Strike while the modem is hot! (Half-Life - Counterstrike (PC))

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Half-Life - Counterstrike (PC)
Date:	22/11/00 (270 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good fun, varied maps, "free"

Disadvantages: Bit laggy, not everyone is helpful

I first played Counter-strike a few years ago, in one of its’ very early guises – at the time, it could only have been around for a few months, and so is barely recognisable from the version which has just gone to a 1.0 final release. I liked it, but with the amount of team killers on the playable servers I could find at that time, I decided to play the less realistic, but easier, and more fun TFC.

For those of you who are unaware of the Counter-strike phenomenon, it’s an online MOD (modification) using the Half-Life engine. It involves two teams of players – terrorists and counter-terrorists battling it out over a series of maps and game types. The games fall into three different types – hostage rescue, bombing and protect the VIP. Hostage rescue involves the counter-terrorists (CT’s) attempting to rescue as many scientists as they can from a terrorist stronghold. Bombing involves the CT’s trying to stop the terrorists from planting a bomb in the middle of CT territory and protect the VIP means that the CT’s have to accompany the VIP until he or she reaches the Free Zone.

In each case, performing one of these tasks successfully, or killing enemies, results in you getting some cash, which can be spent, on weapons, equipment or ammo. There’s a large range of weaponry to choose from like rifles, machine guns, sub-machine guns, shotguns and pistols. Equipment you can buy consists of such items as armour, helmets, flashbangs (grenades which give out a loud bang, and a bright flash to disorientate you) and smoke grenades amongst others. The maximum amount you can have is $16,000.

Each weapon handles differently, and although say a machine gun may be far more powerful, if you are playing on a smaller map, then a smaller, less powerful gun like the H&K MP5 may be better as its’ rate of fire is higher. There’s enough variation in the weaponry so that anyone can find a gun they̵
7;re happiest with.

Once you’re killed, then that’s you until the next round, which usually means a few minutes of hanging around, although you are put into ghost mode where you can happily roam around the map following players, and chatting to other dead people. Each round lasts approx. five minutes; although this is all dependent on who is running the server. As well as this, you lose all your bought weapons (players are issued with a pistol and a knife to begin with) and have to spend more money re-equipping yourself whereas players left alive at the end of the round carry their weapons through.

Unlike TFC, which I prefer, people do actually work as a team more in Counter-strike with team members covering each other through tunnels, over bridges etc. This is something which has evolved from the early days, because in the first few revisions of the code, it was every man for himself and the teamwork was as non-existent as TFC.

Recently, with the release of the non-beta 1.0 version, I have found myself updating all my patches, and downloading the up to date Counter-strike patch.

Maybe it's because I've been playing TFC on and off for the last few years, but I have found CS to be a lot better now - I get killed less by my own team members, accidents like shooting my own team members are less frequent, and sometimes, I even rack up the odd frag! As a person connected to the internet through Freeserve (with BT Surftime) I have problems connecting (I use the internal connector) as CS never lets me connect to the first server I choose - it always kicks me out, but I can connect to my second choice server with little or no problems.

Once in the game, I have little or no problems - with an average ping time of about 190 - 200 I can keep up with even the fastest LPB's. The effects of this lag can be reduced by visiting one of the many CS web sites out there for a list of config file settings, which, whi
le not actually reducing lag, does make your game run smoother.

For those of you who have poor Internet connections, or can’t afford one, but who like the idea of CS, then you can download a CS Bot and play against these instead. They take up very little processor speed (I can run CS games of myself and 15 bots with no speed loss) and you get the advantages of enjoying the game on an even playing field with no lag whatsoever. Seeing as CS is already a free (but large) download for people who already own Half-Life, and the NNBot (as it is called) is a small (and free) download at about 1Mb (go to http:// nnbot.counter-strike.dk), there’s no reason why you couldn’t play all day long if you wish! In fact, a small outlay of about £6 will secure you with a recent PC Games magazine with the up to date patches and CS version on it. (Both PC Zone and PC Gamer have both had versions of CS on their coverdisks recently)

If you're a fan of first person shooters, with an online connection, and a copy of Half-Life then I have to recommend CS as a great game for you to play. (Note: Special cut down version of the Half-life engine is being released with some of the online MODs included as a retail version e.g. TFC and Counter-strike amongst others at about £20)

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