New Agent Neon Brings Sprinting And Sliding To Valorant

In her recent (and gorgeous) reveal trailer, Neon, the newest agent about to be introduced to Riot’s team-based tactical shooter, Valorant, breaks the cardinal rule of the sweaty, tryhard, head-clicking tac-shooter genre—she can actually move fluidly.


This isn’t a shot at Valorant’s movement, which I actually really like, but a way of clearly distinguishing her from the rest of the game’s cast. Valorant is a slow, exceptionally twitchy shooter directly descended from Counter-Strike, it modifies this formula by introducing a whole new layer of strategy via team composition, much like games such as Overwatch.


However, unlike Overwatch, Valorant’s agents share a lot more in common with each other than not. Everyone has access to the same guns (except for Chamber, the last agent to be added to the game), everyone moves the same outside of their abilities, and every character has the same amount of health. Despite this, Riot has managed to make the game’s dozen-and-change agents feel different from one another.
 

Neon continues this tradition with unique movement, strange smokes and stuns, and an Emperor Palpatine-esque lightning-based damage super. Her signature ability appears to allow her to sprint, a first for Valorant. She puts down her weapon and charges forward, which can then be chained into a sliding move, during which she readies her weapon. This movement tech will likely make her an absolute monster with the game’s submachine guns and shotguns, allowing her to excel in close combat situations.


Read the full article on Kotaku