"A new look for an old classic"

Counter Strike started off as a modest mod for the game Half Life. After a 1 year beta, it was released in the Fall of 2000. It is has been the #1 on-line game for many years now. It sold over 1,000,000 copies world wide. Now with the release of Half Life 2's "Source" engine, in order to make some extra money, they're redoing Counter Strike using the engine.

Game-play - 10/10

Game-play is the core of every game. In today's world graphics have too much weight in a game (Graphics will be discussed later). The game-play is very similar to the original Counter Strike. You start off a round by selecting weapons to buy. You start off with a modest amount of money (depending on the server settings). You get money from Killing Enemies, Rescuing Hostages, etc. The round ends when one of two objectives are completed. Eliminate the entire enemy team, or depending on the map, planting/defusing a bomb or rescuing hostages. Once you die in a round you're out until the end of the round. You can watch people and get tips or find out your enemy's plans. People who have played previous versions of Counter Strike might notice that Source is a little slower paced and based a lot more on skill. One of the big cons of the game however is the lack of skins. There is only 1 terrorist and 1 Counter Terrorist skin each.

Graphics/Sound - 9/10

Graphics and Sound are a somewhat important feature to immerse you in the game-play. The graphics are incredible. The water reflects every world detail and the tiles show a reflection of light, similar to the light reflection presentation of the Unreal 3 engine. The sound seems somewhat muffled. Unlike CS1.6 and Condition Zero, you must listen carefully to hear footsteps or you'll miss them. The physics are more of a graphical issue than a game-play one, and they're extremely well. The rag-doll physics in this game are amazingly entertaining especially whenever the body hangs off of an edge. Barrels and Tires roll as they would in real life. Also much debris is scatter around the maps. From milk cartons and cans in dust, to the pictures, file cabinets, and computer parts (yes, you can actually shoot parts OUT of a computer) in office.

Play Time/Replay-ability - 10/10

Like many on-line games, replay-ability is high. Every time you play, it's different because you're playing with different people. With a strong player population, expect A LOT of mods and maps in order to further extended the nigh infinite replay value of it.

Final Recommendation - BUY

Counter Strike Source comes in bundled with Half Life 2. You can buy the game now through Steam. There are several different packages that you can get for Half Life 2/CS:Source. If you've never played Half Life or Counter Strike I suggest the Silver or Gold (If you're a collector) packages. If you have Counter Strike just go with the Bronze package. This is a definite buy and should grow even more very quickly.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/09/04