Valorant and CS:GO players unite over footage of an absurdly chaotic firefight

Valorant and CS:GO pros are uniting over the sheer quantity of visual interruptions in Riot's tactical shooter.

In a tweet yesterday, Marc-Andre 'Nismo' Tayar, a professional Valorant player on the Ghost roster, posted a clip from a recent game against another org, NRG. Immediately after Nismo plants the spike at the start of his team, forcing a response from his opponents, he's peppered with abilities. For the 16 seconds between that plant and Nismo's eventual death, his screen isn't clear of visual effects for one moment.

I'm no Valorant expert, but I spotted an ult from the enemy Omen, which obscures Nismo's map, a Breach ult which sends explosive charges rolling across the map, a flash from the enemy Yoru, which blinds Nismo entirely, and two more abilities from the enemy Fade, one of which masks the entire screen in a purple Haze. That's in addition to effects from Nismo's allies, and the shot which eventually kills him (you can get a full rundown of all the skills used here from one of the NRG players).

Somehow, Nismo manages to score a kill back against NRG, but it's clear that he's pretty lost in all the confusion. Over the chatter of his teammates, you can hear him say "I don't know what's happening to me," and "what's happening to me?" After he's killed, a defeated "bro" can be heard over voice chat.

Nismo's take on the situation was that "there is [too] much f**king utility in this game." That sentiment was broadly echoed by Valorant players, but also attracted the attention of another tactical shooter community. Professional CS:GO player Rasmus Pallisgaard weighed in to say "I will never complain about playing A on Nuke or B Mirage," citing two infamous spots in Valve's FPS.

For all of Counter-Strike's intricacies, it's certainly maintained a relatively down-to-earth approach, especially in the face of Valorant's far more colourful, chaotic, ability-driven gameplay. That's not to say that it's entirely crystal-clear, however - CS:GO's flash grenades are pretty potent, so much so that one player recently re-worked them with a concept that's safer for players' eyes. 

It should come as no surprise that both Valorant and CS:GO appear on our list of the best FPS games.