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CS:GO and Valorant Comparison Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant have been some of the most electrifying games of the year. With CS:GO’s change to F2P and the introduction of a battle royale game mode to the release of Riots Valorant, both games have had solid viewership and active players so far in the year. On the outside, both of the games look extremely similar, they have similar game modes, gunplay, and objectives. But both of these games have their respective differences, especially when it comes to the mechanics and feel of the game. This is how both CS:GO and Valorant compare to each other.
CS:GO
Developed by Valve and released on August 21st,2012, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was the next installment in the Counter-Strike franchise. CS 1.6 and CS Source were already hits in the competitive FPS community and with the refresh of CS:GO, the whole FPS scene would shift. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a competitive shooter that plays in a five on five setting. The game has two different sides, the terrorist side, and the counter-terrorist side. The objective of the terrorist side is to plant a bomb on one of the sites depending on the map. Terrorists must ensure that the bomb will not be defused by the counter-terrorists. The counter-terrorists must defuse the bomb before the bomb explodes. With a mixture of different weapons, maps, and grenades, players can play according to their style. Some may prefer entry fragging with a rifle, while others may want to become the designated sniper role in their team. Counter-Strike has always been a team game, and CS:GO is no different. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is also one of the largest and well recognized competitive FPS shooters currently on the market. The player base is large, and the viewership is still respectable. As one of the largest franchises in the FPS genre, CS:GO is a legendary and unforgettable title.
Valorant
Developed by Riot Games and officially released on June 2nd, 2020, Valorant is a new take in the competitive FPS genre. Valorant comes with a mixture of characters and abilities that you can take into battle against another team. The game is played in a five on five configurations similar to CS:GO, players are either on the offensive side or the defensive side where those on offense must plant a bomb like structure called a spike, and the defending team has to prevent the spike from exploding. This mechanic is similar to that of CS:GO’s. Furthermore, Valorant has a more cartoonish fantasy style, identical to that of Overwatch. The hype surrounding Valorant is immense and has only grown ever since its release. It’s a new competitor that Counter-Strike’s been waiting for and will give Valve a run for their money. Valorant hopes to bridge abilities and gunplay from Overwatch and Counter-Strike respectively, making it an intriguing game for previous players of both titles.
How they Compare
Similarities
Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are both very similar games, both of the games have the same objective. To plant a bomb-like structure with a side attempting to defuse it, and a side attempting to protect it. Both CS:GO and Valorant have extremely similar gunplay, each game has its variants on certain weapons but both games’ weapons are also similar. For example, the Vandal in Valorant can be compared to the AK-47 in CS:GO, or the Operator in Valorant is the AWP. Both games and their respective guns are similar, how they operate are also the same. CS:GO same as Valorant is a highly competitive game. Private leagues like esea or faceit already start first matches on their platforms. In both games, skill-developing by players can be done with the assistance of the dedicated services that provide faceit boost and any kind of assistance to new players.
Differences
Other than the similar gunplay and the objective, the two games are very different in their own right. Firstly, Valorant operates in a more cartoonish style, compared to CS:GO’s serious and rugged style. Both of the styles suit each game well but both give a different feel to the game overall. While the gunplay in Valorant and CS:GO are extremely similar, how the weapons are bought are different. In Valorant there are no side specific weapons, you’re free to choose your weapon from the buy menu. In CS:GO, however, guns are specific to the side you’re playing on. For example, terrorists can only have a Glock-18 and AK-47, compared to the counter-terrorists who are sporting a USP-S, P2000, and M4A4/M4A1-S.
Valorant also comes with a difference in server benefits. Valorant has stated in the past that they have tried to reduce the amount of peeker’s advantage in the game. This is apparent if you’ve ever played the game, you’ll notice that the peeker’s advantage in Valorant is not as heavy as it is in CS:GO. Furthermore, Valorant comes with a standard of 128-tick servers, while Valve owned servers are strictly 64-tick. While you’re able to find 128-tick servers in CS:GO through custom servers, and third parties such as FACEIT or ESEA, they aren’t standard and don’t come with the game itself.
Also, CS:GO has also implemented a new battle royale mode called Danger Zone, a mode that is not found in Valorant. This introduction of the battle-royale genre and free-to-play model significantly increased the player count of CS:GO and was a small spark of increased player numbers and viewership for a while. One of the most obvious differences in Valorant and CS:GO are the abilities. Instead of having grenades in CS:GO, Valorant has players choosing an agent, whom each have different abilities, roles, strengths, and weaknesses. While the gunplay for each agent is the same, the abilities that come with each one are different. Some agents may be played differently based on their abilities, playstyles may differ depending on the agent and the player. The spike and the bomb in CS:GO are also different. In CS:GO if you let go of the bomb while you’re defusing, the entire timer must be restarted and started from the beginning. This is different in Valorant, as you’re able to continue to defuse the spike after it has been defused halfway. This mechanic changes the gameplay a bit as it could lead to early or late peaks depending on the situation.
The maps in Valorant and CS:GO are also significantly different, maps in CS:GO usually have two sites, while Valorant sports a map with three sites. This again changes how the game is played a bit depending on the team composition and playstyle.
The spray patterns are also different in both games. Valorant does not have a set spray pattern for each gun, as it introduces a bit of randomness in the spray. This contrasts to the consistent spray of the weapons in Counter-Strike. In CS:GO every time you shoot the weapon, the spray pattern will be the same if you’re standing still. Having the randomness in spray in Valorant frustrates many who come to Valorant from CS:GO, but can be managed and dealt with.
Conclusion
Both Valorant and CS:GO look similar on the outside but internally are different. While the main aspects of both games such as objective and gunplay are the same, everything else is essentially different. Depending on what you enjoy in a game you might want to choose one over the other. Try both out and see for yourself which one you prefer. You can’t go wrong with either title.
