Counter-Strike

"A Fun Game Thats Not All It Can Be"

I've been playing Counter-Strike (CS) for PC for years and its a fun, team-work based, game. Lucky for all of us, the Xbox version contains the same good stuff, but not much more.

Graphics

Obviously this game doesn't give a game like Splinter Cell a run for its money. While the graphics aren't the worst for Xbox, they certainly don't push it to the limits either. The player models do stand out well, but they aren't very detailed. Although, in this game that doesnt matter too much. The guns look good in your hands but a simple look at them on another player reveal them to suck. The maps look much better than the original, but still lack any kind of interactivity. They're just different looking walls and different looking ceilings on each level.

Score: 6/10

Sound

The sound is an important factor with gameplay. CS supports Dolby 5.1 so that works out very well. It's pretty fun to be able to tell which direction the sound is coming from, and it also helps in spotting enemies (duh). The weapon fire sounds ok. Other games feature more realistic fire but its not too hard to be able to tell which gun is being fired by its sound. Of course though, the gun-fire is much more scaled down from their real-life counter parts. The option to use your own soundtrack in-game is an awesome addition. CS is perfect for it too. Blasting a noob while blasting Slipknot is definitely a welcome addition to CS. My only complaint is that you can't change tracks at all, and you can only change the soundtrack in the options menu in the main menu. The score in the main menu is pretty appropriate for a game like this.

Score: 8.5/10

Story

CS is a game devoid of story and I don't care. A story would probably make it suck, so it doesn't need one.

Score: N/A

Controls

While not as responsive as a keyboard and mouse combo, the Xbox controller works well. They're pretty similar to that of Halo and every other FPS on Xbox. The targeting reticule is pretty close to the one from the PC version. It expands as you move faster and contracts as you stop moving. Overall the controls are great.

Score: 10/10

Gameplay

Ahh now here's the fun part. The gameplay is a fun as ever and may even surpass that of it's PC counterpart. Its a fast, frantic game that only takes about a minute from the start until all the shooting is over. The weapon buying menu is simple to navigate (although, if you go too fast its not too hard to accidentally pick the wrong gun, but that's your fault). Sitting out after you die until the end of the round sucks, but that's all the more incentive not to die. The maps are mostly the same as the PC version with a few additions. They still make for a pretty evenly matched game.

Single Player

The single player mode is a good time for people without Xbox Live. The bots are surprisingly smart and can almost be confused for real people. The follow many of the same strategies and habits that many real life CS players follow. Its a pretty good time but it lacks a little bit, because it lacks a few of the cool features the Xbox Live multi-player has. And its pretty annoying sitting out after you die when you know that the other players aren't even people, but in single player you won't be dying nearly as often as on Xbox Live.

Score: 7/10

Multi-player (aka Xbox Live)

The Xbox Live multi-player is an awesome, addictive experience. The voice communicator works great with it. Its really simple to talk over a strategy to carry out. The online arena is a tough place. The competition is pretty tough and the games are really fun. Knowing that everyone playing is human makes for a fun game, especially for a console. On most servers the lag is hardly noticeable. But make sure that you find a good quality server or it'll be horrible. The friend list and player list work fine and the match statistics is a good add-on. Overall, CS on Xbox Live is the most fun I've ever had playing a FPS online.

Score: 9.5/10

Overall

I would highly recommend CS to anyone with Xbox Live. Its an awesome online experience complete with everything Xbox Live should be. While the graphics aren't the best, nothing is an eyesore. The only thing that brings it's score down is that CS does nothing really new but its still definitely an excellent FPS for Xbox that's almost always fun.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/04