Valorant’s newest map, Abyss, has players divided over its gameplay.
Valorant is a multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) developed and published by Riot Games. The game has been around since June 2, 2020, and has grown to have a massive impact on the esports scene. While it can be played competitively, there’s still a lot of space for those who want to play casually.
Since Valorant’s initial release, there have been 11 maps, including the newest one, Abyss. The other maps are Ascent, Bind, Breeze, Fracture, Haven, Icebox, Lotus, Pearl, Split, and Sunset. The patch 8.11 Competitive map rotation includes Ascent, Bind, Haven, Icebox, Lotus, and Sunset.
The new map Abyss can be played in its own game mode for players to try it out. It is also the first Valorant map that has no boundaries. It has a “drop” mechanic where falling off the map is possible and results in death, which can be used to players’ advantage.
Valorant players express their reactions over on X about the newest addition to the map pool.
Some players saw the new map in a negative light. One player believed that this was 100% Attacker-based as there were too many entrances. They shared that there wasn’t one good early-round peak for Defenders and thought that mid was “trash.”
A Valorant player complained that Abyss is too big and has too many corners or boxes. They also weren’t happy with it as there were “Super Mario” jumps and runs. Overall, they thought that the new map sucked.
The player reception wasn’t entirely negative as well, as there were multiple players who had positive things to say about it. One Valorant fan wrote, “It’s solid, the whole “mechanic” of the drops is cool but I don’t see it being a massive part of the map’s gameplay. It feels like I’m playing on Lotus, even though it’s a lot more open. Like a solid 8/10 overall from me personally.”
Another fan thought Abyss was incredible and very fun to play. They had a lot of laughs and enjoyed it. They deemed it one of the best new maps that Valorant has released alongside Lotus. More players thought the same and loved how the devs were able to create many corners, open-range fights, and fun skill jumps.
One player believed that Abyss had a higher skill floor. The top-tier gameplay is going to be insane, and I thought that Paper Rex (PRX) was going to have a field day with this new map.
It is exciting to have a new map after a while, especially one that has a new mechanic introduced to it. Not only will teams have to think of strategies around the drop mechanics, but it’s also a great playground for just having fun or content creation. I think it’s a breath of fresh air that Valorant welcomes.