A bunch of long-time CS pro players and prominent community members were flown to Valve’s HQ to talk about the next iteration of Counter-Strike. This is what we have so far:
[ul]
[li]Planned to be released Q1 2012[/li]> [li]Focuses on 5v5 competition[/li]> [li]Press release within 24 hours from VALVe - Confirmed[/li]> [li]Plays on an updated source engine[/li]> [li]Individual & Team rankings[/li]> [li]New Guns added[/li]> [li]New Grenades[/li]> [li]Dust & Aztec major revamp[/li]> [li]Spamming still viable[/li]> [li]Ammo is free[/li]
[/ul]
Maybe Valve want to test his muscles with the e-sport crown, and fight Cod:Elite? then could give the players stats, like “hot maps” mapping where people die. and the like.
Ammo is free as in source, it was debated a couple of times through the day though, so it might not be how it’s going to be in the final version, even though I personally think it won’t have ammo-buying.
There are a few new guns (and all the guns have been changed more or less, but their current versions aren’t at all final). There are also a couple of new nades, which are pretty cool. There are molotov grenades, which create a fire-blanket that slows players are little. It sounds crazy, but it actually played really well I think, even though the size/dmg might need a bit tweaking. The other new nade is a decoy-nade, that can play firing-sounds, so it can be used to fake that a player is in a position. Not sure how usable it is, but the idea is pretty nice I think.
In the current build armor is also free, but I am pretty sure this will be changed, at least for the competitve mode, since most people here thought it was a bad idea and there basically was no point to even have armor in the game, if it was given for free every round.
Because of this armor-change they also revamped the money system, which wasn’t too nice, you didn’t really get enough money, so sometimes you would end up needing to have 3-4 ecos or having won 5 rounds in a row and still only have 4k left xD This was also down to more grenades and other equipment being available though.
All the maps have names you know, but most of them have been altered. Dust2 only has very minor changes from the source version, but the other maps have some pretty big changes (most importantly dust and aztec have been changed to try and make them more usable for 5on5 play)
The deagle is about as powerful as in source, but it’s hard to tell after such little playing time, we spent more time trying out other guns/stuff mostly.
VALVE ANNOUNCES COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE (CS: GO)
Next Gen Console, PC, and Mac Release Targeted for Early 2012
August 13, 2011 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).
Targeted for release via Playstation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam (for PC and Mac) in early 2012, CS: GO will expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched exactly 12 years ago (CS beta 1, August 1999).
CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more.
“Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999,” said Doug Lombard, VP of Marketing at Valve. “For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS’ award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac.”
CS: GO is being developed by Valve in cooperation with Seattle-based Hidden Path Entertainment. The title is targeted for release in early 2012 and will be playable at this year’s PAX Prime and London Games Festival.
Well the PSN/XBLA does explain the 5v5 focus a bit more. Of course so does the tournament focus. But that’s a bit of a shame considering that the servers in the past tended to trend towards bigger games, which were lots of fun – granted that was years ago. I wonder if they will do some sort of 5v5 matchmaking, like LoL?
I played CS for 4-5 years(99- sometime around 03/04).
Only joined a clan for about 4 months of that and found it terribly boring, had the most fun on good open servers. My friends were mostly the same too, not very many bothered ever joining or creating clans.
So, not exactly thrilled that it’s being designed around 5v5 competition.
