Half-Life: Counter-Strike

aka: Hλlf-Life: Counter-Strike
Moby ID: 2726

Description official descriptions

Half-Life: Counter-Strike is a stand-alone package containing a collection of multiplayer Half-Life mods. It includes the following:

Spellings

  • 半条命:反恐精英 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 戰慄時空之絕對武力 - Traditional Chinese spelling
  • 카운터 스트라이크 - Korean spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Windows version)

53 People (51 developers, 2 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 89% (based on 16 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 130 ratings with 6 reviews)

Re-defined Multi-player games, but also re-defined kids into bunch of @#!%$!@$'s

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.

<hr />

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...

Windows · by Indra was here (20760) · 2007

The start of a new style of first person shooters

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.

Windows · by Kartanym (12418) · 2006

A paradox in entertainment.

The Good
If you've never heard of Counter-Strike, well, I'd like to meet you, shake your hand, give you a hug and move to whatever cave you've been living in all your life. The fact is, Counter-Strike is the most played game on the Internet, it is probably the most well-known game, and it is, in a word, a phenomenon. At any given time there is around 20,000 servers up and running with a good twenty-or-so people in most of them. Everquest can't even compete with those numbers.

Counter-Strike is a perfect game, really. It is an arcade shooter with "one-hit kill" realism, which makes for fast games and can rely heavily on team strategies to accomplish. There is enough realism in this game in which your life does amount to something (this isn't Quake where you can take forty hits, possibly die, and just come back to get revenge) but arcade enough to keep everyone entertained. There aren't many maps that get played, just a select few really, but that's fine because these maps have everything you'd want in them. There are different game modes which keep things interesting. Basically, there is enough in this game to keep you entertained for thirty hours at a time.

But let's face it, folks. The real entertainment in this game doesn't come from the gameplay, nor does it come from the game modes, weapons, arcade gameplay or realism. It comes from the players themselves, and therein lies the paradox...

The Bad
...because it is the people that make up this game, and it is the people that also destroy it. This is not a game for the intelligent -- this isn't a game for the remotely conscious, the people who are only half in-touch with reality. This is a game for idiots and homophobic thirteen year old wiggers. Every laughable thing you've heard about the populace of Counter-Strike is indeed, true. Let me tell you a story.

I knew what Counter-Strike was. I remember playing it while it was in beta, but that was brief and was no good because I was on dial-up at the time. Any gaming forum I visited would always have some sort of Counter-Strike thread, whether it was to admire it or make fun of it. I've seen screenshots, I've heard stories, and all the while I could only think that this was exceptions. People aren't that stupid, people aren't that...that way. These were just exceptions. But somewhat recently I finally decided to give Counter-Strike a shot. After all, the most popular game on the planet must be entertaining, right? Well, the game is, but sadly, the people ruin it.

I don't think I could even give an example here. I admire Mobygames for their ease on censorship, but surely even they have their limits and were I to quote a single line from any Counter-Strike dialogue I don't think this review would get approved. To put it bluntly, this game hosts the most vulgar, most disgusting, most hope-depleting band of people that until recently, I thought were just a myth.

But can it still be fun? Oh, surely, it can. If you can turn off the chat, if can be fun. If you can turn off the voice chat so you don't have to listen to some prepubescent eleven year old kid call you "faggot" and "wallhacker" every time you get a kill, if can be fun. Or even better, if you play on a private server with people you know, it can be fun. Or, if you just want to laugh at horrible decay of our youth's intelligence, it can be fun.

Or if you're just an eleven year old racist homophobic wigger...it can be fun.

The Bottom Line
A phenomenon in multiplayer gaming, Counter-Strike is a paradox in entertainment. On one hand, you have a perfect combination of realism and arcade with strategies and team-tactics thrown in...and on the other hand, you have proof that a good percentage of the human race ought to be launched into the sun. There are ways to enjoy the game if you're not a complete moron, still.

And there is such satisfaction from knifing one of those jerks from behind.

Windows · by kbmb (415) · 2004

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Anyone played the OG downloadable version (pre-Steam)? Plok (200385) May 27, 2021

Trivia

Brazil version

Counter-Strike was banned from sale in Brazil due to a judge's ruling in October, 2007. This was apparently triggered by the popularity of a user-made map named cs_Rio in which the court claims the objective is for drug dealers to kill police in Rio and that they can also take UN members as hostage. What is not pointed out is that players can play on either side of the two unnamed groups, and that a game company has no control over user-made maps.

German version

The US version of Half-Life is banned in Germany but Counter-Strike is not - which is surprising, because the Counter-Strike version distributed in Germany is basically a cut-down version of Half-Life US with the Counter-Strike mod.

On 16th May 2002, after a long debate, the German authorities came to the conclusion that Counter-Strike would not be banned in Germany. The reasons were stated in the BPjM's opinion, released shortly after the verdict. Key points include "strong strategical elements", "possibility of team communication" and "action scenarios that do largely without sensationalism"

There are two German censored versions: original retail and the Steam version. In the original releases all blood effects were removed, there is only one kind of hostage and killed persons don't die but sit on the ground and shake their head. In the Steam version only the blood was removed.

Retail version

The version of Counter-Strike included in this package is identical to version 1.0 that can be freely-downloaded; the difference is that it's sold commercially and the mod authors receive a portion of the profits. This mod is officially sanctioned and distributed by Sierra.

References to the game

  • Half-Life: Counter-Strike was parodied in two episodes of "Die Redaktion" (The Editorial Team), a monthly comedy video produced by the German gaming magazine GameStar. They were published on the DVD of issue 04/2005 and 01/2006 respectively.

  • The game is referenced in the 2010 Susanne Bier film Hævnen (English title: In a Better World). The boy Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) can be seen playing the game on his laptop.

Robert Steinhäuser controversy

After the mass murder in a school in Erfurt, Germany, where thirteen teachers, two students and a policeman were killed by Robert Steinhäuser, an ex-student of that school. In Germany, the waves went high, the politicians wanted to ban each and every violent game and movie, the sooner the better. Many people think that he was an Counter-Strike addict but the only source that he's playing this game was a policeman, telling this right after the incident. At a later press conference policemen said that Steinhäuser didn't even have an internet-connection! And playing Counter-Strike without internet is quite a boring thing. You couldn't even download bots...

Secrets

  • In the map de_dust, there is a smarties pack hidden inside a wall (you can only see it in free-look mode)!
  • In as_highrise, in the corridor behind the boards, there is a sign behind a door (it's hidden, you can only see it in observer mode!).
  • In cs_office, there is a blow-uppable wall near two boxes. Blow it up and you will find a surprise!

Trademark names and logos

Since version 1.0 (retail), the game replaced many trademark names and logos. Some were crudely replaced (The Beoks neon logo in cs_militia reverts to Becks in software mod at distances, for example).

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2001 (Issue #201) – Add-On of the Year
    • November 2002 (Issue #220) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
  • Game Informer Magazine
    • August 2001 (Issue #100) - #49 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
  • GameSpy
    • 2000 – Special Award for Multiplayer Gaming
    • 2001 – #29 Top Game of All Time
    • 2011 – #6 Top PC Game of the 2000s
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 02/2002 - Special Award as "Best Multiplayer Game in 2001"
    • Issue 01/2007 - One of the "Ten Most Influential PC Games". (It is one of the most successful game mods and shows how user participation can keep a title alive for a long time. Because of Half-Life: Counter-Strike, many of today's suitable games can be modded and the usability of most editors improved greatly. This game is also an important step for the electronic sports scene.)

Information also contributed by -Chris, Archagon, leileilol, PCGamer77 phlux, Scaryfun, Sciere and tarion.

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Related Sites +

  • [email protected]
    A very comprehensive CS website. Includes CS screenshots, links, and movies.
  • Official Website
    The official Counter-Strike site. You can download the full version here (Half-Life required)!

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 2726
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Kasey Chang.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Archagon, Sciere, CaesarZX, Paulus18950, lee jun ho, Patrick Bregger, Plok.

Game added December 3, 2000. Last modified March 4, 2024.