Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Someone set us up the bomb.

Terrorists vs. Counter-Terrorists in fast paced, one-life-to-live rounds.  This is multiplayer at its simplest and, arguably, at its best.  It's worked for 15 years now and it's still going strong.

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Recommended Age Minimum Age Available On... 12 10 PC Overall Fun Length Frustration   Violence Sexuality Substances Gambling 8 5 5   7 0 0 0 Mods Religion Anti-Law Community Sports Magic Miscellaneous 1 1 2 5 0 0 0

1.     Gameplay

• Overall Fun - 8

Counter-Strike is one of the most famous multiplayer game series ever created.  It basically conceived the idea of the classic team-based multiplayer match.  If you have played Call of Duty, Battlefield, Homefront, Battlefront, or any other multiplayer shooter, you have Counter-Strike to thank.

Yes, I beat up on some bots for this review. So what?

And the game hasn’t changed much in its 15 year history.  The basic style involves team-based combat with some emphasis on objectives to keep teams from hiding in a corner too much.  Players earn money during a match, which they can use at the start of each round to buy equipment.  If the player survives, the equipment carries over to the next round.  It’s a very simple system to learn, and its design emphasizes player skill over unlocks.

Playing online can be extremely frustrating.  Counter-Strike has had its run-ins with cheaters and hackers, but it’s sometimes extremely difficult to tell who is cheating and who has legitimate skill.  The expert players learn how to use the weapons in ways that, to a new player, seem superhuman.

CS:GO has some new weapons, new maps, and new features.

For me, Counter-Strike is a great game to play with a few friends at a LAN party.  Grab 10 friends, find a computer café, divide up, and conquer.  For the hardcore nerd who stays inside and plays video games all day, it’s the ultimate social experience.

Good thing you bought that defusal kit.

The reality is that you’re either going to love this game or find it overly simplified.  There’s really no middle ground.  Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has included achievements, unlockables, great modding tools, and a host of other features that can tailor an individual’s experience, but the heart of the game is exactly the same as when it was released 15 years ago.  If you’re interested in video game history, it’s a must play.  But if you’re happy with Call of Duty or Battlefield, you’ll probably end up enjoying those more than you’ll enjoy this.

• Length - 5

This game is multiplayer only with very short, fast scenarios.  Each player only has one life per round, so the rounds go quickly.  There are a good variety of maps and modes, but the real value in this game is in the replayability and in the user-generated content.  There’s a lot of different maps and modes that the player can quickly and easily download and play.  If you like this game, you’ll end up playing it for dozens if not hundreds of hours.  If you don’t like the game, it’ll get very old very quickly.

• Frustration Factor - 5

This game itself is extremely simple and easy to play.  The only frustrating part is playing online against the veterans.  There are a ton of players that are extremely quick and know the little quirks about the weapons very well.  Personally, I like the variety of players that comes with games like Battlefield or Call of Duty, but if you can get a group of friends to play together you can avoid the most frustrating part.

2.     Parental Notices

• Violence - 7

Violence in this game is constant but overall fairly mild when considering it features constant battles between terrorists and counter-terrorists.  Players will have access to a wide variety of firearms, but all of them will have similar effects.  Hits may result in blood, but this is only visible when the player is very close or when the player gets a headshot.

Headshot at close range against a wall is the most blood you can possibly see in this game.

Headshots will cause a visible spurt of blood that quickly dissipates.

This is a much more common view of what players see, and even this is more violent than most impacts.

If a player is close enough to a wall after being shot, there is a good chance that bloodsplatter will appear on the wall.  This goes away after the match resets (at most a few minutes later).

All this gets cleared once one team wins.

Even molotovs, which can light the environment on fire for a brief period of time, do not directly affect other units.  They can damage enemies, but there is no visual impact.

Ah, the glowing flames feel nice and warm as they melt my feet.

The player can use a taser to take down an enemy in a single hit.  A bright shock goes out to the target, who instantly falls dead.

CLEAR!

• Sexuality - 0

Sexuality is not a factor in this game.

• Substances - 0

Substances are not a factor in this game.

• Gambling - 0

Gambling is not a factor in this game.

3.     Other Factors

• Mods - 1

This game allows the community to create mods for the game.  However, the community does a good job of self-policing.  There are plenty of new levels and creative changes to the gameplay experience, but I could not find anything that significantly increased the mature content in this game.

• Religion - 1

There are a few maps that feature religious-based locations, such as a monastery, but religion is never discussed in detail and symbols from specific religions are not included.

• Anti-Law - 2

Counter-Strike has always featured two separate teams, terrorists and counter-terrorists.  While these groups have differences in appearance and access to some side-specific weapons, the inclusion of terrorists and counter-terrorists is purely to fit with the overall settings and theme of the game.  The game would work just as well if the sides were “red” and “blue”.

• Online Community - 5

I am fairly familiar with online multiplayer shooters, and Counter-Strike is no exception.  I have been playing CS since well before CS 1.6 (which was the most popular version of the original game).  The multiplayer community for this game are all seriously hardcore.  There are very few low-level gamers playing online.  If you’re picking up this game for the first time, I would highly recommend going up against the game’s bots.  If you can take on the highest level bots without much problem, you’re ready for online play.

Overall, the community is fairly civil, but it can get extremely frustrating to play against them.

• Extreme Sports - 0

Extreme sports are not a factor in this game.

• Magic - 0

Magic is not a factor in this game.

• Miscellaneous - 0

There are no additional factors in this game.