Valorant or CS2: which should you play?
We compared Valorant and CS2 on price, rules, hardware, anti-cheat and skins. Which shooter suits whom, and why Valorant is easier to try out.
Valorant
Valorant
PCPS5Xbox SeriesJun 2, 2020
About
At first glance Valorant looks like CS2 with abilities. Same five-on-five rounds, same weapon buying, one team plants the Spike, the other defuses it, first to 13 wins. The difference is the agents, about 30 by now, each with their own smokes, walls, recon or healing. You still have to hit your shots, but a well-timed ability can settle a round before the gunfight starts.
The game launched in June 2020 and is free. Some agents are available right away, you earn the rest by playing, and most spending goes on skins.
One condition puts some people off. On PC you must run the Vanguard anti-cheat, which works at Windows kernel level and starts with the system. It isn’t on Steam, you install it through the Riot client, and on consoles it’s on PS5 and Xbox Series.
Almost any computer will do. For 60 FPS Riot lists 4 GB of RAM and a GT 730. Torn between the two shooters? We have a Valorant and CS2 comparison.
System requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 10 (build 19041+) / 11 (64-bit) | Windows 10 (build 19041+) / 11 (64-bit) |
| Processor | Intel Core i3-540 / AMD Athlon 200GE | Intel Core i3-4150 / AMD Ryzen 3 1200 |
| Memory | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| Graphics | Intel HD 4000 / AMD Radeon R5 220, 1 GB VRAM | NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 / AMD Radeon R7 240 |
| DirectX | 11 | 11 |