How Battle of Helm's Deep from Lord of the Rings inspired Valorant's new map, Fracture

Battle of Helm's Deep inspired Fracture (Image by Sportskeeda)
Battle of Helm's Deep inspired Fracture (Image by Sportskeeda)

Riot Games recently announced a seventh map, joining the Valorant roster. Fracture puts an interesting spin on the attackers and defenders spawn, which dictates gameplay.

Riot Games' first-person shooter Valorant has risen to be a worldwide sensation in the past year, with its release due largely to balanced gameplay and exciting post-launch content.

youtube-cover

With the addition of Fracture, the total map count of Valorant rises to seven. With its unique design, it surely will bring an interesting approach from a competitive perspective.

When asked about inspiration, the developers mentioned one of the most iconic battles in cinematic history, Battle of Helm’s Deep, from Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers.


Valorant’s latest map Fracture was inspired by Battle of Helm’s Deep from Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers

Valorant’s seventh map Fracture brings a unique twist to how attackers and defenders spawn, making unique changes to gameplay starts. Instead of the tried and tested attackers and defenders spawn being on opposite sides of the map, Fracture implements an H shape, where attackers spawn on either side and defenders in the center.

As for inspiration, Joe Langford, the level designer of Fracture, said,

"I took at least some of my inspiration from the Battle of Helm’s Deep. As the orcs are breaking down the gates, Aragorn and Théoden (and the remaining squadzinho) ride out to meet them. “Now for wrath, now for ruin and the red dawn!” Gandalf and the Riders of Rohan storm down the mountain from the other side. When you’re on defense and both A and B players push out to flip the tables and pinch attackers instead, it always reminds me of this moment."

The moment Langford mentioned is one of the epic moments in fantasy literature and cinematic history. All hope seems to be lost as the Rohirrim, under King Théoden, along with the Elves of the Fangorn Forest, make their final stand to defend the Hornburg from Saruman's army of Men and Uruk-hai.

Written by JRR Tolkien and adopted by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are highly regarded works amongst fantasy fandom. The Battle of Helm's Deep, also known as Battle of the Hornburg, was the first grand-scale battle of the War of the Ring. It is exhilarating to see that being referenced as an inspiration for Fracture, the seventh map of Valorant.

Quick Links

Edited by Srijan Sen