In her current (and great) reveal trailer, Neon, the newest agent to be introduced to Riot’s team-based tactical shooter, AppreciationShe breaks the cardinal rule of the sweaty, persistent, head-clicking tac shooter genre – she can actually move fluidly.
This is not a shot Appreciation‘s movement, which I really enjoy, but a way of clearly distinguishing it from the rest of the cast in the game. Appreciation is a slow, exceptionally twitching shooter shot straight from. descends Counterstrike, it modifies that formula by introducing a whole new level of strategy over team composition, much like games like Overwatch. In contrast to Overwatch, Appreciation‘s agents have a lot more in common than they don’t. Everyone has access to the same weapons (except chamber, the last agent added to the game), all outside of their abilities move the same, and each character has the same health. Even so, Riot managed to make the game’s dozen-and-swap agents different from one another.
Neon continues that tradition with unique movement, strange smoke and stun, and a lightning-based damage super in the style of Emperor Palpatine. Her distinctive ability seems to enable her to sprint, a first for her Appreciation. She puts down her weapon and charges forward, which can then be chained in a sliding motion as she readies her weapon. This movement technology is likely to make her an absolute monster with the game’s submachine guns and shotguns that allow her to excel in close-quarters combat situations.
In addition to its movement, Neon appears to have a unique double wall of smoke that creates a thin smoke tunnel that enemies must fight their way through. By creating an enclosed hallway, Neon can easily enforce 1-on-1 situations and isolate enemies with line of sight control. Their basic skills are rounded off by a breathtaking grenade that ricochets once and shakes enemies at the jump and landing points. After all, her ultimate seems to be a recoilless, sustained fire damage ability that seems to absolutely shred enemies, if her follower is to be believed.
While no one knows how strong she will be until Riot releases a full skill breakdown and it gets into the hands of professionals, some things are certain if we see a quick look at her skills in the Agent reveal trailer. First, she is a duelist, one of Appreciation‘s committed murderer. Duelists are expected to “step in,” which basically means that it is their job to start fights and risk their bodies for their teammates. It is well known that many Duelist Mains are afraid of the introductory question and will hide behind their teammates – which makes them angry without end. Please dont do this.
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Second, their unique movement will be extremely split. Appreciation tries to cross the fine line between holding on to the hearts of tactical shooters and enabling more expressive play. Neon is already being accused of being a run and gun character on Twitter and YouTube, and those allegations will likely continue after her official release. However, I would argue that characters with unique mobility are not only okay, but also actively benefit the game – especially given the fragility of the characters Appreciation.
The real thing that determines Neon’s run-and-gun skills is how significant the target penalty is on her slide, since the trailer only shows her with the stinger. Appreciation‘s fast, inaccurate SMG to burn down enemies at close range. If she maintains the semblance of accuracy as she glides, she could have an obscene combat advantage to be concerned about. Otherwise, it’s just a unique trick that allows her to invade (or die trying) extremely quickly.
No matter how things go with neon, it’s easy to see Appreciation continue to iterate and develop new characters in a relatively rigorous gameplay format. When I first played the beta two years ago, part of me was skeptical that the Riot Games team could consistently produce characters with interesting skills using just a handful of basic tools like lightning, smoke, teleport, and stunning. Despite the simplicity of the format, over a dozen unique agents have and left the game. I am excited to see what you do next. Personally, I’m hoping for a new intelligence gathering character, but that’s just me.
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