VALORANT under fire for ‘becoming CoD’ amid Neon buffs

VALORANT's notorious CS-like head-clicking style has made for a range of compatible playstyles over the years, where stealth meets ability-coordinated tactics But the core gunplay has always been the same. Less movement, more accuracy.

This motif has just been thrown out of the window, though, as buffs to Neon and Iso have turned VALORANT into an all-out bloodbath where Call of Duty-like run-and-gun methods are taking over.

New Neon buff is turning VALORANT into CoD

We've been calling for a duellist upgrade in VALORANT for quite some time. Years in fact. The Chamber and Jett-dominated days have been left well behind, as the era of Reyna and aggressive controllers have reigned supreme.

But new buffs to Neon and Iso have flipped the script too far in the wrong direction, and VALORANT fans are not happy.

After seeing clips of 100 Thieves content creator Timothy "iiTzTimmy" An getting a five-second ace with Neon, players have blasted the agent.

"Valorant rn in a nutshell: Neon sliding up your ass hole with a bucky. Iso popping his over-stimulating shield every 2 seconds and just running it down. I am not having fun!!!!!!" said Fnatic content creator Megan "megsoundslikegg" Garner.

"God forbid you can hide a Cypher cam in a smart way but Neon is allowed to turn the game into a CoD copy," another fan said, comparing it to Activision's arcade FPS franchise.

"It looks like you were speedrunning firing range in CoD," added Apex pro "Sauceror". Iso's buffs are also plaguing the meta, with players literally running away from that character as soon as his ability's audio queue pops.

VALORANT's CoD-era comes just as Console Beta arrives. Coincidence?

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It might not come as much of a surprise that these game-breaking agent changes have arrived at the same time as VALORANT Console. Although the two games are varied, and some of the agents do differ, there is no denying that the Neon and Iso meta is very console. Very beginner.

Of course, you still need to hit your shots, but with Console's aim assist and the literal sprint and dive compositions, you can't help but wonder if it was intentional.

Still, the PC players will find ways to shut down these agents, Neon especially, as you can't sprint past a Killjoy turret, for example.