Riot is often compared to Valve. Rightly so. It’s no wonder their recent shooter – VALORANT – is compared to Valve’s CS:GO. Both games share similarities in how they function, look, and play. While CS:GO has the advantage of being an old title with a solid player base, Riot had a chance to make VALORANT better from scratch having learnt from the mistakes of shooters in the last decade or so.

With both companies vying for the best shooter title, the competition is fierce. Although, for Valve, it might just be starting.

But which one is better? There might be no real answer here, but here are 5 things that each game does better than the other.

10 VALORANT: Unique Map Elements

Each VALORANT map has unique elements that add to its gameplay. Some maps have destructible doors and panels that that add a tactical dynamic to the game.

On the map Bind, there are one-sided portals that transport the player from one side of the map to the other in an instant. There is Haven, the map that has 3 Spike planting sites which adds a weird and controversial dynamic to the game.

9 CS: Better Weapon Recoil

CS:GO has weapon sprays that are more predictable. They still have the randomness after a certain number of bullets, but the variance is less than that of VALORANT. In VALORANT, weapons seem more inaccurate and random – in comparison to CS:GO – the longer you fire them.

This might be changed in future patches, but for now, CS:GO seems to be the game that makes its recoil patterns more memorable.

8 VALORANT: Unique Agents and Abilities

VALORANT’s appeal is owed in part to its RPG-like nature. Unlike CS:GO, which has generic operators, VALORANT has agents, each with unique abilities.

While CS:GO emphasizes movement and shooting strategy in conjunction with meta understanding, VALORANT adds more flavor and tact with its differing agents and their abilities.

Each operator presents tactical ups and downs. Some can lay smokes, some barriers and walls, some are fast, while some are slow and brawly. CS:GO on the other hand restricts itself to gun dynamics only.

7 CS: Economy

The economy in VALORANT is stable for both sides. Whether you are attacking or defending, you can buy any of the available weapons. Both sides have access to the same weapons cache.

In CS:GO, weapon choices depend on what side is being played. The prices for weapons are different for both sides; players pay more for CT(counter terrorist)-side equipment which gives the T(terrorist)-side an economic advantage in most maps.

This adds more meta-strategy elements to CS:GO. Players have to adapt playstyles more assiduously than in VALORANT to be able to come out on top.

6 VALORANT: Alternate Fire

VALORANT has alt-fire for almost every gun. If not something special like a scattershot, weapons usually have aim down the sight option. This makes it easier for newer players to get into the game.

It’s a nice touch that lends a bit more credence to guns having iron sights and other aim-down-the-sights. In CS:GO players don’t get any option but to fire from the hip.

5 CS: Community Maps

VALORANT takes the cake in having an easily accessible practice session. CS:GO compensates for its lack with community maps.

Community maps aren’t provided by Valve but are enabled by Valve’s modding allowance. CS:GO Community maps can specifically cater to each learnable skill of the game: gunplay, mechanics, and tactics, for almost all weapons and maps. It’s hyper specialized thanks to the community but its made possible solely due to the fiddling power Valve gives to the community with its Source Engine. VALORANT lacks modding entirely as of yet.

4 VALORANT: Visuals and Gameplay

VALORANT makes no fuss about making a realistic game. It’s a functional game and that’s great. VALORANT’s visual design good enough that players can identify each element easily, unlike in CS:GO where things can get muddly, especially for new players.

Each visual texture and effect is distinct and clear. Movements are crisp and conspicuous, in part, due to the 128 tick servers that Riot employs in contrast to Valve’s 64 tick ones.

VALORANT’s visual design allows players to see friendlies through the walls as well, which is a nice QoL feature that CS:GO lacks. It makes strategizing around maps much easier, besides making the game more accessible.

3 CS: Weapon Damage and Meta

CS:GO has a damage variance in weapons that is more impactful than VALORANT. It’s adjusting as the game is maturing, but as of now, CS:GO has a better grip on weapons and map balance.

VALORANT’s weapon variance seems too less to matter sometimes. They are different, but it feels like players can get away with an SMG even when the situation demands a rifle purchase.

2 VALORANT: Strategy

CS:GO is a distilled shooter. Its strategy is based purely on reactions and the gun meta. It requires razor-sharp memory of maps, crazy pre-aiming skills, and the reaction of speeds of a SawStop while keeping gun recoil in mind.

VALORANT has all that those strategic aspects and more given its agents with special abilities. It’s one thing to have smokes and molotovs in a fight, quite another to have a wall of flame that heals and damages or a sheet of ice that slows or an entire wall-section to protect your allies and hold map territories. These gameplay elements add to the meta strategy and fun of VALORANT, making the title more versatile of the two.

1 CS: Intuitive UI

VALORANT’s launch UI was atrocious. It was a terrible experience to find and add friends and to navigate between tabs in general.

CS:GO, on the other hand, has had time to tailor their UI to a great degree. It feels neater and intuitive, it’s heads-up and clean, and doesn’t send you down lanes of convoluted menus as VALORANT seemed. A lot of VALORANT’s UI has been fixed in the recent patches, but it still feels clunky in comparison.

This may be due to VALORANT simply being new, but for a company as big as Riot, it is almost inexcusable to come up with such an unintuitive UI. As compensation though, the in-game UI is miles better with features that let you directly ask your allies for weapons. Give some, take some.

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