Counter-Strike: Source (PC)

After writing a mediocre review of Half-life 2 I thought I would write about the real reason I bought it, that is the incredibly addictive Counter Strike: Source

INTRODUCTION
*******************

Like many things Counter Strike seemed to hit schools and rush through them like wildfire until every boy and a fair number of girls were hooked to it, to the extent the outside world was not seen for weeks (or weekends) ...
...Counter Strike bug and when I got to college most of the excitement had calmed down until the impending release of Half-life 2 (with Counter Strike: Source included). The excitement was intensified by cancelled launch date after cancelled launch date, but eventually on the 16th November 2004 Half-life 2 was released and people flocked to the stores (or the internet), not only to get their hands on that but also the online masterpiece, Counter Strike: ... more

After writing a mediocre review of Half-life 2 I thought I would write about the real reason I bought it, that is the incredibly addictive Counter Strike: Source

INTRODUCTION
*******************

Like many things Counter Strike seemed to hit schools and rush through them like wildfire until every boy and a fair number of girls were hooked to it, to the extent the outside world was not seen for weeks (or weekends) on end. My school was never hit by the Counter Strike bug and when I got to college most of the excitement had calmed down until the impending release of Half-life 2 (with Counter Strike: Source included). The excitement was intensified by cancelled launch date after cancelled launch date, but eventually on the 16th November 2004 Half-life 2 was released and people flocked to the stores (or the internet), not only to get their hands on that but also the online masterpiece, Counter Strike: Source.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT
*************************

For anyone out there who has not yet come across this game, or the original, the storyline is basic, with online players choosing to represent the Terrorists or the Counter Terrorists and battling it out for supremacy. The game is played on thousands of servers from people all over the world on a map/maps chosen by the particular server. You can choose to create your own server, not advisable, or join one of the many public servers available to any user. The map you will be sent to will be the one used by the server at the time and this may change as you play.

The maps are as diverse as the people that play and range from common everyday maps that almost all servers use (e.g. dust) to custom made maps that can only be found on a handful of servers (e.g. skydive). The common maps come in two forms, hostage maps and bombing maps. In a hostage map (e.g. Italy) the Counter Terrorists have two ways to win and the Terrorists have one. The Counter Terrorists can win by rescuing all the hostages and bringing them back to a safe area or by eliminating all of the Terrorists, the Terrorists must eliminate all the Counter Terrorists to win. On a bombing map (e.g. Aztec) the initiative is with the terrorist and they can win by causing a bomb to explode in one of two designated bomb sites or by eliminating all the Counter Terrorists and the Counter Terrorists can win by eliminating the Terrorist force or disarming the bomb before it detonates. In custom map it tends to be last team standing that takes the victory. A running score is kept at the top of the page and some servers have a set score that when one side reaches a target the map is changed, others run on a set time. As you enter the map you will be given a brief as to what the objective are but you quickly get to know what you've got to do on which map.

INSTALLATION
*****************

The installation, as with all new games, is simple enough but it is anything but quick. Lots of the games files are distributed through Steam and most of the files are downloaded from there; in fact it is possible to get the game on download. This is the first sign that you need broadband. Without broadband it will take hours to install, but to be honest without broadband the game play will be slow and many will find it unplayable at a high level with such slow reactions. Once you downloaded you have to register with Steam and you are ready to go, after this you are often given Steam updates and told about everything that is going on in the world of Counter Strike: Source.

GAMEPLAY
************

Now you know what it is and what you’re supposed to be doing its time to get started. After loading Counter Strike: Source, you have the chance to choose your server, its best if you find a server with enough people on to play with and a map you like. After selecting your team (or given a team if the teams are one sided) and waiting for the current round to finish you are thrust straight into first person mode and involved in the raging battle of good versus evil.

Counter Strike runs a make money system where by if you team wins you get more money and the more kills you get the more money you get. This money is used in game to buy weapons, armor and/or equipment. For the first round you will not be able to afford more than a lowly pistol but as you start to get the kills the money and weapons will come flooding in. The stuff available for sale is slightly different for Terrorists and Counter Terrorists but is similar and consists of 5 Pistols, 2 Shotguns, 4 SMGs, 6 Rifles, 1 Machine Gun, Ammunition and equipment such as grenades, armor or night vision (and defusal kits for CTs in a bomb map). The weapons cost different amounts depending on the weapon and can hold a certain amount of ammunition. Each weapon also has different skill levels and using certain weapons, such as an auto sniper rifle, will lose you friends very quickly. Everyone has different favourite weapons and no one is the best weapon, this is what makes the game more interesting and with a built in auto buy function you can use the same weapon each time and get out of the base quicker than the rest.

You score points by killing members of the opposite team, seems obvious I know but had to be said. The easiest way to kill an opponent is a head shot which will kill them in one shot, but in the fast moving environment this is not always possible and you may find yourself going shot for shot to see who loses there 100 health points first. With every (or most) player being controlled by a human at the other end it gives a real edge to the game and human intelligence is (usually) better than artificial intelligence. By holding the tab button you get a score board where you can see your score in comparison to the other players. The scoreboard is ordered by kills but the real test of your ability is your kills to deaths ratio. One thing you should look out for is whether friendly fire is on, if on you are able to kill or injure team mates and this will lose you friends so fast. They may be given an option to slay or forgive you in the next round so get groveling fast. It also takes one off your total number of kills, as does a suicide.

In game chat allows you to make friends and enemies as you go and you may well find yourself meeting the same people day after day. If you get very good a server may invite you to join a clan, these people have a clan name next to their screen name and represent a server when they fight. As well as making friends it is a sure sign to spot where the pros are. The game play is endless because the real opponents make each round so very different. With this factor and the endless amounts of regular and unconventional maps you can play this for hours upon end. Just don’t plan to go on for half an hour or you may not surface for hours.

Once you are killed you are normally (depending on the server) shifted to another player and can click from player to player to follow them for the rest of the round, this is good as you will find you are spending a lot of time dead. You are then reincarnated for the next round and are ready to kill, or be killed, all over again.

GRAPHICS
*************

The graphics are good but nothing spectacular. They look realistic and are quite demanding but it’s not the graphics you are buying the game for. The uniforms for the Counter Terrorist and the Terrorists are different but unlike the Original CS there is only one uniform for the Terrorists and on for the Counter Terrorists. This makes it easier to know who to kill and who not to. Initially you will be impressed by the graphics but after one round you will not realise they are there, the graphics card deals with the graphics and leaves you to deal with the shooting.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
******************************

Here are the minimum requirements with my suggested requirements in brackets.

OS: Windows XP/2000/Me/98 (I presume this is right, I run it on XP)
Processor: 1.2 GHz Processor (this really is a minimum, I am running a 2.16GHz Athlon and sometimes that struggles)
Memory: 256 RAM (rubbish, I have 512 and after leaving the game it always tells me my virtual memory is too low, but still runs)
Graphic Card: Direct 7 level graphics card ( the better the graphics card the smoother it will be however I am running a budget £30 Radeon 9550 and that runs it as long as the resolution is not too high)
Hard Drive 4.5GB
Other: Internet Connection (broadband, in my opinion)
Other: DVD-Rom (important note, the disk is a DVD-Rom not a CD-Rom)

PRICE WATCH
*****************

This is the online price for half-life two bronze package with includes half-life 2, half-life deathmatch and counter strike: source

Amazon.com = £29.99 + p&p
Play.com = £29.99 Inc p&p
Game = 29.99 + p&p
CD WOW = £24.99 Inc p&p

NEGATIVES
*************

The negatives to this game are few and far between but they had to be mentioned anyway. The main problem is not the game its some of the people on it, like anything online you get the odd person that wants to swear, be abusive and generally cause trouble, luckily most servers have admins and a decent server will get rid of these people. Another problem, again apparent amongst many PC games, is that the game allows you into its settings and therefore people use hacks and cheats to make their gaming easier and give them an unfair advantage. To be honest its ruining their gaming more than yours but it can be annoying when you get killed by the same person, in one shot everytime, and you know he/she is cheating.

Another negative is that it is quite demanding on your system. If you are using an older PC you may find it jumps and this will make playing almost impossible :( I had this problem until I upgraded my graphics card. And the final negative is it is so addictive. Not neccesarily a bad thing from the games point of view but the amount of times i've been up till 2 or 3 when i have to get up at 7 for college is not worth thinking about.

CONCLUSION
****************

In my opinion this is by far the most addictive game, even more so than my beloved champ man, I have ever played and with real opponents seems to have and endless life span. Obviously it is a matter of taste, and quite expensive, but if this is your type of game then it will fill you with hours and hours of entertainment and is definitely worth its price tag, and remember for this you get another online game and the famous half-life 2 as well. If you do buy it beware, you may never know what it is like to have a social life again. With this and Ciao I've forget where the door to my room is and how to use it.
 

...less