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.
