Half-Life: Counter-Strike

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.