"An old world wide game...Got a facelift."

Well, fellow Counter-strike fans old and new. If you are looking to see that this old game on a new engine is worth playing, this review will help detail the information that you will need to help decide if purchasing Half Life 2 and get this goodie as a bundle for free. Counter-Strike has been a world wide phenomenon for years. People have been playing it for a long time. It has had different updates, as well as a try for a newer version (condition zero) which wasn't a big ground breaker but still added a little bit more to the game (new weapons...etc). But lets get to brass tacks here...

Gameplay 8/10 - Alright to start this section off, if you have ever played CS before you will know that it is a team based game. And that skills and trying to take out the opposing team. The game play of Source is pretty much the same as the last counter strike games that are before it, so if you liked the other ones you will definitely go for this one. The difficulty is very broad range, just depends on what servers you go into and what experience the other players have, but Steam/Valve just released Source bots, which are really good to play if you want to tighten up on some skills or practice on head shots.

The controls of this game are A+++ You move with the mouse and keyboard and most fps games have shown that mouse and keyboard will always rule FPS'. And you can also modify your controls to what your specifications are, etc.

Graphics/Sound 9/10- Well to get to the greatest reason of having source, Well folks the graphics are true to the HL2 look and feel. The rag doll effect is in FULL effect as well as the graphics, when you load a source map it looks way superb over any of the following games. The HL2 engine for source is great, windows will not just shatter in this game, you shoot a bullet through a window it cracks the window pain and you can run through it which i thought was neat. Also just shooting barrels, bananas and books are quite fun to do.

The sound in Source is most of the same waves as the last game, the ony issue that came to me with sound is maybe giving you a selection of different sounds for the weapons so you can have an awp sound different. I mean come on, a new graphics overhaul and they keep all the old stuff for the new. Another problem for me was they changed the sound of the knifing . The knife when it hits somebody sounds as though its hitting something like a pad of some sort, And doesnt sound like it is slicing up a person or jabbing into them, but yes the older CS's knifing sounds sounded a little over exaggerated.

Play Time/Replayability 8/10- The playtime can range at how much you like these sorts of games, since it is pretty much an online only game, and playing with bots will just be the same as playing online but just with computer opponents/teammates you pretty much just play till your bored or if you get too tired to hold your head up. And replayability will always be there, you are always wanting to try to get as good as you can. I've been playing CS for about 4 years and im still just mediocre.

My final thoughts are that if you're buying the retail version of half life2 your not only getting that, but also this game as well. Which in my thoughts is a no brainer to buy. This game is just sooo addicting that any FPS player will want this in their collection, and if you get tired of dying or owning too many people. Then sit back and play Half Life 2 which has a decent story and will settle your craving for a little slaughter then hop right back on to Source to slay some Counter Terrorist or Terrorist butts. So just go pick up HL2 and get this game with it. You won't kick yourself later for 2 great games for the price of one.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/05