"Damn good potential, but glaring flaws cannot be ignored."

Valve goes online with the hit game Counterstrike, but is it really worth the money/time? Let's find out!

GRAPHICS: The graphics in this game couldn't be much more amazing. From the obvious stuff such as the details in the character models or the weapons to the minor things like the programs on the in-game computer screens, the graphics are just excellent.

10/10

SOUND: I have almost no complaints with the sound whatsoever. Almost. But they're pretty minor. First of all, all the in game commands sound exactly the same, meaning that every soldier from every faction in the game sounds exactly alike. Also, the sound from a flash grenade makes you want to rip your ears off. Other than that, it's all good. Weapons sound terrific, as do the explosions (if the explosions sound good, that's pretty much good enough for me). This good sound combined with the top notch graphics make for a good cinematic experience.

9/10

GAMEPLAY

RED LIGHT! Hold up there sucker, sorry to ruin your party but here's where the gravy train stops. Gameplay is a....complicated subject to say the least, so let's start with the basics.

The weapons in this game are SO BLOODY INCONSISTENT it borders on total randomness. You can unload nearly an entire 30 round clip into a player who's standing still and only give him 50 damage and he can whip right around and deliver a quick 2 shot headshot kill. Seriously, it's that bad. And I'm not saying this as a "Noob who just can't aim", I'm saying this as a guy who has above average skill in FPS's of all variety, and as a person who feels 5 shots to the head should do some serious damage to a dude. "BUT POOG. IT'S REALISTIC!!!!!!1!11" No it's not. It tries to be realistic, but ends up just being random and aggravating. If it was realistic I wouldn't have to shoot a full clip into a non-moving target. They could've made it totally realistic and made it that a shot in the chest kills you in one hit, or a shot to the leg or two immobilizes you. But where do you draw the line?

Moving on, another problem I have is the flash grenades. THEY CANNOT BE AVOIDED! Unless physical cover is in your immediate vicinity, you will be blind and deaf (except for a screeching banshee noise from hell) for a good 5 seconds, leaving you more vulnerable than a baby in the savanna. </horribly bad analogy> Apparently they forgot to put in a "close eyes" button, or possibly "look the other way" button. But flash grenades are a severe problem (although it does help add a bit more strategy to the game) for the casual player.

Another problem I have with this game (and it's not just this game, you find this problem in many games) is that you will find players that are absolutely Godly. It's not like the Ogre's (very famous Halo players) from Halo 2. I don't know how they do it, it's just that they always find the head. (Headshots are a big problem too with the weapon randomness, I've shot/seen people get shot in the leg and the kill get's shown up as a headshot) I'd like to give this section a higher rating, but you just cannot avoid these glaring flaws.

4/10

Worth the cash?

While I obviously have some problems with this game, it's cheap and still a hell of a lot of fun to play once you get past the flaws. Buy it if you have 20 bucks to spare.

FINAL RATING (NOT an average)

This game has the potential (with a few essential patches) to become one of the greatest online FPS's out there, but the massive randomness and inconsistency of the weapons and minor flaws in other places leave much to be desired.

6/10

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/24/06