By: Josie Clark, Aleksha McLoughlin
VALORANT ’s map design has always walked a tight line between innovation and frustration. With much criticism from fans, Riot has never been happy with a simple three-lane layout, as seen in most FPS games of this type. Instead of layering in a vertical plane, environmental mechanics and tight sightlines force players to rethink how space is utilised. At its best, this approach produces tense tactical matches. In reality, it can exacerbate coordination issues and expose the fragility of the maps in VALORANT when teamwork breaks down.
