Half-Life: Counter-Strike

The Good
2nd Update. Note: This review is limited only to the multi-player experience.

The best Artificial Intelligence (AI) in gaming is called Human Intelligence. It is because the human mind continues to adapt against various real-life mathematical algorithms, although ironically in real-life they have usually have intelligence of an average mosquito, it's amazing what a human opponent can do when they are permanently settled in a moss-covered chair playing Counter-Strike all day long (all night and all week long for that matter)...like me a loooong time ago. :) Not having a life does have its moments. :p

The Bad
This will be one of the most serious reviews I'm about to attempt (yeah, right). This paper is about the The Sociological and Psychological Impact of the Multi-Player Counter-Strike Pop Culture Experience to Online Un-Suspecting Youth.

It all seemed so innocent the first time you entered the battleground. The purpose was short and simple: shoot the other team with everything you've got.
Well, until first blood apparently is YOU!

When that happens, you know you're going to say something bad. In fact, you want to say something ugly so bad, your head feels like its going to explode.

You remember you're younger years (which was several minutes ago), when you were naive and eager to serve your fellow team-mates: running as fast as you can to the front lines while trying to draw the enemies bullets from your comrades-at-arms... only to find out what damage a sniper rifle can do. You never knew where the bullet came from.

Next thing you know, you and the next pile of multi-player victims are swearing your young innocence all over the multiplayer screen, trying to curse all the players that are still playing about "not being fair" bla...bla...bla...hoping a response. Not realizing knowing that dead players can't speak to the living.

Technical Note: Chatting on the screen after being killed may only be viewed by other players not playing. The chat cannot be viewed by players still in the game (ie. alive).

After a several games and dozens of sniper bullets later, everyone now has a Sniper Rifle. No one no longer wants "to be a hero" in front lines with a $5000 Machine Gun or a simple pistol. Nooooo, everyone must carry a Sniper Rifle, since no one wants to die abruptly without warning.

Suddenly every one becomes...gasp a COWARD! Everyone's hiding in corners at unbelievable areas that even your momma can't find you. Hiding gleefully with that Sniper, scoping anything that remotely looks like movement. Sweat coming down your shin, ignoring other gun battles and the cries of your dying comrades in the alley beside you. It's every man or boy to himself now.

And there goes 20 years of chivalry, ethics, and comradeship of gaming down the drain. There goes the virtues of Ultima, the nobility of King's Quest, the bravery of Monkey Island. No one wants to be a pirate anymore. Everyone just wants to be "not dead".

This game truly inspires the worst of what an emo teenager can do in the terms of selfishness, immorality, egoistic and non-cooperation. They created monsters of people who were only idiots. :p

Some people actually "grew up" by simply walking away or putting down their sniper rifle, and just using the standard sub-machine guns. If that happens, the game usually became fun again.

Honor was restored since you now praise the person that killed you in melee combat or that shot your head (headshot) from a distance with an assault rifle, since it was fair and just combat. Although you still slander the bloke that knifed you when you weren't looking, but at least it wasn't a sniper bullet...

You may not be the top player in the "frag list" (number of players you killed), but at least now you had fun. This is essentially what games are supposed to be about.

The Bottom Line
I seriously think you have to be AT LEAST 25 if you want to play the multi-player game...

The Good
I liked the team idea, the realism, the weapons, the maps, the modes of play, the sounds, and the graphics.

The Bad
I didn't like the fact that you could have one team change per round, that if you died, you became a ghost for the rest of the round, and the fact that when you select a team, you can't back out. Also, there is lots of clipping. Finally, when you join a game, it doesn't say the wins/losses.

The Bottom Line
A trulty amazing online team-based game. THIS GAME KICKS SOME SERIOUS ASS!!!!

The Good
Since I grew up with the likes of Doom and Quake, it took me a while to get used to the whole realism style of CS. But once I finally picked up on the tricks of the trade, I haven't stopped playing.

The graphics are important to the survival aspect of CS. The two different teams, Terrorists and Counter Terrorists, both have different skins, making it much easier to recognise a teammate. And if you have a good eye, you can tell which gun the player is holding, so you know if you should take him on or back out of the fire fight.

The maps are of great variety, which adds to the lastability factor greatly. And of course, there are plenty more to download over the internet, or you can make some yourself.

The gameplay itself may seem difficult at first (it did to me), but once you get going, you'll find yourself flying through to camping spots before the enemy get near the area in no time at all. The menu system used in CS is very simple and easy to use, even for beginners. And because your playing with teammates, you can watch what they do and learn from your mistakes.

I enjoyed the fact that, no matter how many times you play a particular map, it will never be the same game. People learn from their mistakes, take different paths to trick you or fall back and ambush at a particular point. It's never the same.

Sound is also an important inclusion, in any game really. In CS, you can hear players footsteps when near you, creating another task of whether you should wait or run. And the sounds of gun fire, shouting and laughter (trust me, it always happens) adds to the games fun factor.

Finally, the range of weapons are fantastic. But no matter how tough the bigger weapons are, it all comes down to timing, control and aiming. Shoot at the waist and the opposition will last that little bit longer. Shoot towards the head and he should be dead in no time, no matter what the weapon. Of course, it's more fun sneaking up behind with a knife.

The Bad
Depending on who you play with, some times people don't play as a team. Bad move. This a team game, nothing else. If you want to win, you have to stick together, or play tactics. Really skilled players can go it alone, of course, but if you are just starting out it's better to stick with a group.

The only major problem here is lag. If you playing over the net, unless you have a high speed connection, don't expect a smooth game. LAN is the better choice, although that can also have problems if there's to many on at the one time.

The latest patch includes voice support, so you can talk over microphone to other players. This is great for serious players, but you'll always get someone who just chats like he is one ICQ, and that gets very annoying when you trying to concentrate on the game.

Some may also hate the fact that once dead, they must wait for the next round and they may run out of cash for bigger weapons. These are problems, but I'm used to all of that.

The Bottom Line
If you prefer blasting action non-stop, stick with Quake. But everyone should at least try Counter-Strike once. The combo of team play and tactics is perfect. And here you get extra mods such as Wanted (a fav of mine). Of course, you can download CS for free, but as a total package with the added extras included, and the fact that you don't need Half Life to play this, the boxed CS is well worth your money. Get this now.