It appears that a review bomb for Valorant is underway on Metacritic, as hundreds of accounts are uploading negative reviews.

The negative reviews center around center on three claims. First, players are harshly critiquing both the graphics and gameplay. Second, users claim that the game is a clone of Valve’s CS:GO.  Lastly, there are complaints that it’s made by Riot Games, who is owned by mega-corporation Tencent.

Forbes points out that the complaints regarding gameplay, graphics, and technical performance seem a bit fishy, considering these weren’t complaints during the beta. If anything, they claim that the beta received glowing reviews specifically regarding these points.

The negative reviews claiming the game is a CS:GO clone aren’t entirely inaccurate, given that the gameplay and mechanics do seem to be inspired by the game. These types of reviews are typical of the shooter scene. In the competitive shooter world, each newcomer is raked over the coals for copying or attempting to disrupt those came before it. It happened to Fortnite, for example, and we all know how that turned out.

The complaints regarding Tencent are the last components of this review bomb. These zero scores are rants about China using the game to spy on their devices, or how “shady” the owner is.

While there certainly has been some controversy with Tencent allegedly spying on users of apps like WeChat according to CNBC, it’s likely these particular complaints were made by individuals who never played Valorant. If these users are genuinely concerned that Tencent is spying on anyone who plays Valorant, they would never download or play the game.

Perhaps many of the negative reviews could be valid opinions. Some have commented that the game feels empty, or that there are server issues. But it does appear that many of the zero scores have little to do with the actual game. They seem to be more about CS:GO fandom, anti-Tencent sentiment, and the run of the mill negativity that rears its head whenever a new shooter angling to be the next esports phenomena appears.

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