Counter-Strike is not an ordinary game. It is one of
the most played PC games, and is continuing its fame on the Xbox console. Counter-Strike
was original created by a few college students as a modification to Valve's
Half-Life. Half-Life: Counter-Strike was released in 1999 as a downloadable
modification to the game, and then later in 2000 it was released by Sierra
as a retail PC game. Every since then, this game has spent millions of hours
being played by thousands and thousands of Counter-Strike fans around the world.
Now, on November 15, 2003 it was released to the most powerful console gaming
system, the Xbox.
The Xbox version of Counter-Strike and the PC version are
two totally different games, yet they both have most of the same weapons, levels,
players, and feel. After being an active Counter-Strike player for about a
year, it felt quite strange to play the same game on a different type of system.
Using the mouse and keyboard is almost the exact opposite of using a joystick
and a controller. I never really realized how different these two type
of controllers could be when playing the same game. The movement, navigation,
and aiming are defiantly more difficult using the Xbox controller. With a mouse,
you have the freedom to move the mouse anywhere you would like at any rate
you would like. However, with a joystick this is not easy as it has to stay
in the same place, and that would be inside of the controller. I have found
myself many times, when playing Counter-Strike on the Xbox, actually moving
my entire player to line up a shot rather than just moving my cross hair. There
are settings in the game that allow you to change the sensitivity of the
joystick, but still, with these options it can not compete with the mouse.
Graphics
Walking through entirely redesigned levels was a new experience.
The graphics are nice in this game; they totally blow away the pc version.
But they're not as great as I had anticipated. When compared to older first person
shooter games, yeah the graphics are definately great, but when you compare
them to the type of graphics that we are starting to see on the Xbox now
(For example, Splinter Cell, or Project Gotham Racing 2) this is just not
one of those "mouth dropping games" that I expected it to be.
However, there
are quite a few cool things that I noticed while walking around in some of
the new and redesigned environments. The weapon models are more detailed, as
are the player models. The player models are specific to the map, which
is pretty cool because in the PC version you could only pick and choose from
about four or five. Now, each level change you have a whole new selection.
Game Play
Counter-Strike became so famous because of its addicting game play. It requires
skill and logic to beat the opponents to the bomb site, or to rescue the hostages
without being spotted. When I found out that this game was going to have
a single player mode, I thought of something like a story mode, where it actually
tells you why you are trying to blow up a specified bomb site or why you
are trying to rescue the hostages. But when I played this game for the first
time, I was let down to see that it was just multiplayer with bots put in
as your opponents. On the other hand, I had a hard time believing that they
were actually bots because of how realistic there game play was compared
to bots in the PC version. In Counter-Strike for the computer, the bots always
seemed to know exactly where you were or exactly which bomb site you planted
the bomb, which got quite annoying when they would often show up about five seconds
after you planted it. Sometimes, they could get stuck and not know what
to do, or go crazy and get about five headshots in a row. However, on the
Xbox version this was greatly improved. The bots only know about as much
as a normal human would know about the map, and not where the enemies are located.
Also, I have yet to see them jumping in a corner tring to figure out why
they are not moving.
Whether you are mowing downing your enemies with an
auto shotgun, or going all out with the machine gun Counter-Strike is an exciting
game.
Weapons and Descriptions
Melee Weapons:
- Knife - Pretty much your last resort when you are face to face with an enemy
and have wasted clips in both your primary and secondary gun, or if you spot
someone camping and just want to humiliate them. You are automatically equipped
with this weapon and you can not throw it away.
Pistols (Secondary Weapons):
---------------------------------------
- USP (Universal Self-Loading Pistol) - This is the default
counter terrorist pistol and it holds 12 bullets per clip
- Glock - This is the default terrorist pistol and holds
20 bullets per clip. It is not as effective as the usp but the extra few
bullets could mean the difference between life and death.
- Desert Eagle - This pistol holds only 7 bullets per clip
but packs are hard punch.
- Sig P228 - This pistol holds 13 bullets per round and
has a fast rate of fire and reloading time.
- Dual 96G Elite Berettas (Terrorist Only) - The only weapon
that allows you to carry two of at the same time. Each pistol holds 15 bullets
per clip which is a total of 30 bullets before these babies have to take time
to reload. When these things reloads it takes up a lot of time and there is
a big possibility of encountering an enemy before you are finished.
- Fiveseven (Counter-Terrorist Only) - This pistol holds 20
bullets per round but has a big recoil.
Primary Weapons:
-------------------------
Shotguns
- M3 Super 90 Entry
(Pump Shotgun) - Probably one of the most powerful
weapons in the game, useless at long range shots but can blow your enemies
heads off at close combat.
- XM1014 (Auto Shotgun) - Not nearly as powerful as the pump shotgun but this
shotgun can shoot shells off one right after the other. Great for rushing the
enemies.
Sub-Machine Guns:
- MP5 Navy - This weapon holds 30 bullets per clip and has a fast
rate of fire and fast reloading time, great if you are low on money and can
not afford an assult rifle.
- TMP (Counter Terrorists only) -
This weapon holds 30 bullets per round and is probably the fastest gun the
in game. Despite its incredibly fast rate of fire it is not nearly as powerful
to the other sub machine guns.
-
P90 - This weapon holds 50 bullets per round but
is not very powerful.
-
MAC-10 (Terrorists only) - This weapon holds 30 bullets per round. Similar the the
counter terrorists TMP but this weapon is a bit more powerful and a bit less
accurate.
- UMP - This weapon holds 30 bullets per round. This weapon is similar
to the mp5 navy but has slower reloading times.
Rifiles:
-
Galil (Terrorist Only) - This rifile holds 35 bullets
per round and is great if you are low on money. Very similar to the terrorists
ak 47.
-
FAMAS (Counter-Terrorist Only) - This rifile holds 25
bulets per round and is great if you are low on money. Very similar to the
counter terrorists m4.
-
AK-47 (Terrorist Only) - This weapon holds
30 bullets per round. This is probably the most used terrorist weapon, it
is very powerful but can get very unaccurate if not fired in short bursts.
- M4A1 (Counter-Terrorist Only) -
This weapon holds 30 bullets per round and is probably the most popular weapon
in the game. It is very powerful and is deadly accurate.
-
SG-552 (Terrorists Only) - This weapon has 30 bullets per round
and has a 2x zooming feature.
-
Steyr AUG A1 (Counter-Terrorists Only) - This weapon holds
30 bullets per round and has a 2x zooming feature. It is very similar to the
terrorists SG-552
Sniper Rifiles:
- Scout - This weapon has
10 bullets per round and has a 3x zooming feature. A fast reloading sniper rifle
that normal only takes two shots to take down an enemy.
-
AWP or AWM - This weapon has 10 bullets per round and has a
3x zooming feature. This sniper rifles is mean and loud. Almost always a one
shot kill.
-
G3/SG-1 (Terrorist Only) - This weapon has 20 bullets per round and
has a 3x zooming feature. This is an auto sniper rifle so you can shoot one
shot right after the other.
-
SG-550 (Counter-Terrorist Only) - This weapon holds 30 bullets per
round and has a 3x zooming feature. Similar to the terrorists G3/SG-1.
Machine Guns:
- M249 PARA - This monster holds 100 bullets per round and is great for mowing
down multiple enemies.
| The Core Score |
Overall
8 |
| Fun |
|
9 |
| Gameplay |
|
9 |
| Graphics |
|
6 |
| Audio |
|
7 |
| Replay |
|
7 |
|
