before the attackers. However, unlike Overwatch, they do not have access to the whole map, and a blue screen separates them the attacking half of the map.

The minimap shows three points: A, B, and C. The objective for the attacking team is to plant a ‘Spike’ at one of these locations. The defenders are required to defend these points and disarm any Spikes that are planted.

The gameplay footage shows some of the abilities that are coming in Valorant. The players on the defending side worked together by using sight-blocking abilities in time with an ability that revealed location of enemies.

The footage also shows Viper’s ultimate ability, Viper’s Pit, used to defend the planted Spike, which nearly wins their team the round. It is clear from this video that this ultimate, in particular, is a rather strong ability that can dramatically change gameplay.

It is believed that ultimate abilities are uncommon in Valorant, considering that they take a long time to access.

Stay tuned for more information regarding abilities and characters in Valorant.