Counter-Strike 2 Counter-Strike. The formula hasn’t really changed since the 1999 original – terrorists and counter-terrorists sparring to eliminate the other side or plant/defuse a bomb at one of two designated locations – but Valve’s 2023 release runs better on modern hardware than 2012’s Global Offensive and offers sparingly more gameplay possibilities too. Fundamentally though, the core combination of tactical, round-based 5v5 competition and satisfyingly difficult shooting mechanics remain as enrapturing and enraging as ever.
Competitive play is at the heart of the game, even more so than in CS:GO, with the Premier ranked mode taking centre stage. Here, solo and grouped players are placed into teams of five, go through a map veto process to select the stage and starting sides, then compete in a best-of-24-rounds match with their individual ELO rating on the line. These matches are a good deal shorter than CS:GO’s best-of-30 contests, increasing the importance of the first rounds on each side and making it a little harder to stage a late comeback.
Counter-Strike 2 reviewDeveloper: ValvePublisher: ValvePlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC(Steam).
On the plus side, one-sided stomps are mercifully shortened, while still allowing for overtime in close matches and the exquisite economic interplay that differentiates the game from other shooters. Do you spend all of your hard-earned cash to try and steal a round against better-equipped opponents now, or save your money and accept you’ll lose the next round in order to be on even footing in the round after that?
While competitive matches were also key to predecessor Global Offensive’s appeal – alongside its lucrative market of weapon skins – it also delivered a huge variety of alternative game modes made by enterprising modders, each with their own maps, objectives and flavours. Load up the server browser and download a few extra files when joining, and you could experience all sorts of weird and wonderful mutations that transformed the game well beyond its original design parameters: chill surf servers that challenged you to slip and slide from surface to surface, accelerating you to sufficient speeds to clear huge chasms; giggly-scary cooperative zombie survival matches; outlandishly hard movement skill challenges; useful retake simulations and aim training stages; simple yet iconic deathmatches set amongst ice walls that stick in the memory.