#SoITriedIt: CS:GO Fanatic Returns for Counter-Strike 2

Despite its aged title, Counter-Strike is still an insanely fun first-person shooter game. Originally counted as a modification for Half-life, Valve acquired its rights way back in 2000 and has continued to be a staple in a gamer’s library. Love it or hate it, Counter-Strike is personally counted as a strong pillar in the gaming side of life. 

Now, there’s Counter-Strike 2, which is now available for download on Steam. So, allow me to share my personal experience with you. 

For a little context, CS:GO, or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, was the first Steam game I officially bought in my library. I wasn’t able to play it a ton until I got to college, and I played the game a lot during my free time. I even dragged some college pals to play the game with. 

Disclaimer: While I wouldn't claim to be a "great" player, I've logged over two thousand hours in CS:GO. To me, that's a significant investment in a single game. Prior to writing this article, I spent a week immersing myself in Counter-Strike 2 to provide comprehensive insights.

From Counter-Strike 2 Official Website

Initial thoughts. Okay, let’s be real. I had three crashes in my first games: two deathmatches and one ranked game. For some reason, the game was really pushing my GPU, causing it to freeze up my whole system. It was really frustrating because my party had to wait a bit as I troubleshot my rig. After 30 minutes, we were able to play five ranked games—at last. 

From NVIDIA GeForce Official GIPHY

It looks so nice! It is one thing to watch the gameplay of someone else versus seeing it for yourself. I appreciate the lighting of the game. I personally don’t have the best eyesight, which is why I appreciate the visual clarity this new engine provides. On the topic of graphics, the humorous ragdoll effects add a level of “casualness” as it allow us to laugh at the absurdity of explosions or random headshots. Imagine looking at the catwalk of Dust 2 just to see an enemy fly off. 

Gameplay. Felt the same, but also felt very new. It is like receiving your car after a great car wash—it is the same vehicle but has this air of “freshness.” The inclusion of refunding was a Godsend because it allowed us to better manage our economy. The smokes are insanely dense and dynamic because it really veiled the area it landed on while allowing whichever side the ability to remove it thanks to a simple HE grenade. 

A qualm I have with this new version is the inconsistent b-hopping experience. In CS:GO, I was able to hit 4 to 5 hops. But for Counter-Strike 2’s case, I can only hit 2 hops. Upon further searching, other players seem to be having the same complaint. This is a huge bummer as it hinders the ability of “skilled” movement that differentiates players from one another. Since we are riding on complaints, I must say I am irked not having my previous workshop maps and the ability to switch gun hands. RIP cl_righthand 0! 

Takeaways. I enjoy being able to ban and select maps in Premier, but all in all, my love for Counter-Strike has been ignited. It might be the high of revisiting an old flame, but I am enjoying this train so far. The community has shared their disgust towards the unprecedented amount of hackers, but I personally haven’t encountered one; maybe it is due to my low elo, but the statement still stands. 

From NVIDIA GeForce Official GIPHY

Valve improved upon the game everyone loved and hopefully will continue to future-proof it for all to enjoy fully. To add a little side note, I am deeply happy that they removed the deafening menu music whenever your game launched—this has caused so much ear pain personally—so that is another small thing I am happy about. 

EDITOR'S NOTE

This article is part of our social experiment on nextupgrade.ph. We call it: "So I Tried It" (stylized via hashtag as #SoITriedIt).]

#SoITriedIt is a special series featuring the personal experiences of the Next Upgrade Editorial Team as we embrace the smart home lifestyle ourselves. As we take that first step to do things better and smarter, we hope we will inspire all of you to jumpstart your smart home journey.