Counter Strike Source

It would be hard, maybe impossible, to review Counter Strike Source without at least mentioning the old game. Counter Strike, a Half Life modification, came out in the mid-90s as a free modification of the mega popular game, Half Life. The game was, strangely enough, taken over by the people at Valve (The owners, who took it from a small fan group and made it even better), and, even more strangely, was available for free to people who owned Half Life. Talk about a deal.



The original Counter Strike filled every Tom Clancy fan's dream: Play online with a bunch of people in a Terrorist vs. Counter-Terrorist scenario. Be it defusing a bomb, saving hostages, or VIP rescue, this game was a great addition to any hardcore gamer's collection- especially since its one of the biggest online games in the world.



Counter Strike Source utilizes the Source engine, the engine used in Half Life 2. Not suprisingly, this means that the game looks positively amazing as compared to the old Counter-Strike.







Everything is much smoother, and all the graphics are much cleaner and easier to see. Thats the biggest thing about this game: The graphics. As you can tell from any screen from Half Life 2, CS:S, or beyond, you'll know that Valve put in an extreme amount of time and effort to make these games a benchmark for any gamer's rig.



The game plays exactly like the old Counter-Strike. You would have thought that some of the annoyances in the original CS, such as the AWP, would have been fixed- but you'd be wrong. However, to give them some credit, the weapons fire a LOT more realistically, allowing for a much more user-friendly game.



Now, here's for the bad parts. First off, this game requires a powerhouse computer. Up until I order my new computer, I'm forced to play CS:S on a 4 year old Gateway, which makes every game I play on CS:S have to be worth it (It HAS to be with 2-year-long-load-times). I suppose if I had a better system to test this on, I could say more in its defense. However, its still an issue- You're going to need one hell of a lot of RAM, raw processing power, and Video Card clock speed to keep up with everyone. Granted you don't need to go out there and buy a $1000 video card, but you've got to keep in mind that just because your computer plays CS, its not gonna play CS:S, most likely.







Second off, the game doesnt have the user base it needs just yet. Being this is an issue with any new online game, I think that this will fix itself, but CS:S is not just fleshed out yet. Granted Valve updates with new maps often, but I wish I could see more from the mod community. After all, part of the fun of CS was playing on all the complex, fun maps that people edited. "cs_assault" has never been funner when playing on a mod where the main building has skylights. However, I'm pretty sure this'll be fixed- I mean, cmon, its Valve- they work on their stuff 24/7, I'm sure they're doing a fine job at this.



Now for some good things, just to make sure you don't think I'm dissing your favorite game. The game, when played on a decent computer, is BEAUTIFUL- if you can run this game without any lag, you certainly will feel the advantage, as the lush terrain and awesome lighting just make this game an outstanding package. I mean, granted people will be yelling "OMG WTF U HACK" all the time on the mic talk, but you can always turn that off and look at the wonderful scenery.







Also, on a small note, I noticed that since the last update to CS (Technically CS:Condition Zero), that Valve added a little more to the de_dust maps- like making them look more Middle-Eastern. Plus, the Terrorists now look a little more middle-eastern. I figure while this could raise some eyebrows from select groups, this adds to it more. After all, it is keeping with the times. All we need is a Fallujah or Palestine map and I'll be playing the news.



Overall, I give this 1 mushroom. How someone could honestly hate this game is beyond me. Granted there are small issues with the game, but this game overall is a great game for ANYONE to be playing. However, I will note that this game is NOT Noob-friendly- people playing this game have been playing CS for at least 3 years or more, therefore you're going to get your ass whipped, like it or not. However, I've gotten used to that, and now just look at the scenery.

4 star(s) out of 5

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