Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Publisher: Valve Developer: Valve Platform: PC Release: 2012 Players: 1-20 (Casual / Public), 10 (Competitive) Genre: First-Person Shooter / Strategy Rating: 8.4 \ 10.0: Great
Above is a player using the dreaded AWP.
For those of you unaware, Counter-Strike is a series of tactical FPS games with a competitive scene that has garnered massive amounts of attention. The first game in the franchise was as a mod of the original Half-Life, and the rights to the game were purchased by Valve, the developers of Half-Life, leading to multiple sequels including the most recent entry, Global Offensive.
In a standard match, there is a team of terrorists and a team of counter terrorists. The terrorists must plant and detonate a bomb at one of two sites and the CTs must prevent them from activating it. Once a player dies, they're out of the round. The round ends if all of the players on one team are eliminated, if the bomb is detonated, or if the bomb is defused after being planted. After every round, players are awarded a certain amount of money based on whether they won the previous round and how many enemies they killed and can then buy weapons or gear such as armor that can protect you from additional bullets or a defuse kit (for CTs only) that can deactivate the bomb faster. This setup allows for some of the most tense gameplay you will likely ever experience while playing a shooter.
It's worth noting that CS: GO plays nothing like the vast majority of modern shooters; there's no sprinting, no regenerating health, most of the weapons don't have aim-down sights, and some small arms won't kill with a single headshot. But don't let any of this fool you -- you can be dispatched just as easily if not more so than you can be in other titles in the genre. Additionally, the recoil patterns of most weapons are exaggerated to the point of unrealism, meaning that you are absolutely required to fire in short, controlled bursts to hit targets at medium range or longer. I've often been killed in close-range battles in which I held down the trigger on an automatic weapon only to find I only landed one or two hits. This is a mild but somewhat frequent frustration that I'll never truly get used to.
New modes have been added to this edition of CS that add a fair amount of replay value. These include Team Deathmatch, an interesting take on the traditional gamemode that awards different amounts of points based on the strength of the weapons you use; Arms Race, in which you earn increasingly more powerful weapons as you get more kills and undo the progress of enemies by killing them using the knife; and Demolition, a fast-paced twist on the traditional bomb scenario in which you play on small maps and earn stronger weapons as you take out more enemies as opposed to buying your own gear. Demolition follows the same die-and-you're-out format as Casual / Competitive, meaning there are no respawns. TDM and Arms Race, however, do feature respawning, and although those modes are mostly enjoyable, the spawn points are absolutely dreadful. I'd often get placed directly in the line of fine of enemies and sometimes would even respawn partially trapped inside a ceiling, immobilizing me. This would force me to either wait to be killed and sacrifice my spot on the leaderboard or switch teams in order to respawn instantly and maintain my score. Unsurprisingly, the latter was almost guaranteed to irritate my (former) teammates. A matchmaking system has been implemented for the official gamemodes, but a community server browser is also available.
Global Offensive's overall balance is solid, but some weapons and maps are questionably designed. A few maps place the spawn point of one team closer to the objectives than the other, and a few weapons seem disproportionately priced. For example, the Negev and the M249 are priced at $2,000 and $5,400 respectively despite having similar stats. I've also experienced countless one-hit deaths at the hands of users of the AWP, an incredibly powerful bolt-action sniper rfile.
CS:GO may have some frustrations, but its excellent tension make it a easy to recommend to anyone seeking a hardcore FPS experience.
Ups
Gameplay is very tense
Multiple gamemodes
Steam Workshop support
Matchmaking and server browser
Downs
Minor balance issues
Frustrating recoil patterns
THE AWP KILLS WITH ONE BODY SHOT
Also available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation 3
The System Difference: The console versions of CS: GO have only been updated several times since its release. The PC version features more maps, modes, and weapons, as well as Steam Workshop support which allows for easy access to user-generated content.
ESRB: M (PARENTAL WARNING: This game contains large amounts of realistic blood) Content: Blood and Intense Violence Price: $14.99 (Download)
Above is a player using the dreaded AWP.
For those of you unaware, Counter-Strike is a series of tactical FPS games with a competitive scene that has garnered massive amounts of attention. The first game in the franchise was as a mod of the original Half-Life, and the rights to the game were purchased by Valve, the developers of Half-Life, leading to multiple sequels including the most recent entry, Global Offensive.
In a standard match, there is a team of terrorists and a team of counter terrorists. The terrorists must plant and detonate a bomb at one of two sites and the CTs must prevent them from activating it. Once a player dies, they're out of the round. The round ends if all of the players on one team are eliminated, if the bomb is detonated, or if the bomb is defused after being planted. After every round, players are awarded a certain amount of money based on whether they won the previous round and how many enemies they killed and can then buy weapons or gear such as armor that can protect you from additional bullets or a defuse kit (for CTs only) that can deactivate the bomb faster. This setup allows for some of the most tense gameplay you will likely ever experience while playing a shooter.
It's worth noting that CS: GO plays nothing like the vast majority of modern shooters; there's no sprinting, no regenerating health, most of the weapons don't have aim-down sights, and some small arms won't kill with a single headshot. But don't let any of this fool you -- you can be dispatched just as easily if not more so than you can be in other titles in the genre. Additionally, the recoil patterns of most weapons are exaggerated to the point of unrealism, meaning that you are absolutely required to fire in short, controlled bursts to hit targets at medium range or longer. I've often been killed in close-range battles in which I held down the trigger on an automatic weapon only to find I only landed one or two hits. This is a mild but somewhat frequent frustration that I'll never truly get used to.
New modes have been added to this edition of CS that add a fair amount of replay value. These include Team Deathmatch, an interesting take on the traditional gamemode that awards different amounts of points based on the strength of the weapons you use; Arms Race, in which you earn increasingly more powerful weapons as you get more kills and undo the progress of enemies by killing them using the knife; and Demolition, a fast-paced twist on the traditional bomb scenario in which you play on small maps and earn stronger weapons as you take out more enemies as opposed to buying your own gear. Demolition follows the same die-and-you're-out format as Casual / Competitive, meaning there are no respawns. TDM and Arms Race, however, do feature respawning, and although those modes are mostly enjoyable, the spawn points are absolutely dreadful. I'd often get placed directly in the line of fine of enemies and sometimes would even respawn partially trapped inside a ceiling, immobilizing me. This would force me to either wait to be killed and sacrifice my spot on the leaderboard or switch teams in order to respawn instantly and maintain my score. Unsurprisingly, the latter was almost guaranteed to irritate my (former) teammates. A matchmaking system has been implemented for the official gamemodes, but a community server browser is also available.
Global Offensive's overall balance is solid, but some weapons and maps are questionably designed. A few maps place the spawn point of one team closer to the objectives than the other, and a few weapons seem disproportionately priced. For example, the Negev and the M249 are priced at $2,000 and $5,400 respectively despite having similar stats. I've also experienced countless one-hit deaths at the hands of users of the AWP, an incredibly powerful bolt-action sniper rfile.
CS:GO may have some frustrations, but its excellent tension make it a easy to recommend to anyone seeking a hardcore FPS experience.
Ups
Gameplay is very tense
Multiple gamemodes
Steam Workshop support
Matchmaking and server browser
Downs
Minor balance issues
Frustrating recoil patterns
THE AWP KILLS WITH ONE BODY SHOT
Also available on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation 3
The System Difference: The console versions of CS: GO have only been updated several times since its release. The PC version features more maps, modes, and weapons, as well as Steam Workshop support which allows for easy access to user-generated content.
ESRB: M (PARENTAL WARNING: This game contains large amounts of realistic blood) Content: Blood and Intense Violence Price: $14.99 (Download)
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