Counter Terrorists Win! Roger That, Good Work Team, This is MY house (Counter-Strike: Source (PC))

Member Name: dosftw

Product:	Counter-Strike: Source (PC)
Date:	20/10/09 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing replayability, never a dull moment and beautifully rendered graphics and audio

Disadvantages: Not to eveyones taste, some will get bored and go back to generic FPS'

Counter Strike Source is a fantastic game. If you have played on the original Counter Strike or you have played on Condition Zero then you will absolutely love this game.

With Valve's patented 'Source' Engine, the graphics and physics in this game have been taking steriods compared to the previous game, these are utterly breathetaking. The way that everything is rendered within the game is flawless. For example on the map dust, there is such a huge difference between being in the shade, and moving into sunlight, there is that dazed, slightly blury effect which quickly dissapears, as if you have really moved out into the sunlight. And it is all rendered seamlessly, even the way light hits the metal on the rifles is utterly superb.

If I have to pick a first person shooter out of this and Call Of Duty, this would win hands down. And not solely because of graphics, the gameplay and AI are amazing, particularly, I have noticed that if you constantly play on a particular difficulty, the AI seems to get harder the more you beat it. This seriously improves game play as you can never get complacent with this game.

CS 1.6 and CZ fans will definitely be impressed with a lot of the best maps already present within the game out the box and a lot of extra maps, this game simply never gets boring and can be played alone online/on a LAN match or online joining a server and meet an amazing community of friendly players. (Hey just because some guy 'naded you or ghosted you or ran at you with a shotgun and smeared your face all over the place, doesnt mean they arent nice people :) Far nicer than annoying whiney 11 year olds on Halo/Call of Duty on Xbox like or PSN respectively)

Another reason that this game is far better than the likes of Halo, or Call of Duty is the realism and the severity of you dying in a round is actually aknowledged. In most first person shooters, if you are killed then you simply 're-spawn' at a designated point on the map, however in CS/CZ/CS:S if you die in a round then you stay dead for that round. Now a lot of you might be thinking "well that is a bit pants, why would you want to stay dead?" Well it teaches you the importance of strategy. If you just run in all guns blazing, sure you might talk out one opponent, but you WILL die as the rest will get you. As this is a counter terrorist vs terrorist game, strategy and finesse are key, using your wits, only squeazing the trigger when utterly certain you need to. This might sound boring but believe me it gets the adrenaline going!! As oppose to the likes of Call of Duty or Halo, which is basically bang bang bang, kill, die, respawn, bang bang, throw grenade, repeat and and rinse, Counter Strike (as a whole franchise) is a far more realistic (in respect to ACTUAL infiltration tactics not guns blazing) and far more refined.

As a final note before the summary, I would also like to point out that the built in 'one-liners' for the AI are simply priceless and will have you laughing for hours if the scenario they say them in is just right.

I love Counter Strike, I have had it for years and it simply doesnt get boring, the maps and customisation options are endless and there are several modification which are highly amusing! Such as the paintball mod. I recommend this game to any and every First Person Shooter fan, even if you think it sounds boring, it is simply a stunning and magnificently designed game from beginning to end.

Summary: Stunning