Counter-Strike

"Watch out xbox live owners, a PC-Behemoth has been unleashed."

Imagine this, if you will: You’re a part of a terrorist organization, camped out in the middle of a desert in a rather large house that houses a few “hostages” inside. Outside, though, is where the fun is. A counter-terrorist strike team is coming in from a tunnel near the edge of the area in front of the house, ready to kill anything that moves. You await their arrival on top of the house, Schmidt sniper gun in hand. You start to feel fear as slowly, all your team members are killed off one by one, yet you can’t see any Counter-Terrorists in the area. Suddenly, as you wait for the chance to fire off a bullet, it hits you. You were just knifed from behind, you damn camper! Learn how to snipe if you’re gonna do it, asswipe!

Dammit, things like those really piss me off, especially when it means I’m the only one left alive in the game! If you were at all familiar with the above story, you might have even experienced that in the Militia level of a small game that turned into a PC-Behemoth named Counter-Strike. Developed as first as just a small online addition to the classic Half-Life, Counter-Strike eventually became very popular among both cool people and nerds alike, even helping to start up a new business known as the “PC Arcade” today. I even went to one of these for a while every weekend to play, until I realized it sapped away at my personal life almost as fast as it sapped away at my wallet. For a year, I quit playing the game, got myself a girl, and our PC Arcade was closed down after someone got stabbed outside of it. True Story. I think it might have been because there was a DJ club next to it where all the “Wankstas” hung out.

Now that Counter-Strike has been released on the xbox, the game might just be able to reach a new legion of fans…or, just connect more to the older ones. New to the Xbox version of the game are a few maps, a training mode, and a small single player mode. The Training Mode basically serves to introduce players to how to play the game, and two the two mission types that are available, rescuing hostages who evidently don’t know how to try and get away or are too puss to do it, or blowing up a target with a bomb.

Also while going through the training mode, you’ll be introduced to the game’s control scheme. When I first played the game I wondered how in hell’s name they could fit all of the commands needed in the game for buying weapons and such onto the xbox controller. I was so happy to find that not only were the controls for the game just as good as what I’d use on the keyboard, but the buy menus were easier to navigate then on the PC version. Everything is stuck into five categories, such as heavy weapons, machine guns, small arms, and special equipment like flashbangs and grenades. Actual moving in the game is also very easy, with one joystick for moving and turning and the other for strafing and rotation. Overall a great job was done just getting the darn game over to the xbox and making it playable.

I should note this right now: if you bought this game for the single player mode, you are a moron, you have no friends and are easily amused, or both. More than likely you are both, but that’s beside the point. Picture playing Counter Strike online, except that the people you are playing are robots, and that those people are very bad at the game. Now that I’ve told you about this, I’m starting to wonder who would actually want to do that in the first place.

Okay, so you have your xbox live set up, and are ready to play online. This is where the high point of the game is, and where you might just have some of the greatest fun you’ve had in your life. Immediately you can set up a username, which will keep track of your online stats. You’ll get points based on what you do in the game, like killing a member of the opposite team, rescuing hostages, or lesser known ways like defusing, or setting off the bomb, depending on which team you’re on. But, who really cares about the stats, right?

From here on you can choose to join a random match, or find one based on your own likings of the game. For instance, you can set it to only find games that are using a certain map that you like (Militia is one of my faves), or you can look for a game with a lot of people in it. Either way, you’ll find a game that’s right for you, unless you have one of those obsessions where you only enter games with prime numbers of people in them or something. One of the other things that well help you find a good game to enter is the connection test, which rates it from Excellent to Poor, poor meaning there is a hell of a lot of lag in it. Well, pick a game, dammit!

Some of the maps in the game are easily better than others, both graphically and in terms of design. For instance, lets talk about Militia (DAMN I LOVE THAT LEVEL!). It will be easily apparent that each level was ported almost to perfection by Valve, with just a few glitches and changes to design in some of the levels. Unfortunately, that’s the other main problem in this game, the design. While anyone CS-Vet can see the levels have been ported from the computer, they can also probably see that the game looks like it’s from 2000. All of the levels have a lot of jagged surfaces, and the trees and other objects placed some of the levels are all flat. I would complain about some slowdown in here, but the main reason anyone would get that is from going into a bad server. One of the better parts about the graphics were the attention to character detail, and what they did with the actual players in the game. Blood spatters on walls, and players move very realistically through the levels. While you probably won’t care much about what the graphics look like since the main emphasis of the game is playing it, it would’ve been nice to see some scenery along the way.

Sorry to offend anyone who is reading this now, but I figure to really tell a person about how the game is played, I should offer a standpoint from each side of play, the Terrorist side and the Counter-Terrorist side. And, what better way to represent it but use my favorite level, MILITIA. And Dust as well, because the former is a Hostage Rescue, while Aztec is a Bomb level.

Terrorist: Defend Your Keep At All Costs!

Okay, so you’ve decided to be a terrorist, you bastard. The main point of this level is to make sure that the hostages that are kept inside, away from Counter-Terrorist resistance. In other words: kill all Counter-Terrorists. Easier said than done, for there is an intricate sewer system they can sneak through. Or they could always just rush you head on. Luckily, your base, a rather large house in the desert, has some nice areas to hide and shoot off of: Access to the roof has been granted, while the window area can provide for a nice sniper haven. Or, if you’re playing the PC-classic level Dust, your goal is to let off a bomb (no, not farting, you sick person you) in one of two predetermined areas. It doesn’t matter which area you do it in, as long as you can get there before any opposition guns your entire team or just you down. Each round a different bomb carrier is picked, so this helps with strategy. Or you could just forego all of that complicated stuff and go to…

Counter-Terrorist: Protect The People!

Oooh, Counter-Terrorist eh? I’ll tell you what, your job is rather easy. In Militia, all you have to do is get the hostages back to your base, and you win. You don’t even have to kill a single Terrorist! That’s the hard part though; how are you going to get past the Terrorists? Well, you have a different set of weapons at your disposal, and you can buy heavy armor such as a riot shield to help yourself out. Try your hardest, and you might just get out alive, along with a little extra cash in hand if you manage to get the hostages home. On the other hand, you best watch out if you’re a CT in Dust. Not only do you have to kill all the Terrorists, but if they manage to plant the bomb, you have to find it and defuse it. Good luck getting to it, because Terrorists are usually always patrolling the area. So, who’s side are you on?

Hopefully I’ve shown you some of the intricacies that have been put into each level to help each side win. But, it’s not up to me to help you decide which team you should play on. Pick whichever one better suits you!

In closing, Counter-Strike is truly a breakthrough for the fledgling Xbox Live. People say that Rainbow Six 3 was the first great option for the console for online shooting, but Counter Strike brings a name that people will recognize, and brings it with a stampede of publicity and fun. While the graphics are a bit lacking, and the fact that if you don’t have Xbox Live, the game is basically worthless, those who do have the online support will have the time of their lives playing in many different levels, each with their own feel, secrets, and missions. If you have live, this is a game you immediately want to add to your collection. Have fun playing; I sure as hell know I did.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/07/04