Sometimes, Valorant fans just want to play a quick and fun game without having to go through the intense and competitive vibe of a single match — which is something that Riot Games’ tactical first-person shooter offers in most of its game modes.
Now, it appears that this is not necessarily the case anymore, as a brand-new winter-themed game mode has officially gone live. It’s fun, casual, and definitely different from what you’d expect from a typical Valorant match.
The limited-time Snowball Fight game mode is a comparably quick 5v5 match, and the first team to get 50 kills will win the deathmatch. All the players use Brimstone’s Molotov launcher, except it releases an unlimited number of snowballs instead of fire. Players need to be cautious, however, because a single direct hit of a snowball will get them killed.
Season's beatings!
Chill out with the new limited time Snowball Fight mode, playable now through the 29th. Skate into your first match today and unlock the Snowbro Gun Buddy for free. pic.twitter.com/XuhZS9FeGq
— VALORANT (@PlayVALORANT) December 15, 2020
It’s a fun and silly mode that can sometimes lead to enjoyable standoffs, where you and your enemies attempt — and most of the time fail — to fire snowballs accurately enough to kill each other off. As you know, Valorant is a game that requires precision, and so you’d need to stand as still as possible to get that winning shot.
However, this concept doesn’t apply to the new game mode, as every single player is jumping and running around like little kids. Needless to say, it’s incredibly fun and definitely the kind of chilled-out game mode that Valorant needs. After all, it’s not good to be so intense and stressed out all the time during a match — video games are supposed to be fun!
That being said, it didn’t come as a surprise when Riot Games announced the new game mode. Back in October, a dataminer leaked the possibility of snowball fights arriving in Valorant, and it was only a matter of time before it did. Since it’s now December and therefore the winter season, it makes sense for the developer to launch it now.
Some players were skeptical about it at first, thinking that firing snowballs at each other probably wouldn’t be as fun as it sounds. However, Riot Games made sure to spice things up with the inclusion of power-ups.
There are four different power-ups available in this game mode, namely Skates, Ricochet, Rapid Fire, and Growball. Utilizing the Skates power-up allows your character to increase their movement speed; Ricochet, as the name implies, gives snowballs the ability to bounce off walls and other surfaces; Rapid Fire increases your fire rate; lastly, Growball increases a snowball’s size while it’s airborne.
Valorant’s winter-themed game mode probably isn’t the best one out there right now, but since it’s the game’s first Christmas since release, let’s all go easy on it. Besides, it’s nice to finally have a game mode that won’t completely stress you out or leave you frustrated.
Asides from the new Snowball Fight, Valorant only has a handful of other game modes for those who want something different from the typical big matches. It appears that this new game mode will only be available for a limited time, but we hope that it will pave the way for more casual game modes in Valorant in the future.
