League of Legends developer Riot Games has been cagey with its team-based shooter "Project A" ever since the studio announced the game's existence back in October 2019, but some information is starting to trickle out. Recently, Riot invited former Counter-Strike player Henry Greer (who goes by "HenryG") to play a build of the game at its EU headquarters, and he had some interesting details to offer.
In a lengthy tweet-thread, Greer said that Project A resembles CS at a fundamental mechanical level, describing it as a 5-on-5 tactical shooter with elements of hero shooters like Overwatch and Apex Legends. He said that Project A has "super slick and satisfying" gameplay, while also noting that the mode he played was clearly inspired by Counter-Strike's popular Defuse game type.
However, while Project A features character-specific abilities, such as enhanced movement abilities, Greer opined that these powers tend more toward utility than what he dubs the "overpowered spell/ultimate combinations that other class-based games suffer from." In the current build, most of these powers are purchased with the same currency that you purchase guns with a la Counter-Strike, meaning that there's a lot more room for strategic flexibility.
Given the fact that Greer is a former professional CS player himself, his opinions should be taken with a grain of salt, since it's clear that Riot is patterning much of Project A on Valve's ultra-popular shooter. That said, if it can truly excite the hordes of players who log onto Counter-Strike: Global Offensive every day, then it might have a fighting chance in the crowded shooter market.