The world’s most popular FPS game CS:GO never really died, even when Valorant gained immense popularity. Both games have their own player base, and those who have played both games will agree to the fact that Valorant’s movement and shooting mechanics are very much been inspired by the OG tactical shooter: Counter-Strike. Now, with the release of Counter-Strike 2, Valve is finally updating CS: GO using the Source 2 engine and has implemented some things in their new game that feel inspired by Valorant. That said, let’s look at 7 features in Counter-Strike 2 that have been borrowed from Valorant.
While we have already compiled an in-depth list of the new features in Counter-Strike 2, we believe many players might have noticed the similarities between CS2 and Valorant. There are some features that
1. Same Number of Rounds as Valorant
In Counter-Strike, the number of rounds in a competitive game was 30. The first team to win 16 rounds was crowned the victor. Now, with CS 2, Valve has removed the short-length competitive mode and changed the matchmaking to the MR12 format. In the new CS2 update, the maximum amount of rounds is now 24 (the same as Valorant). So, a team can now win the game by establishing victory in 13 rounds. Many appreciate this change because it will result in fewer gun-saving rounds and more retakes during high-stakes tournaments.
Subtle, but significant Matchmaking changes in the latest Counter-Strike 2 update:
– From now on Competitive is first to 13 rounds (including Premier)
– Seems like the devs are getting rid of Short Competitive
– Premier matches will have 20s freezetimes, 1 overtime (the game… pic.twitter.com/8iP6jb4tHO— Aquarius (@aquaismissing) August 16, 2023
2. Buying Menu In a Grid Style
A prior update to Counter-Strike 2 brought an updated buy menu, which is now in the grid-style UI that is very similar to what Valorant has had. It’s important to note that the grid-style menu was also part of the Danger Zone update (where Valve added a battle-royale game mode to CS:GO), that came out back in 2018. Below, you can see the comparison between the current Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant buy menu systems.
3. Refund Guns After Purchasing
In a recent update, Valve also added the ability to sell guns after purchasing them. Personally, as someone who plays both games, it’s becoming common to see players accidentally buying something in CS but unable to sell it and then realizing it’s only possible on Valorant. Now, in Counter-Strike 2, you can adjust your loadout seamlessly before the buy menu goes away at the start of the round. Below, you can see the option for refunding the gun. The buy menu in CS2 now works similarly to Valorant’s.
4. Crosshair Follows Gun Recoil
This is perhaps the most obvious feature inspired by Valorant in Counter-Strie 2. You can turn on a feature in-game called Follow Recoil, and your crosshair will then follow the gun’s recoil pattern. Now, you can easily see where your shots are going. This is similar to what Riot has implemented in Valorant. When you initiate ADS mode (aim down sight) with a gun in Valorant, the crosshair in ADS mode follows the gun’s recoil. Players can see where their shots are going with this feature turned on.
It might feel weird at first because some players who have practiced CS:GO’s recoil patterns already find it harder to spray with this feature turned on. But with the inclusion of this feature, practicing recoil patterns or keeping up with them will be easier. Seasoned players who get used to the new feature will be able to accurately perform spray-downs and take down multiple enemies. Here’s what the feature looks like in action:
5. Preview Grenade Landing Position
Having played both Valorant and CS:GO extensively, I can tell you that the way smoke lineups and grenades work in Counter-Strike games has always been quite hardcore. Players stand in certain spots and aim at specific places to land smokes in the area they need to be covered to push or defend. In contrast to Counter-Strike 2, Valorant has a much easier implementation. For example – The character Brimstone can easily place smokes by marking the required spots on the map with his ability. Then, the smokes land and start appearing at these marked spots once the player initiates the ability.
In Counter-Strike 2, Valve has now added the feature of previewing your grenades (smoke, molotovs, flashes, etc.) before they land — but in practice mode. when a player initiates the utility-throwing action in practice mode, a small screen comes up in the UI and shows where the grenade will land in-game.
While it’s not a gameplay feature, and throwing grenades and accurately landing them is still much harder in Counter-Strike as opposed to Valorant, Valve adding this feature makes grenades easier to approach and learn for new players. Also, this will give Pro players a chance to experiment with grenades and lineups.
6. CS2 Radar Shows Footstep Noises
In Counter-Strike 2, the developers have updated the in-game radar (mini map) to now display a visual indicator for the noises of a player’s movement. So when you jump, land, or run in-game, the radar will accurately reflect up to what distance can the player’s movement actions can be heard. You will see concentric circles from your position in the mini-map.
Moreover, firing a gun and a few other actions also trigger this indicator in the radar. For now, in the beta, the radar doesn’t show the noise indicator when a gun is dropped. This could be updated later to make the radar even more featureful.
7. Anti-Cheat Now Terminates Matches
Counter-Strike 2 has a new VAC Live anti-cheat system that we discussed in our new features list linked above. We are probably going to see many improvements with this new anti-cheat developed by Valve for Counter-Strike 2. However, the notable difference we’re pointing out here is in how the system acts. Much like Valorant’s Vanguard, the anti-cheat system in Counter-Strike 2 will ban cheaters using hacks (such as aimbot, wallhacks, spinbotting, etc.) in the middle of a match.
So, just like Valorant terminates the match and notifies the player that a match has been detected, CS2 will also do the same. Here’s a code leak that points to this new feature:
8. New UI to Celebrate Your Kill Count
In Valorant, every time you get a kill, a skull shows up in the middle of your screen at the bottom, indicating that you have gotten a kill. As you get more kills in the round, the celebration sound for every kill also changes and gets more intense. Finally, when you secure an ace in Valorant (take down all 5 enemy players), the game’s UI celebrates this with some intense effects and a loud “Ace” announcement.
Now, in Counter-Strike 2, they have implemented a similar feature for celebrating your kill count. With every kill, a playing card is added in the middle of the UI at the bottom, which then stack up based on your kill count. When you get an ace, the deck completes and the UI changes further. This is to make the player feel rewarded for scoring five kills and eliminating the entire enemy team. Here is what this feature looks like:
9. Lively and Colorful Map Designs
There’s an obvious design shift in Counter-Strike 2 to make the game feel more lively and colorful. A lot of that ties into the new graphical improvements brought upon by the Source 2 engine. Still, it feels like the game’s map design upgrades and the final result of every change brought by Counter-Strike 2 are making it look similar to what Valorant maps look like. Check out the trailer for CS2 to find out why we’re drawing this comparison with Valorant:
10. Gameplay UI Is Similar to Valorant
There have been several changes in the UI elements of Counter-Strike 2. And when compared to Valorant, they seem familiar. For example, the health and ammo count indicators in the UI are now placed toward the center at the bottom. The player cards, time, and score are now displayed at the top. This is exactly how Valorant has had it all this time. To show you this, we have included a gameplay screenshot of both titles side-by-side.
So, after reading this article about the various features Counter-Strike 2 has borrowed from Valorant, you might be wondering if CS2 has copied Valorant. Honestly, if you think about it, Valorant’s basic gameplay features such as shooting and movement mechanics have been inspired by the original Counter-Strike game. But, Valorant has a few key changes in how the gameplay works, and also their overall game design is different. There are agents in Valorant that can do many unique things.
Come Summer 2023, it will surely be interesting to see if CS2 can tip the scale and attract Valorant players to the game. Else, both can exist separately and be enjoyable games and if one developer does a few things better, the competition only becomes tense. So, whether you want to call it copying, borrowing, or inspiring, it is a good thing nonetheless. That said, are there any CS2 features that we missed out on? Do let us know in the comments below.
