The release of Valorant‘s newest map, Pearl, will herald a major shift in the game’s matchmaking, with players across all skill levels beginning to learn the ins and outs of what is described by Level Designer Joe Lansford as a “deceptively simple” map. During a recent preview period, Screen Rant was able to go hands-on with the new Valorant map, and I came away extremely impressed. While Pearl isn’t a perfect map – to be completely honest, that kind of expectation is impossible to meet in a game with so many variables – it’s still exactly what Valorant needs, and should provide some serious innovation to the game.
Pearl will release as part of Valorant Episode 5 Act I. The newest major update to the game will forgo the addition of another Agent like recent roster recruits Fade and Neon, and will instead introduce the Pearl map alongside a new skinline in Prelude to Chaos and the usual Battlepass cosmetic rewards. It’s a savvy break – players are still figuring out Neon compositions, with the Agent finally starting to break through into competitive play in more than just niche scenarios, and adding another new Agent would potentially stifle an already interesting exploration period. Instead, every Agent in the game will now get more innovation as Valorant players dive into Pearl.
Pearl is an underwater map that is located on Omega Earth, the alternate version of Earth that provides the backdrop for Valorant‘s gameplay. According to Brian Yam, the Art Lead for Concept on Pearl, the construction of the map is actually a blend between an “older underwater theme pitch” and a “newer pitch that revolved around a major city flooded from climate change.” The result is a visually striking map with some darker lighting to match its cautionary environmental story-telling.
The main draw to any new Valorant map is the gameplay, however, and it’s here where Pearl looks like it’ll be exactly what the title has sorely needed. Following the introduction of Breeze and Fracture, two maps that feature pretty complex attempts at navigation in the form of extreme wide-open spaces and rope-transport respectively, Pearl will scale things back in that regard. Lansford describes the map as something that “demands committed engagements, without the rotation and mobility support of doors, ascenders, or teleporters.” That’s an exciting approach, one that will immediately set Pearl apart from other recent maps and could open up the possibility of some intriguing team compositions.
In practice, Pearl has a lot of exciting elements at play. There are some narrow chokes with some truly gnarly angles to be held, which will punish teams entrying without a strong sense of goals. There are also some wider spaces with centralized cover that will likely be difficult to hold without consolidated efforts. Rotation is – at least so far – as difficult as Lansford makes it sound, making the decision to leave players on a quiet site that much more vital than on, say, Bind.
In exploring the map, there appear to be a lot of different Agents who will thrive in specific areas. Omen looks to be a great smoker, and his ability to teleport between the cover in narrow areas will create confusion. Cypher’s cams seem well-equipped to hold the broader sites without risking too many team members, while a well-placed Raze grenade appears like a can-opener for chokes leading into sites. These are just basic concepts that are immediately apparent, too – the size, scope, and varied design of Pearl means there’s likely a lot more to be discovered in coming weeks.
Ultimately, Valorant‘s map pool really needed a step back from the design principles of Breeze and Fracture – massive, open sites and points of contention with pretty easy rotates available on both. Pearl feels more like a fundamentals map, where it’s less about intrinsic knowledge of specific map executes and more about holding angles, using utility, and playing as a team. It’s certainly not as basic as that sounds – the variations of design in Pearl are really interesting to dig into – but it seems like the kind of map that will help players improve on the basics as they learn it, while offering a lot of tactical nuance to those who are well past their Iron or Gold days. Valorant‘s newest map is exactly what the game needs, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see this become an immediate favorite for many thanks to its blend of subtle design choices and gorgeous, well-thought-out aesthetic.
Valorant‘s newest map, Pearl, will release alongside Episode 5, Act I on June 22, 2022. Screen Rant was invited to a private preview period for the purpose of this article.