Valorant dev responds to comparisons with Overwatch damage abilities
Riot Games/Blizzard
While Valorant’s tactical gameplay has been fairly well-received by players and fans, some Agent abilities have been met with disdain such as Raze’s grenades and most recently, Killjoy’s turret.
In a July 28 Twitter post, a fan reached out to Morello suggesting that by implementing more Agents with damage abilities the game will start looking like Blizzard’s hero-based FPS Overwatch.
With OW, many of the heroes have abilities that are damage-centric as opposed to utility-based. Even then, those that do offer some utility also have some sort of damage element to them.
I think damaging abilities = overwatch is where I think the issue is here; things like Raze Grenade and Boom Bot create intense threat, but are there to support the tactical gunplay. When we make damage abilities (including KJ) this is the always the goal.
— Morello (@RiotMorello) July 28, 2020
In response, Morello stated that he had an issue with directly comparing damage abilities to OW.
“Things like Raze Grenade and Boom Bot create intense threat, but are there to support the tactical gunplay,” he explained. “When we make damage abilities (including [Killjoy]) this is the always the goal.”
He also brought up abilities in Rainbow 6, suggesting that criticizing damage abilities in Valorant is like “saying frag grenades, welcome mats or Ash make R6S untactical.”
Also, that'd be like saying frag grenades, welcome mats or Ash make R6S untactical; abilities that cause damage are a core part of most tactical games, but have to be designed differently than say an OW character, who play more like RPG characters
— Morello (@RiotMorello) July 28, 2020
“Abilities that cause damage are a core part of most tactical games, but have to be designed differently than say an OW character, who play more like RPG characters,” he added.
Needless to say, it seems like damage abilities are here to stay and we can expect to see more of them in the future. However, Riot doesn’t want them to overshadow the gunplay and core mechanics of Valorant.
As Dexerto previously reported, more Raze nerfs are on the way as part of Riot’s “commitment to tactical play.”
Only time will tell if Killjoy ends up being a welcome addition to the game’s cast or faces a very similar backlash to what Raze received when Valorant first launched back in beta.
