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First Person Shooters (Games)

Counter-Strike Source Rated, Explained, Compared 50

Posted by simoniker from the strike-up-the-band dept.
Thanks to Gotfrag for its extremely comprehensive review of Valve's Counter-Strike: Source PC team-based FPS, following its recent debut for select cybercafes, and, as of Wednesday, "extended to owners of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero; and ATI Fulfillment Coupon holders." GotFrag points to physics improvements as a particular highlight ("If your teammates are dead, finding their [physics-affected limb] positions may help you understand how they died"), before concluding: "While many changes are worthless eye candy to those who play seriously, the improved graphics and game play presentation will assist Counter-Strike in becoming more spectator friendly." Eurogamer also has hands-on comments on the "subtle and generally benign" gameplay alterations.
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Counter-Strike Source Rated, Explained, Compared More

Counter-Strike Source Rated, Explained, Compared

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  • TV Tie in (Score:5, Funny)

    by cluke ( 30394 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @07:12AM (#9989627)
    "If your teammates are dead, finding their [physics-affected limb] positions may help you understand how they died"

    I can see the TV show now - CSI : Counter Strike!

    "Yeah, I'm pretty sure this guy was shot"
    • haha..

      seriously though, some of these improvements were already in mods in other games(like in sas for ut2004).

      anyhow.. how about they get the damn HL2 out? cs:source has "team fortress classic" written all over it with sprayed on words.

    • They mean for example that if you see your teammate splattered upon the LEFT wall, pretty far from where u assume he went, you could assume there's a sniper on the RIGHT side...

      Or if you see your dead teammate somewhere high, and in pieces, you can understand a grenade was involved.

    • Re:TV Tie in (Score:5, Funny)

      by KDR_11k ( 778916 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @09:43AM (#9991102)
      "This one died from an awp."
      "How can you be sure?"
      "He wrote 'OMFG U camping faggot!' with his own blood."
      "Ah."
    • If they make it really accurate, I suppose you might be able to tell where he got sniped from. I doubt it, and by the time you've figured it out the sniper has moved or you're dead, but it might be useful.

  • Quake (Score:3, Funny)

    by dmayle ( 200765 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @07:13AM (#9989637) Homepage Journal

    finding their [physics-affected limb] positions may help you understand how they died

    Give me Quake physics anyday. Hmmm, yep, I think this teammate got fragged... ;)

  • Mirror (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Counter-Strike Source Review

    By: Jason Coene, last updated August 15 2004 at 9:28 PM EDT

    The rumors are spreading, and people are getting anxious to get their hands on Counter-Strike: Source. Many people have ventured to their local LAN centers, which often aren't all that local; just to get first impressions for the new game. What's new? What's changed? Is it still playable? Could it actually be an improvement over 1.6? We'll tell you...

    First Impressions

    The Source Engine

    Years in the making, and the offi
  • This all looks really good. I've avoided CS in the past because of its use of the 1999 HalfLife engine (nothing wrong with it, just it's not up to, say, RTCW quality) but this looks and sounds excellent.

    So, to get this, I need to buy Counterstrike: Condition Zero.. and then after that I'll be able to get it for free, right? Or what? I don't see any mention of this in the various stores, so I'm assuming Source isn't going to be a standalone product..?

    • Re:So to get it... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This is just a beta for CS: Source. They're only letting in people who bought Condition Zero before the deadline (a few days ago) or bought an ATI card that came with the "free Half-Life 2" coupon. As for the final (non-beta) CS: Source, to my knowledge it's not clear yet if it'll be given free to all original CS owners, or if it will be included with HL2. I'm hoping they won't try to charge extra for it for people who already have HL1 or 2.

      "Source", btw, is the game engine. It's not a standalone program y

      • Re:So to get it... (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        CS:s is the multiplayer part of HL2. There is no free upgrade from any previous versions of CS because this is a NEW game (not a mod). In order to own and play CS:s you must own a copy of HL2 (and have steam... yuck)

    • Re:So to get it... (Score:2, Informative)

      by Xylaan ( 795464 ) *
      Source is the 3D engine used for half-life 2. Currently, Condition Zero players are being allowed to download the beta version.

    • Re:So to get it... (Score:4, Informative)

      by sevensharpnine ( 231974 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @09:24AM (#9990877)
      Do not buy Condition Zero. The game is a terrible flop. This entire CS:Source release is just an attempt by Valve to cash in on the pre-game hype surrounding the HL2 launch (hype created, in part, by willful lies [HL2 was going to be released last year] on Valve's part). Last week, after the CS:S beta was announced for Condition Zero owners, Valve's own Steam product starting forcing users to view ads featuring Condition Zero. In a nutshell, the CS:S release is just a pathetic attempt to try and sell Condition Zero (and maybe make up for the insane prices levied to cyber cafes). The CS release is just another shameless money grab by the gaming world's newest corporate monster.
      • First of all, since when did it become evil for a company to try to make money. The bottom line is, if people are willing to buy something, for what ever reason, as long as the product isn't being misrepresented, then more power to the company for having found a way to add value to a 'flopped' product. My only concern would be that people would buy CS:CZ expecting to be able to play CS:S indefinately, and that may not be the case.

        • Re:So to get it... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by Khasmo ( 659750 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @12:05PM (#9992711)
          Also, I think that this is a great way to test the Source engine. The get to distribute an early version of the game to dedicated fans and get valuable feedback to make the release of HL2 go well. In my book that's a win-win.

          Now if you didn't purchase CS:CZ, you don't HAVE to participate in the beta. You'll just have to wait for the release of HL2 like everyone else.

          Apologies for the double post. Damn submit button is right next to the preview button.
        • To be clear, I never said making money is evil. The fact that makes me angry is that Valve is manipulating the hoard of idiot fanboys who will do anything to get a glimpse of the HL2 engine. If this were a discrete event, I would laugh it off. But given the pre-launch success of HL2, I suspect other companies will try the same stupid shit. The trend here is that a game's success is getting to be far too dependant on the game's pre-sale hype. How much is Valve spending on these stupid marketing campaign
          • We would all have better games if we acted like intelligent consumers.

            You have seriously failed to prove this statement.

            Instead, we'll have better marketing campaigns.

            In the end, marketing can only sell stuff until the first round of consumers get their hands on it. Then it's word of mouth that will make a game truly successful or a flash in the pan.

            Watching the drooling fucktard gamespy crowd get lead around by their noses before the game is actually released is depressing.

            So don't watch.
    • "..the [is] game set to be bundled with Half-Life 2 and made available as a standalone purchase (and followed by Source versions of TFC, Day of Defeat and others).."
    • so. do i need a doom3 computer rig to get this to run?

    • Also, as of the 18th August, if you have one of the ATI - HL2 deals (9800XT 9600XT with HL2 coupon) you can pull the game from Steam. [steampowered.com]

      Check out the offer [atihl2offer.com] for details of how to get it.

      I'm not a CS player myself, but I pulled it down to have a look at the new engine. Very nice, looking forward to HL2.

  • I saw it (Score:5, Informative)

    by Moo Moo Cow of Death ( 778623 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @07:36AM (#9989775) Journal
    I saw it played last night, it had MUCH improved physics and gameplay. Previously I, along with many of my friends had put it out of mind because it was considered a "n00b" game to anyone with real gaming talent. Now it's got real recoil, a semi-interactive environment and lots of fancy effects. Even the flashbang got upgraded to a "real" flashbang, not only blinding you but also disorienting your sounds where all you hear is a ringing noise (mostly true, it disorients your senses). You can even throw crap on top of the bomb to help prevent counter terrorists from defusing it. Smoke grenades actually make people's models harder to see, not just deploy smoke in the area (think a small amount of invisibility almost), and entering the smoke not only blocks your visions slightly, the gamma lowers on your screen so it looks darker, and GRADUALLY to make it more realistic. Anyhow there was quite a bit added, it makes me drool in anticipation for HL2 :)
    • wasn't CS the first game that sported 'realistic' weapon models at all and introduced recoil and bullet spray (were bullets don't exactly hit what you aimed for, increasing with distance)? I am just asking, because those things I remember distinctivly being in CS.
    • Did you play the game modded or unmodded? I'm sure the moment the game gets released publicly (not limited to LAN center), chances are people will find a way to basicly nullify all the changes. After all, in CS we have people who can snipe people while in mid-air, a good pistol shooter can take down someone with an AK, the graphics for the flashbang are often turned down or outright disabled client-side making them ineffective, smoke grenades are a joke even against newbies due to narrow hallways and chokep

  • How can that help? (Score:5, Funny)

    by tod_miller ( 792541 ) on Tuesday August 17, 2004 @08:16AM (#9990092) Journal
    "finding their [physics-affected limb] positions may help you understand how they died"

    So if I find a guy with no arms, legs or head, then I am gonna have a damned hard time trying to figure out how he was killed.. what is that noise behind me?

    • Re:How can that help? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by katanan ( 764663 )
      well i think the main upside to it would be the position of the body in relation to the map, say if you see a dead teammate lying right inside the door you can be pretty sure someone is watching that door and by the way the body could be contorted by the bullet/death you can determine which way the enemy is camped. and although i have not played i'm pretty sure the limbs don't rip off, when was the last time you saw an arm get ripped off from getting shot with an mp5?

      this has helped me in games like Call
      • If it was realistic, then limbs can pretty much be severed even from an SMG, and certainly from an assault or a sniper rifle. Hell, a real sniper bullet can kill things that are near the hit area at around a meter radius, even if the target itself isn't hit.
        • Thanks for mentioning this. It drives me nuts how I can near-miss someone with the AWP and it doesn't take the guy's face off anyway. I mean, part of the purpose of a sabot dart tank round is to make use of the vacuum effect! When we learned about shooting the .50 cal machine gun, we were instructed on how the Geneva Convention mandates that it is not an anti-personnel weapon; yet if you fire a hot-dog sized round through the driver's canopy of, for instance, a personnel carrier, the sheer force of the bul
      • I know there is no dismemberment in HL/CS. I like Soldier of Fortune for that. And Hitman CN47 has the *best* rag doll physics engine for body hits. Hit them int he head, it acts like a skull being hit, the arm acts like an arm. A clean shot through the neck gives a nice vertical decent.

        The best Jerry.

        Maybe liking dismemberment is a little sick... but it is funny as heck in GTA:VC et al! :-)
    • > So if I find a guy with no arms, legs or head,

      You sure that's a 'guy'? Could be anything really.
  • "While many changes are worthless eye candy to those who play seriously, the improved graphics and game play presentation will assist Counter-Strike in becoming more spectator friendly."

    Am i the only one who finds these comments bothering? Sheeze, "play seriously"? "spectactor friendly"? It's not soccer, get over it. The average person doesn't care. You're not an athlete just because you can reach out for your Cheetos faster than anyone else inbetween frags. No, you won't make a career out of it.

    It
    • Well, being a relatively poor player, I spent at least half my time dead, watching the game, and the improved physics will definitely make that more entertaining...

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