Let's get on with the killing (Half-Life - Counterstrike (PC))

Member Name: pastyorf

Product:	Half-Life - Counterstrike (PC)
Date:	09/08/02 (292 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun factor, Good atmosphere

Disadvantages: High addiction

Warning this game is addictive
Addictive? How can a computer game be addictive?
Well I never thought they could either...
That was until I started regularly playing 5 hours + a day on CS.

Thousands of people worldwide play CS (Counter-Strike) every day. CS is the main modification for Half-Life and is available on most CS sites (150+ Megs in total though).

What is CS?

CS is basically what's in the name. There's a Counter Terrorism team and a team of Terrorists. As each round begins the teams start in designated areas of a map and buy ammo and weapons. With those weapons they aim to achieve the adjectives. The three adjectives are Hostage evacuation, Bomb defusal or VIP evacuation (rarely played nowadays). Players for killing an opponent and carrying out the objective collect money. At the end of a round a team is announced as a winner and all the players are re-spawned on the map again. The buying process begins again. This time however the players may be able to afford better weapons. This continues until the end of the allotted time for the map then a new map is played.

Starting a Game. The following programs can be used to start a game:
GameSpy
Websites using portals
Or even through the console

How to use the console:

Click console
Type connect [server]
Voila it should load perfectly as long as the current version of HL (Half-Life) and CS are installed.
Once into the game it's a case of choosing a side and colour suit. Then blasting as many online players to death.

Some of the Weapons that are in the game:

Benneli XM1014 - Automatic shotgun
This is one of the most dangerous guns for the opposition who's running towards you to have. 2 accurate shots and death is near or upon you.

AK-47 - The most powerful rifle on the game. Used to take skill to kill someone with the gun because of the terrible rise up but now i
t's become more point and shoot.

AI Arctic Warfare/Magnum - The most powerful weapon and most powerful of the sniper rifles. One accurate shot from this weapon and there's no chance of surviving. Mostly used on maps where there are large open spaces.

Colt M4A1 Carbine - The most commonly used CT (Counter-Terrorist) weapon. Comes with a silencer so the CT can roam the map fairly quietly.

H&K USP .45 Tactical - Handgun. Comes with a silencer but is more powerful without the silencer on.

Desert Eagle .50 AE - The most powerful handgun on the map. However is fairly inaccurate when running and therefore requires skill to use easily.

Knife - The hardest weapon to kill people with. Requires direct contact with the opposition and therefore not often used. However some servers have a scoreboard and rank top knife killers, which is amusing.

HE Grenade - Throw it and see how many of the opposition are blown up. Used to be a skill weapon as well but has turned more into a throw and forget weapon.

There are many more weapons available but to list all would take time. Also not all the weapons are used because some are just awful.

CS also features the ability to chat to the other users while in the game. If you play on the same server day after day you soon make friends with the people on there. Voice comms does not get used a lot because of lag effects, but the times it does get used have been funny.

The maps are all different in their own ways and range from artic scenery to deserts. Gravity also varies depending on the server. Some admins like to reduce the gravity to add twists to the game. Combine low gravity and a program used by some servers called admin mod and you get a 'fun map'. Players jumping around in low gravity, while glowing in disco colours.

Overall the game has to be the most addictive game I've ever come across. Mainly because no matter ho
w many times you play the maps, every time it's different. I recommend it but make sure you set your self a time at which you quit. Other wise you may hit the 7+ hours continuous play mark...

Summary: