Counter-Strike has been a true phenomenon since it appeared in 1999. Starting out as a mere Half-Life mod, something about it was very special and quickly attracted thousands of players, eventually making it the most popular competitive video game on the market for a number of years. A sequel titled Counter-Strike: Source was later released, and while it maintained many of the same qualities and proven formula, it was quite different, and although many gamers moved on to the new title, even more continued playing the original. Now, a new addition to the multi-million selling series has been announced, and speculation has been that it’s just a remake to raise nostalgia. Apparently, speculation couldn’t be further from the truth.
Bastian Veiser, Product Manager for ESL, is one of the first members of the public to play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and has commented on his experience with the game so far. After experiencing the new Counter-Strike for a few hours, Bastian posted the following:
It’s an all new game and it felt completely different on both days because they changed so much over night.
A few of the classic maps (de_dust, de_aztec, etc.) are making their way into the new title, and there are still terrorists and counter-terrorists, but many of the similarities end there. CS:GO is apprently running on a much newer version of the Source engine than the previous release, CS: Source, and it’s going to be very console friendly. With leaderboards and matchmaking, something that would’ve never fit into the hardcore environment of the original title, it’s safe to say that CS:GO is Valve’s attempt to give everyone a taste of what has made the series so addictive by nature.
Now that CS is making its way to consoles in a major fashion, we now have to consider it when talking about Battlefield 3 vs Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Okay, so it’ll release several months after the initial battle, but CS has accomplished things that neither BF or COD could imagine. With a single release it was able to completely dominate the market without a huge budget or marketing for a number of years. Simply said, it’s a juggernaut, and a reason for EA DICE and Infinity Ward to step their game up. If Valve is able to spice up CS: GO enough to make it less challenging and more modern than its predecessors, then we have a serious contender on our hands.
Look out for CS: GO when it releases in early 2012.
