VALORANT's Fracture Map Is Inspired By Lords Of The Rings
VALORANT's latest map, Fracture, has one of the more unconventional designs to an arena that Riot Games has experimented with, offering a new dynamic to the typical attack versus defence tactical shooter.
Fracture, the map that is set to land in VALORANT Episode 3 Act 2 after being showcased on September 1, will be a "H" shaped battleground with a long zip line through the middle, where the defenders will spawn.
For the first time in VALORANT, defenders will be located in the centre of the map, having to evade attackers who can come from any direction.
The developers revealed, through a public Q&A, that the design was the most far-fetched to date, with their intentions being to flip the usage of neutral ground and be faced with unique problems that would previously be assumed vacated.
Click to enlargeHowever, their eccentric design wasn't a sociopathic roll of the dice. Instead, the designers drew inspiration from one of the greatest cinematic battles on television: The Battle of Helm's Deep from The Lord of the Rings.
Riot Games Level Designer, Joe Langsford, claimed that when you're on both A and B and push out to flip the tables to pinch attackers instead, it always reminds him of the scene in LOTR when the Orcs are caught in between a pinch from Aragorn and Legolas on one side and Gandalf's reinforcing Riders of Rohan on the other.
"Now for wrath, now for ruin and the red dawn!" quoted the designer.
Creative Designer, David Nottingham, admitted that the eccentric design was added to "create a setting that would play a role in expanding players' understanding of the conflict at play in VALORANT."
Prior to the release of the map, many players have questioned how Fracture will fit into VALORANT's competitive scene, although more will be discovered as it launches on September 8.
If we've learned anything so far though, Sentinels' Tyson "TenZ" Ngo on Jett and Shahzeb "ShahZaM" Khan on Sova would make for a convincing Legolas and Gandalf the White re-creation.
