Counter-Strike

"First your jaw drops and you say WOW, then you just sit and stare."

To new gamers, the word ''Counterstrike'' may not mean anything special. But to PC gamers, they know in an instant what juicy little game you're talking about. Counterstrike, rated one of the best online PC games, continues it's reign on Xbox Live.

Story 0/10

There is no real story for this game. But if you play with a friend online, your story can be, ''I came, I saw, I conquered!!'' :-)

Graphics 8/10

This is the only part in the whole game I found to be a letdown. (except for no single player missions, but nobody buys this game for that anyways) The graphics are better than the PC version, but still don't outdo graphics like some of the newer shooters like Rainbow Six 3 or Unreal II. But this game shows how far we've come from games like Goldeneye, where the guns were just black boxes, to very detailed guns, characters, and maps. So, not the best graphics ever, but that shouldn't stop this game from being your cup of tea.

Sound and Music 9/10

Since when has your mom come into your room and said, ''Honey, come out from under the bed'' over a video game? The sounds are so realistic you will think you are carrying around a gun, and sometimes it can be as suspenseful as if you really were. If the background music for each level doesn't fit you, you can burn your own music onto it. Even though I think all the background music is the cream of the crop. And noises. Perfectomundo! You have 4 voice commands to command with your AI friends, and each soldier sounds the way they should. Terrorists sound like terrorists, counter-terrorists sound like counter-terrorists. Hostages whisper as if they were really trying to be quiet from the terrorists. And the guns and grenades...woowee, awesome. Each gun has a different noise, and there are rifles, pistols, shot guns, snipers, and the grenades sound realistic too. The flash grenade even brings a high-pitched ring. Great sounds.

Controls 10/10

The controls in this game. Hmm. Do I really have to think about this? Let's just say they are Halo controls. (which is saying they are perfect) The controls even includes jumping like Halo does, which I personally love nowadays in a shooter because I have learned how to focus and shoot while jumping, which makes me harder to hit and them.....dead. :-) But the controls are perfect for run-n-gun. Some shooters like Ghost Recon had me disappointed on the strafing, (you would strafe and back up veeeery slowly) but this game sure doesn't. The controls are set up where you can buy weapons fast, a few presses of the R and L triggers and whallah, thy gun is loaded. And one thing that I actually put above Halo on controls is you don't have to stand on top of the gun you want to pick up before you can drop the one you currently holding, you just press the white button and then pick up another gun. (of course for Halo there were no buttons left on the controller left to assign the action to)

Gameplay 10/10

The thing you bought this game for, is the best feature of the game. (next to replay value) I've already explained how awesome the sounds and the controls are, which will make this whole experience a heck lot better. But now for the real deal. First you start out and buy your weapons at the beginning of a round. This can be a very fun part on Xbox Live, hosts may want pistol wars, or they may give very little cash until you win some rounds, and just the whole concept of people picking their favorite guns can be fun. Plus you can buy armor, grenades, and bomb defuse kits. One grenade I love is the flashbang grenade which can blind your opponent. Also, you can assign some people different positions for buying different guns. Like people guarding the guy with the bomb might want a short range gun like the Mac-10. And the guards sitting from a distance might want a Magnum. Or a run-n-gunner counter-terrorist might want a Bullpup or 5.56, while a slowmoving counter-terrorist might want an Auto Shotgun. Then the round begins! If you are the counter-terrorists, you try to defuse the bomb/save the hostages, or if you're a terrorist you try to plant a bomb and guard it/stop the counter-terrorists from rescuing the hostages. On Xbox Live games can take hours on end, setting up a strategy with your team and slowly but surely finding a way to make it happen. Without Xbox Live I would not recommend this game's gameplay, it's not very fun using 4 commands to talk to computers. But online, you and your friends take it to the skies.

Replay Value 10/10

OK, so there's a snowflake and a Counterstrike match sitting next to each other, what do they have in common? No 2 are alike. No 2 snowflakes are alike just like no 2 Counterstrike matches will ever be alike. Every round will be different, which is one of the best parts of the game. You will replay this game a ton to master being a counter-terrorist and a terrorist. I would give this game an 11 for replay value if I could, it just never gets old. It's like video game MSG, ya just can't put it down and you want more.

Overall 10/10

If you don't have Xbox Live, this is just a standard shooter and will get old fast. But if you have Xbox live, don't hesitate with that $50, you won't regret it. This ain't no average FPS, it's more.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/18/03