Five games you should play to prepare for the Valorant beta

Riot Games has ensured Valorant is the game that the entire scene is watching right now. All of the biggest streamers in the world are playing it and figures from across esports and gaming are praising the title.

Lucky viewers have been granted Valorant closed beta access by watching streamers with drops enabled but with over one million eagar fans tuning in, the odds are that you are yet to get into the game yourself yet.

If you're wanting to play something else as a warmup before dropping into a game in the future or simply want to have a similar experience in a game that is already released, these are the five best games for the job.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

When it comes to pure gunplay, those familiar with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have been the most dominant so far in the Valorant closed beta.

The guns found in Valorant are parallels to those in CS:GO with the more expensive sniper rifle called Operator even sounding like AWP when shortened. 

CS:GO is one of the closest experiences to Valorant as many of the utility options are similar to abilities such as smoke grenades, flashbangs and molotovs as well as the general gameplay and map elements being the same.

Team Fortress 2

Valve's other free-to-play first-person shooter, Team Fortress 2, is often underrated but definitely worth playing if you haven't before.

With a class-based system and its own competitive scene, TF2 has aged well with a similar art style to Valorant.

Only nine classes exist in the form of different characters split between Offense, Defence and Support which makes it easier to learn the tricks and counters for each one.

Overwatch

Combining smokes, gadgets and firepower is a core part of Valorant and many of those elements can be found in Overwatch.

While abilities are far more central to Overwatch's core gameplay, certain heroes like Soldier 76, Sombra and McCree have guns in their kit alongside abilities that most closely resemble anything in Valorant.

Overwatch will be hoping for a boost from its sequel but Valorant seems to be the biggest threat to its fanbase and remaining players this year, with even Overwatch League professionals having their heads turned by the new FPS.

Paladins

Swedish organisation Ninjas in Pyjamas has re-signed its former Paladins team as a pre-emptive Valorant squad which is why the class-based first person shooter makes it onto the list.

Most champions in Paladins have kits that are more similar to heroes in Overwatch or League of Legends than Valorant agents but it remains a solid choice to play in place of a pure tactical shooter.

Viktor's Barrage can be compared to Brimstone's Orbital Strike while Strix's Flashbang ultimate is closest to Phoenix's Curveball so there are abilities on both sides that see some level of crossover.

Fortnite

One of the main gripes around Valorant is the graphics style being cartoony over gritty and realistic.

Fortnite might have wide appeal to those young and old with its own bright visuals but like Valorant, the numerous items and weapons and mechanics take time and skill to master.

While many popular content creators are looking at Valorant right now, Fortnite continues to have a large playerbase and is worth a game or two especially if you are yet to experience any of Chapter 2 yet.