5 things CS2 can learn from Valorant 

Until Valorant came along, Counter-Strike had been considered the best the genre had to offer for a very long time. However, when Riot Games decided to respond, Valve had to play catch-up. And when the community got a newer, flashier, and complete game, well… the rest is history. Given the two FPS games have their own large player bases and some overlapping concepts, competition is natural.

Competition breeds creativity and does Valve have some catching up to do. So here are five more things that CS2 needs to take notes on from Valorant.

Note: This article is subjective and only expresses the author's opinions.

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5 things that Valorant does better and CS2 needs to learn

1) A working anticheat

The main thing that sets Valorant apart as a better game is how good the anti-cheat works. Yes, Vanguard is intrusive, but what CS2 really needs is something that is more reliable. Cheaters have been the number one issue that plagues everyone that has played Counter-Strike.

This is even worse if you are new to the game. Newer players get queued into low-trust-factor lobbies and they become the victims of VAC’s shortcomings. More than anything else, this is what Valve desperately needs to fix if they hope to retain a player base.

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2) Practice range

The practice range in Valorant (Image via Riot Games)

Valorant gives everyone an amazing shooting range to warm up in while waiting for their friends. Although not perfect, The Range gives Valorant players a place to truly hone their skills, and it is a valuable addition to a game where precise mechanics is demanded of you.

What does Counter-Strike offer its loyal fans? Absolutely nothing. The only aim-training tools you can find in the game are from community maps, that's it. To be fair, CS2 community maps can be a lot of fun, but the fact that the crown jewel of FPS still doesn't have a built-in shooting range is sort of embarrassing.

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3) Balanced gun meta

CS2 loadout menu (Image via Valve)

Since the dawn of Counter-Strike, the gun meta has been dominated by the AK and the M4. Despite having considerable variety when making your loadout, the meta forces you to pick either the AK, the M4, the AWP or the Deagle, and this makes every other gun feel useless in comparison.

Riot Games, on the other hand, make every gun feel valuable in its own way. The game makes picking up the Bucky or the Stinger actually worth it. Vandals and Phantoms are still the center of your Full Buy rounds, but Riot Games has carefully balanced the meta to give each gun moments to shine.

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4) Next-level skins

Mystbloom collection (Image via Riot Games)

CS:GO blessed fans with skins with the Arms Deal update all the way back in 2013, and since then, skins have been an integral part of Counter-Strike culture. Over the last decade, fans have seen truly timeless cosmetics like the AK Fire Serpent and the AWP Dragon Lore, and so many more grace the community market.

And then in 2019, Valorant took the skins game to a whole new level. With their flashy animations and spectacular designs, Valorant gun skins like the Reaver Vandal and the Ion Phantom got CS2 skins beat.

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5) Consistent updates

The term “Valve time” is quite popular among gamers when talking about Valve games. That feeling of finally getting an update or a patch after months and months of radio silence is all too familiar to Counter-Strike players. This is not an acceptable way to manage what many consider the best FPS game out there.

While Riot Games gives its players constant updates and fixes, CS2 fans are often neglected by Valve. If this precedent does not change soon, CS2 could fade into the background as better games soon rise to surpass it.