| Counter-Strike 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | DLC & Pre-Order | Review |
| Release Date | |
|---|---|
|
September 27, 2023
More Details | |
| Genre | |
| Shooter, Strategy | |
| Platforms | Price (MSRP) |
|
Free-to-play |
| Developer | Publisher |
| Valve | Valve |
| Number of Players | Age Rating |
| 10 (5 vs 5) | ESRB M |
| Time to Finish | Cross Platform |
| 30-40 Minutes per Match | No |
| Official Website | CS2 Website |
CS2 Latest News
⚫︎ CS2 Crashes During Major Tournament, Organizers Blame NVIDIA Bug
⚫︎ CS2 Cases Nets $980 Million According to Tracking Site
⚫︎ Counter-Strike 2 Bans Thousands of Innocent Players By Accident With Latest Update
⚫︎ Counter-Strike 2 Developers Send a Clear Message to Cheaters: We're Watching
CS2 Overview
Counter-Strike 2(or shortened as CS2) is the latest iteration of the classic first-person shooter, and the 6th major title in the franchise overall. It was developed from the ground-up on Valve’s proprietary Source 2 engine as a port and upgrade for its predecessor, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive(CSGO). Upon full release on September 27, 2023, CS2 completely replaced CSGO, rendering the latter unavailable on any official platforms.
CS2 continues the eternal conflict between Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists, as both respectively vie to accomplish their goals of either successfully bombing their targets, or neutralizing the bomb or terrorist threat. Both teams are deployed in various locations all over the world across different maps, all with distinct layouts. Teams must study these maps, train their aim, and utilize their utility to overcome the other team in order to secure the win.
| Steam |
|||||
| Price | Free-to-play | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
CS2 Gameplay
CS2 is the progenitor of the classic competitive 5v5 shooting game, where its main Defusal mode is its most popular. For each round, the team of Terrorists(Ts) has a ‘Bomb’ which they must plant on specified ‘Sites’ on a map. If they plant the bomb and it explodes, they win the round. The Counter-Terrorists(CTs) must prevent the bomb from being planted, or be able to defuse it in time after activation as it counts down to the explosion. If the bomb has not been planted, either team wins if they successfully eliminate the other team.
Surviving players carry over any of the equipment they have onto the next round whether they won or lost. Deceased players must once again purchase guns, utility grenades, and armor from a pool of money they are allotted at the end of the previous round, depending on how they performed as individuals and as a team The team must carefully manage their ‘Team Economy’ throughout the game in order to be able to afford or maintain guns to effectively put up a fight against the enemy team.
CS2 Reviews
Still A Game in Progress
CS2 was released under mild reviews when it launched, due to the fact that it had replaced its predecessor in CSGO, preventing access to the latter completely. Many expected everything from CSGO to merely be ported over to the Source 2 engine without any hiccups– but the majority were disappointed from the apparent lack of CSGO features and content that were present at launch. RockPaperShotgun cites in their review how, even though the upgrade to the new engine is a welcome one with many positive strides in some aspects, the overall content felt emptier as if the game was cut in half from CSGO to CS2. TechRadar criticizes the fact that, even with the arrival of the new title on the new engine, Valve are still unsuccessful in providing a good new-player experience, choosing to throw them into the wolves of online multiplayer. PCGamer points out how even though ‘everything’ about the game has changes, nothing really substantial is strikingly different gameplay wise, and that even at day one, they feel like the game has already aged. PC Games N similarly points out all the missing content, but is hopeful that Valve will eventually add all missing features alongside new ones. However, they acknowledge that, knowing Valve, no one knows how long that will take.
The audience reaction, however, is strongly skewed towards the negative. On Metacritic, it currently holds a ‘Favorable’ 82/100 among critics, but has a ‘Generally Unfavorable’ 4.9/10 from users, where many cite the subtick feature of the servers, the unoptimized state of some maps, and the ever rampant hackers, cheaters, and bot problems that plague said servers. Its Steam reviews, however, could be misleading with its ‘Very Positive’ rating for All Reviews, as it still retains reviews left for before it released as CS2, when it was still CSGO. Though, its Recent Reviews still hold the same Very Positive rating, but many still cite the aforementioned problems above from Metacritic users.
CS2 Announcement Trailer
Announcement Trailer
CS2 doesn’t have one official reveal trailer, as Valve uploaded three trailers in rapid succession, detailing the game’s new features. The first trailer that was released was ‘Responsive Smokes,’ a video featuring CS2’s new smokes that are volumetric instead of a static area from its predecessor. The new smokes allows players to shoot and create holes, momentarily revealing a portion of sight for yourself, allies, or enemies to see through.
CS2 Trivia
⚫︎ Contrary to its title, CS2 is not the second game of the series, but instead signifies the game being on the Source 2 Engine.
⚫︎ CS2 is the 6th entry to Valve’s list of major and popular games with the ‘2’ title, after Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, and DOTA 2.
⚫︎ The game was first internally playtested by members of the professional esports scene, particularly the players of Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund; Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, and Erik "Fl0m" Flom, alongside the casters of Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Alex "Machine" Richardson, Jason "moses" O’Toole, Harry "JustHarry" Russel, and Hugo Byron.
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