Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

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Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by VoltySquirrel » Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:08 am

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
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Developer:
Valve
Hidden Path Entertainment
Platforms:
Windows, Mac, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3
Release Date:
August 21st, 2012

So, back when CS:GO was announced, a friend of mine from Destructoid, my other gaming community love, was attending the event, Gamescom, in Germany. He wasn't and still isn't a big fan of Counter-Strike, but snagged two beta keys from the Valve booth. He gave me one and I've been playing it off and on ever since. Seeing as how we are planning on having a CS:GO server, I figured I might as well do my duty as one of the few CSn members with beta access and tell you what I think of the game. So, yeah, let's get started.

Now, I figure I might as well get this out of the way: I've never been a big CS guy. I just never really dug it. The community is probably one of the most volatile and caustic in gaming, and I simply just was very good at it. However, I've found myself drawn into this game a lot more than I was with Source. There are a variety of reasons for this. For one, it's a really sleak game. The UI is great, it looks fantastic for a Source game, and the reworked gameplay really rubs off on me. Now, make no mistake, this is most certainly a CS game. Twitch is still the name of the game, recoil is still a major factor of the game, and weapon choice is as important as it ever was. However, something seems different, and it's good. Really good. I keep finding myself coming back to it, which I never did before.

One thing that quickly becomes apparent is the new focus on smaller, more focused matches. The default player count is now 10, which really makes rounds even more tense. It's now not uncommon to find oneself in a 1v1 scenario, which, to me at least, is when the game is best. Another (good) change is bot filling. Basically, you'll never find an empty server again, unless bots are turned off by a community server. That way, matches are always balanced. No longer will numbers be in one teams favor. Add in to that the improved bot AI and the ability to take control of bots when you die and you got an exciting match.

CS:GO also has 2 new game modes. One is a straight port of the fan favorite gamemode Gun Game called Arsenal. The other is a cross between Gun Game and the traditional bomb defusal mode dubbed Demolition. In Demolition, everyone starts off with the same weaponry. With a successful kill, you gain the next weapon in line next round, with each additional kill in around awarding you grenades. Demolition and Arsenal maps are much smaller, creating much more hectic and ultimately satisfying experiences. All in all, it's a great package.

Now, about the graphics. I've already mentioned the game looks great. Now, before any of you jump to the conclusion that that means you possibly can't run it, rest easy. The Source engine has never required too powerful a computer (except for when it first came out, but shut up about that). Valve's newer games, such as Portal 2 and Dota 2 have been very beautiful but not resource intensive games that scale very well. Not only that, Valve's most demanding game is actually TF2, and I'm fairly certain all of you can run that or else you would be a member of CSn. So rest easy, you can run it.

Also, to those that care (which I doubt is very few), the game will support gamepads natively on the PC and Mac. However, the beta only has limited support. It works well in the menus, even bringing up Xbox 360 button prompts when it's plugged it, but when actually playing, the aiming is restricted to the horizontal axis. Hopefully, they fix that by launch.

EDIT: Another thing to note is that the previously announced cross platform play between PC/Mac and PS3 has been dropped. This is due to differences Valve and Sony had over PSN's update process, mainly because it is fucking shit.
Last edited by VoltySquirrel on Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by VoltySquirrel » Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:27 am

Oh, cool. This got front paged.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Bagger Vance » Wed Jul 11, 2012 2:37 pm

I got a beta key, but i'm bad at the game so I can't really get into it.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Toeknee » Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:17 pm

I am looking forward to this incarnation of CS. I have been elbow deep in CS since it was just a beta mod you installed over Half-life. I Started with CS and used to compete in CAL back in the day when it existed. If Csn has a server, I am sure I will be on it most of the time.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Nikki Wolf » Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:54 am

I haven't played CS:GO much, but I actually like playing it more than I do CS:S. Sure, it's been months since I've touched the beta, but still. I should pick it back up sometime soon.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Smeemo » Thu Jul 12, 2012 3:07 pm

Nice write-up, Volty. I'm looking forward to owning noobs who are using gamepads. Typically around 50% of my self-worth on any given day is determined by how well I perform in multiplayer fps games, but I expect it to hit 80% when this game is released.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by VoltySquirrel » Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:51 pm

Updated the post with information about cross-play.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Smeemo » Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:00 pm

Aww, no more cross-platform action. :(
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by -=orb=- » Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:44 am

thank you volty. I'm looking forward to this.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Maringue » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:18 pm

Why in God's name would you want to play with a game pad on a computer? Also, another reason they probably scrapped cross platform play is because of the balancing needed when you mix players using a mouse with players on a game pad. If you don't give the game pad people some serious auto-aim help, the generally get unmercilessly raped by people aiming with a mouse.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by VoltySquirrel » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:43 pm

Maringue wrote:Why in God's name would you want to play with a game pad on a computer? Also, another reason they probably scrapped cross platform play is because of the balancing needed when you mix players using a mouse with players on a game pad. If you don't give the game pad people some serious auto-aim help, the generally get unmercilessly raped by people aiming with a mouse.

Some people play better in FPSs with gamepads. I'm not a part of that group but it exists. Not only that, sometimes you just want to kick back and relax, which is really hard with a keyboard. As for cross-play, well, why not? I mean, sure, in real play you'd get raped, but in pubs, like what our server would be, it wouldn't be that big of a handicap. Plus, people playing on the PS3 have 3 control methods, not just the gamepad. They also have Move capability as well as mouse and keyboard. According to Valve, this was purely an issue of PSN's awful update process.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Echoplex » Fri Jul 13, 2012 12:58 pm

Nice writeup, looking forward to it :)

VoltySquirrel wrote:Some people play better in FPSs with gamepads. I'm not a part of that group but it exists. Not only that, sometimes you just want to kick back and relax, which is really hard with a keyboard.


nnope
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by VoltySquirrel » Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:08 pm

Echoplex wrote:Nice writeup, looking forward to it :)

VoltySquirrel wrote:Some people play better in FPSs with gamepads. I'm not a part of that group but it exists. Not only that, sometimes you just want to kick back and relax, which is really hard with a keyboard.


nnope

Yep. Those people are people who mainly play console games. Who knew. As for kicking back, I do it a lot. Have even played TF2 before in the servers with a gamepad and did okay.
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Re: Impressions: Counter-Strike: Global Assault

by Phantom » Fri Jul 13, 2012 3:41 pm

VoltySquirrel wrote:
Echoplex wrote:Nice writeup, looking forward to it :)

VoltySquirrel wrote:Some people play better in FPSs with gamepads. I'm not a part of that group but it exists. Not only that, sometimes you just want to kick back and relax, which is really hard with a keyboard.


nnope

Yep. Those people are people who mainly play console games. Who knew. As for kicking back, I do it a lot. Have even played TF2 before in the servers with a gamepad and did okay.

Ya I know what thats like because....................I play with it all the time...............360 controller that is.
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