What makes Astra so cool is that her presence throws a wrench into both of those concepts, permanently changing the pace of games and forcing players to adapt to what she can do, or quit. Valorant is a tactical shooting game about momentum and prediction. The fact that her abilities are infinitely useful, too, is a great cherry on top. Honestly it’s amazing being able to play as an unapologetically Black character like this, one who really loves jollof rice and humming tunes while she’s walking around. One of her arms looks like a universe contained inside the shape of an arm, which is simply cool as hell. This character design pops, making her stand out from Valorant’s other agents. She has a vibrant and excited personality, and her look is sleek and Afrofuturist (think Black Panther), mixing traditional African garb with the neon and otherworldly. After missing a few shots that I definitely shouldn’t have, I end up taking her down and seemingly reversing fate by winning a doomed round by playing safe and utilizing all I could out of the ridiculous, galaxy brain kit of Valorant’s newest agent, Astra.Īstra is a Black woman that hails from Accra, the capital city of Ghana, and she represents her culture proudly through her voice lines and interactions. As I turn the corner I see that she was in fact hit by my cosmic earthquake and is disoriented beside the bomb.

I tap to diffuse and see her do a stalled peek by my star that I immediately turn into a Nova Pulse, delivering a swift, star-filled concuss as I rush at my enemy with a classic pistol and a dream. I give up some ground, put on my hood, and hop into my mind palace and place down one more star, right by the bomb. The last enemy plays it safer, putting up a Killjoy ult that disarms me if I’m in the radius after the 12 second time limit. Their friend follows in a second after in a revenge-fueled frenzy, repeating the same motions as his fallen predecessor, and catching a different bullet. Panicked, assuming I’m diffusing, one of them runs through the wall and catches a quick bullet. When I make it to the bomb I summon a galactic wall to slice the map in half, muting either side so the enemies can’t see or hear a thing that I’m doing.

I throw down two Astral Stars in front of me and immediately dissipate them, creating a caterpillar of smoke the perfect cover to run onto site. Now there’s only three players standing in between me and the bomb I have to defuse. “Bye bye boomer!” my character shouts after one-tapping the enemy Brimstone that was trapped inside my defense-shredding gravity well.

Astra valorant