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Counter-Strike 2

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Counter-Strike 2
Cover artwork depicting two partial silhouettes, meant to resemble the game's main teams: the Counter-Terrorists and the Terrorists. Text reads "Counter-Strike 2".
Cover art, depicting the game's main teams: the Counter-Terrorists (left) and Terrorists (right)
Developer(s)Valve
Publisher(s)Valve
Programmer(s)Fletcher Dunn[1]
Composer(s)Mike Morasky
SeriesCounter-Strike
EngineSource 2
Platform(s)
ReleaseSeptember 27, 2023
Genre(s)Tactical first-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Counter-Strike 2 is a 2023 multiplayer tactical first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve. It is the fifth main installment of the Counter-Strike series. Developed as an updated version of the previous main entry, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012), it was announced on March 22, 2023, and was released on September 27, 2023, for Windows and Linux, replacing Global Offensive on Steam.

Like its predecessor, the game pits two teams, the Counter-Terrorists and the Terrorists, against each other in various objective-based game modes. Additional game modes that stray away from this setup are also included. Counter-Strike 2 features major technical improvements over Global Offensive, including a move from the Source game engine to Source 2, improved graphics, and a new "sub-tick" server architecture. In addition, many maps from Global Offensive were updated to take advantage of the features of Source 2, with some maps receiving complete overhauls.

Upon release, Counter-Strike 2 received generally favorable reviews from critics. In contrast, player reception was mixed; criticism was directed at the delisting of Global Offensive from Steam, degraded game performance, and the removal of several features that had been present in Global Offensive. As a result, Counter-Strike 2 received thousands of negative user reviews on Steam, leading to it becoming one of the lowest-rated Valve titles on the platform.

Gameplay

Screenshot from Counter-Strike 2, demonstrating gameplay from the Terrorist side on the map Anubis. The player in the image is holding an AK-47 assault rifle.
A screenshot of Counter-Strike 2, demonstrating gameplay from the Terrorist side on the map Anubis

Counter-Strike 2 is a multiplayer tactical first-person shooter.[2] In the game, two teams, the Counter-Terrorists and the Terrorists, compete to complete different objectives, depending on the game mode selected; players are split into these teams at the start of each match. Most game modes play out over several rounds; in-between rounds, players are able to purchase different weapons and equipment to use. In most game modes, players have a single life per-round, and if they die, they will be unable to play until the beginning of the next round.[3]

The game features three primary game modes: Competitive, Wingman, and Premier.[4][5][6] Competitive puts two teams of five against each other, with the goal of the Terrorists being to plant a C4 explosive at one of two bombsites in a map or to kill every Counter-Terrorist, and the goal of the Counter-Terrorists being to either kill all Terrorists or defuse the explosive. The team that completes their objectives will win the round and gain a point. A total of 24 rounds can be played each game, with the first team to reach 13 winning.[3][4] Wingman puts only two players on each team and features only one bombsite, with the first team to reach nine points winning.[6] Premier plays similarly to Competitive, but instead of allowing the players to queue into whichever map they desire, Premier relies on a map voting and banning system in which the players participate. It also follows a revised ranking system, whereby—in lieu of Global Offensive's ranking system, which grouped players into 18 different skill ranks—players are given a numerical rating based on their performance.[4][7] The previous ranking system still exists in Competitive, but the ranks are now determined on a per-map basis.[7]

In addition to the main modes, Counter-Strike 2 also includes four additional game modes: Casual, Deathmatch, Hostage, and Arms Race.[4][5][8] Casual plays identically to Competitive, with the main difference being an increase in the amount of players on each team.[3] Deathmatch puts players into a map with no teams, with the only objective being to gain most kills before the match ends.[5] Hostage puts the Terrorists in control of a group of hostages, which the Counter-Terrorists must save from captivity.[5] Arms Race plays very differently from other modes, featuring no menu to buy weapons or money system. Instead, every two kills a player gets will grant them a completely different weapon, repeating until players eventually obtain a golden knife. The first player to kill someone with the golden knife wins the game.[8]

Development

Comparison between two versions of the Counter-Strike map "Nuke". The top image depicts the version of the map in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, while the bottom image depicts the version of the map in Counter-Strike 2.
A comparison between the Global Offensive version of de_nuke (top, using Source) and the Counter-Strike 2 version (bottom, using Source 2), demonstrating the game's improvement to graphics

Counter-Strike 2 was developed with the Source 2 game engine as an update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012),[9] and various aspects of Global Offensive were updated to use the features of the engine.[10] It is the first entry in the Counter-Strike series in over ten years.[11] In addition to the engine changes, the game was developed alongside new server architecture, allowing for "sub-tick" gameplay that more accurately synchronizes with player input.[12][13] New gameplay mechanics include volumetric "smoke physics", a feature where the smoke generated by a smoke grenade grows to fill spaces, and can be altered in real time through hand grenades or gunshots.[14][15]

Many maps from Global Offensive were given upgrades to take advantage of the features of Source 2, including new lighting and physically-based materials.[16][15] Valve created three different groups to place maps into when reconstructing them: "Touchstone" for maps that were unchanged in layout (ex. Dust II), "Upgrades" for maps given large-scale graphical upgrades with the features of Source 2 (ex. Nuke), and "Overhauls" for maps reconstructed from the ground up (ex. Inferno).[16][13] Additionally, all cosmetic items from Global Offensive, including weapon skins, knives, and gloves, were transferred to Counter-Strike 2.[17]

Music

Valve's Mike Morasky composed the score for Counter-Strike 2,[18] after previously writing the music for several other Valve games, including Half-Life: Alyx (2020),[19] Portal 2 (2011),[20] and Team Fortress 2 (2007).[21] The soundtrack for Counter-Strike 2 was released to digital platforms by Ipecac Recordings on November 1, 2023.[22]

Release

Following rumors of a Source 2 update for Global Offensive earlier that month,[23] Counter-Strike 2 was officially announced on March 22, 2023, and three videos demonstrating changes made from Global Offensive were released.[24] Later that day, a beta version of Counter-Strike 2, known as the "Limited Test", was released to select Global Offensive players.[25] Throughout the existence of the Limited Test, new aspects of the game were made available for testing via updates, including upgraded maps,[26] a revised weapon loadout system,[27] and new authoring tools that allow players to design custom maps, weapon skins, and stickers.[28] On September 1, 2023, the Limited Test was released to all that purchased Global Offensive before it became free-to-play in 2018 and were active in competitive matchmaking.[29]

Counter-Strike 2 released to the public on September 27, 2023, replacing Global Offensive on Steam.[30] This took Global Offensive down,[31] with the exception of community servers, which are accessible via a "legacy" branch of Global Offensive.[32] Several features from Global Offensive were removed, including the "Arms Race" and "Danger Zone" game modes,[33] various multiplayer maps, such as Train and Cache,[34] and all 167 in-game achievements.[35] In addition, support for the macOS operating system and older hardware configurations, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems, was discontinued, with future updates for Counter-Strike 2 being set to release only on 64-bit Windows and Linux systems.[36]

Post-release updates

On November 3, 2023, support for the Steam Workshop was enabled for Counter-Strike 2, allowing players to submit custom maps to the Workshop and play them in offline matches and community-hosted servers.[37] On February 7, 2024, the Arms Race mode from Global Offensive was re-added to Counter-Strike 2, following its exclusion from the game's initial release.[38] The update also included the first "case" since Global Offensive, which came with a new cosmetic knife.[39]

Reception

Critical reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, Counter-Strike 2 received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, based on 16 critic reviews.[40] On review aggregator OpenCritic, the game has received an average score of 80, with 88% of critics recommending it overall.[41]

Jake Tucker of TechRadar gave Counter-Strike 2 a 4 out of 5 star rating, summarizing with: "Counter-Strike 2's wall of noise and violence will feel impenetrable to newcomers but a welcome upgrade for long-term Counter-Strike fans. It's the best competitive shooter on the market, but it's so difficult for new players to get on board that it won't be for everyone."[3] Chris Shive of Hardcore Gamer gave the game a 4/5 rating, stating that Counter-Strike 2 is a "mostly positive update to Global Offensive."[5] Eurogamer's Will Judd gave the game a 4 out of 5 star rating, praising its moment-to-moment gunplay and overhauled maps, but criticizing its stability and lack of alternative game modes that deviate from its focus on competitive play.[43]

Polygon's Charlie Theel called Counter-Strike 2 "a significant move forward for the franchise", praising the game's changes to weapon handling, visuals, sound design and art direction.[48] Ed Thorn, reviews editor for Rock Paper Shotgun, stated that Counter-Strike 2 "captures what makes Counter-Strike tick", though he noted that the game's foundation seemed "a little sparse and a touch shaky" upon its initial release but felt confident that Valve "have an FPS that'll supersede Global Offensive in time."[4]

Player reception

Initial responses from players were critical on the removal of Global Offensive from Steam, the removal of several game modes that were present in Global Offensive, such as Arms Race and Danger Zone, and the discontinuation of support for the macOS operating system, which was previously supported by Global Offensive.[49][33] Due to the removed content, the game received thousands of negative reviews on Steam, most of which were hidden by the 7.5 million reviews previously made for Global Offensive, the majority of which were positive.[50][51] Graham Smith of Rock Paper Shotgun commented that Counter-Strike 2 should not have been able to use reviews from Global Offensive to prop itself up as the two were different games, and that if user reviews only included those for Counter-Strike 2, the store page would show a mixed feedback from players equivalent to 59%.[51]

In October 2023, PCGamesN and Den of Geek reported that Counter-Strike 2 had become the lowest rated Valve release on Steam, with the game's performance and removed content being considered primary criticisms from players.[52][53]

Accolades

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2023 Golden Joystick Awards Still Playing Award Nominated [54]
The Game Awards 2023 Best Esports Game Nominated [55]

References

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