Riot Games’ Project A Shooter Is More Like Counter-Strike than Overwatch

Riot Games gave its community their first look at a new game called Project A this week. This new shooter is one of several games which were announced during the 10th anniversary celebration of League of Legends, and it immediately drew comparisons to existing games like Overwatch. It incorporates unique characters with abilities that they’ll blend into the shooter formula which definitely begs an Overwatch comparison, but Riot’s Greg Street says it’d be more apt to compare Project A to games like Counter-Strike.

Street, the vice president of IP and entertainment at Riot Games who is better known as “Ghostcrawler,” took note of the Overwatch comparisons appearing online and addressed them on Twitter. Being compared to Overwatch is an honor, he said, but he clarified that the game is much more of a tactical shooter than a hero shooter. Other details shared in the tweet confirmed that players wouldn’t respawn and that the abilities characters will use are more centered around utility, though we do get to see at least some offensive abilities in the trailer.

Other parts of the trailer showed scenes that backed up Street’s statement about the game being a tactical shooter. Compared to the amount of firepower that’s usually required to whittle down a hero in Overwatch, a quick and accurate shot with the right weapon is enough to down someone in Project A. While there aren’t respawns, according to Street, there is a revive ability possessed by at least one character.

When asked about how this game would compare to shooters like Counter-Strike, Street said those comparisons were closer to how Project A will feel.

Focuses on parts of Project A like achieving low latency and preventing players from cheating were other aspects of the tactical shooter genre that are often addressed when newcomers are announced. One scene from the trailer showed that the game could detect when someone was cheating, and if it found that someone was playing unfairly, the match would be terminated immediately. It’s a system that sounds like it’ll of course have some potential for abuse as players try to find ways around it until it’s refined, but it would at least meant that players wouldn’t have to sit through a full match with a cheater.

Riot said it won’t be sharing much more on the game right now, but more about the game should be revealed in 2020.