Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

It’s somewhat difficult to know where to start when reviewing a game like CS: GO. A game that is, to the casual observer, almost exactly the same as Counter-Strike: Source with a few extra maps, character models and weapons.  In the casual observer’s defence it is just that in many ways. The fundamental gameplay mechanics are the same as they ever were, even in the original Counter-Strike mod.  You shoot terrorists/counter-terrorists to get money to buy guns to shoot terrorists/counter-terrorists to get money to buy guns and sometimes you defuse a bomb or escort some hostages somewhere.  The beauty of CS: GO isn’t that it shakes up the formula in any way, but that it retains all the draw of the original while taking steps to simply become easier to get in to for new players.

The first and most obvious way they’ve gone about making CS: GO more approachable is in the two new game-types, Arms Race and Demolition.  Both of these modes take clear cues from the Gun Game mod from the original Counter-Strike in which you kill enemies to make your way through the roster of weapons available to your side, and when I say “cues” I mean they brought the folks who developed the Gun Game mode on board for development.  The crowd pleaser is undoubtedly Arms Race, which is pure and simple team-based Gun Game where the only thing that matters is your kill count.  Respawns are quick and the action is fast paced, catering for those more used to Call of Duty games.  Demolition is similar but this time the terrorist side has to plant a bomb and the counter-terrorists, predictably, have to stop them from planting a bomb.  In this mode you get one life per round and kills don’t matter so much as long as the objectives are taken care of, but they still help you climb up the gun levels. It’s fairly clear, even from the order the modes are listed in on the ‘Find a game’ menu that new players are being encouraged to start off with Arms Race and build up to Demolition before moving on to Classic Casual and Classic Competitive, the main attractions to seasoned Counter-Strike players.

Even with this desire to bring in newer players Valve have managed to craft a fairly brutal learning curve in CS: GO, partially thanks to those Counter-Strike vets I mentioned before and their incredible ability to make one feel inadequate (and dead).  Counter-Strike has always been about being very cautious and careful in your approach to any situation involving guns, and it’s the same with CS: GO.  Players take very little damage to kill, but the mental check-list you’ll have to keep track of to persevere in CS: GO is colossal.  Before you fire off rounds at long range you’ll need to be aware of stance and movement and be absolutely positive the enemy isn’t already aiming for the spot your head will be at when you pop out.  When you fire it has to either be single shots or short bursts; anything more than this and you may as well be firing into a wall (unless you’re incredibly lucky).  Headshots are your best bet for a kill but even then the enemy could be wearing a helmet and kevlar meaning you have to be right on the money with multiple shots.  It really is a nightmare for anyone who’s used to the run and gun mentality of the Call of Duty games (and even the comparatively measured mentality of Battlefield games).  The key skills in Counter-Strike have always been patience and preparation, and there’s no change here.

There are a few minor additions to the formula to help newer players get used to Counter-Strike’s deliberate gameplay, like a dynamic crosshair that indicates the spread of your gunfire, a player register at the top of the screen that indicates who’s still alive on either team, and a box in the top left-hand corner on the screen that gives you the name of the area you’re currently standing in, allowing for better coordination between team mates.  You could even play it with a controller if you so desired, like on the consoles, but if you’re going to try and sincerely play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on PC with a controller you may as well stand in your spawn area throwing molotov cocktails at your feet, because you’re going to spend 90% of your time dead.


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One response to “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive”

  1. y0haN avatar
    y0haN

    Awesome game! So glad people are getting back into CS. Pew pew!

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