Half-Life Fallout: Counter Strike: GO Beta Preview - Half-Life Fallout

I dabbled a bit in the original Counter-Strike mod when it was released for Half-Life, but spent most of my time playing HL: deathmatch and mods like Opera, Action HL, and Box Wars. When Counter-Strike: Source came out in 2004, I became quite addicted to the frantic action and continued to be amazed at how quickly matches could end. Now with the Counter Strike: Global Offensive beta, I'm easing myself back into it to see if it still has the same hold over me. After the most recent patch, there are 17 weapons, 3 items (two types of body armor and a bomb defusal kit if you're playing on the counter-terrorism team), 5 grenades, and 6 maps (Lake, Nuke, Inferno, Dust, Dust II, Train). The map available to play online is on a rotation (my guess is so that Valve can collect feedback on each one as it gets played, make changes based on the feedback and move on to the next one), with it currently being Lake. Lake is a new map, a mixture of open spaces outside of the houses with close quarters combat inside. Sadly, my favorite game mode (rescuing/defending hostages) is not available at the moment.

Since CS:GO will be released on PC and consoles simultaneously, Valve has added a casual gameplay mode to help new players get used to the harsh world of this competitive franchise. Turning friendly fire and team collision off and giving more of a reward for kills, does help when playing for the first time or after a long hiatus, but I jumped straight into competitive mode. It feels much like Counter-Strike: Source does as you load into the game, but you're greeted with new screens while loading (a top down view of the map you'll be playing and a new team selection screen) and a completely new purchase menu. Tailored to anyone who might be playing with a joystick, it felt faster when selecting weapons with your mouse (the original list was a pain in the ass with a mouse) and still allowed you to use the number keys to pick your favorites. New weapons and grenades are available, along with some old favorites, there seemed to be more submachine guns available than rifles which is a good option if you don't have the money to spend on a rifle.

Using the newest version of the source engine (look to Portal 2 for a reference), the graphics have improved greatly over Counter Strike: Source. There's a realistic touch to everything and the ground in Dust doesn't look cartoonish anymore. They have added a fog to the game though and many players are trying to figure out if it's easier to see enemies with or without the fog. My belief is that if it's in the game, that's how the developers intended it to be played. And the flame effects leave something to be desired, they're not as impressive as they are in Left 4 Dead 2. A new mode of gameplay was added the last patch that reminds me of a reverse gun game from Call of Duty: Black Ops. You start out with the rifle for your team (AK47 for terrorists and M4A4 for counter-terrorists) and if your team wins the round and you manage to survive, you're awarded with the P90. Survive again, it's the D. Eagle and the Nova pump shotgun following that. I lost the next round so I'm not sure what comes next (I'm hoping for a bunch of grenades towards the top) but I'm sure it can only be more difficult.

I've enjoyed the time spent playing this beta and I anxiously await playing new maps online as well as my favorite (Office) when it's released. For some reason unbeknownst to me, only ten players are allowed in a game at a time, something I hope isn't permanent. My biggest complaint is that there's no ammo for purchase (I really liked that feature from 1.6 but they've removed it since Counter Strike: Source). You either pick it up during the match from a dropped weapon (or change weapons entirely) or wait until the round is over. With each new round, your ammo is magically replenished for every gun you carry with no cost whatsoever. If this new iteration of Counter Strike is really aimed towards the elite and casual crowd, ammo buying needs to return. The beta at the moment is very limited in terms of players allowed, but if you've filled out their survey, the only other way to receive an invite into the beta is from someone who's currently in it (and I've already promised my next invite to a buddy here on HLF). If you do manage to find your way into the beta, add me.

Looks epic. Thanks for this thread Cake (Was just listening to Ruby Sees All.)

I'm actually genuinley interested in CS:GO now. I wasn't too fussed before but dayum - Source is looking good!

sweet, i might get into this, havent played css since tf2 was released, having 10 players is a bummer, Im guessing its so lag wont affect gameplay.

Lookin' good. What's the best way to get into the beta these days? I know a few weeks ago they added a bunch of players who filled out a survey.

Inimitable, on 16 March 2012 - 07:01 AM, said:

*Cough*

*Cough*

read the last paragraph

I don't know about you Cake but whenever I play I find the buy menu layout kind of annoying (sometimes the number shortcuts don't work for some reason as well). Other than I have to say I like it more than I thought I would. It's changed a lot since the version when they gave out keys at PAX and for the better in my opinion. I will have to add you; while most of the players online are fairly nice, most of the servers don't seem to cycle through more than one or two maps so I haven't played most of them.

Don't know how I missed that, cake! Thanks.

the ammo is the same as cs: source. and why am i the only one that will enjoy 5v5 matches better than the crap 20v20 stuff that plagues the online community of source right now.

You're right, it seems like I remembered the ammo buying from 1.6, I'll edit it

mothmann, on 17 March 2012 - 09:49 PM, said:

I seem to remember Valve mentioned 5v5 play is what the game will focus on but it will be, by no means, the only way to play.

I'm fairly certain, at the very least for the PC version, that larger games will be allowed.

Update: CS:GO has been patched multiple times since I first posted this preview, adding new maps (Office, Sugarcane, Safehouse, Bank, Short Train, Baggage, Shoots), new weapons (Famas, Galil AR, P250, Dual Berettas, Scar 20, G3SG1, Zeus x27) and, a new gameplay mode (Arms Race). In case you're wondering, the Zeus x27 is an expensive one shot taser.

Arms Race happens to be my new favorite of the CS:GO beta. Starting from a submachine gun, every time you get a kill, you progress a level (are given a new weapon) 25 times until you get to the last one which happens to be a knife (weapon levels in groups: submachine guns, shotguns, assault rifles, scoped rifles, heavy machine guns, pistols, knife). Be the first to kill an enemy with a knife and you win the match. There is respawning, so it plays like a deathmatch game, with maps that are smaller than maps from demolition or hostage mode. I would strongly suggest anyone that's new to counter strike play this mode first since in every other mode you have to wait for a new round when you die. It also lets you try out a bunch of different guns in a short time to get used to ones that are giving you trouble or ones you've never tried before.

Many other things have been changed as well; the recoil on almost every gun, the damage you receive from grenades, etc. Valve's OCD with making each of their games play the absolute best it possibly can is paying off, I'm liking this new counter strike more and more.

Is there any way of getting into the beta yet?

From the screenshots the maps don't look as detailed or well done as recent Valve games

City 17, on 21 May 2012 - 09:21 AM, said:

Judging from those screens, L4D2 or Portal 2 looks 10x better than this.

Yeah, if I didn't know it was for a new game I would assume these screens were from a fan made counter strike level, too many harsh edges and everything looks pretty flat with no objects scattered around just to add a little detail. The guns look ok though.