CounterStrike 1.4
It’s been a while since I visited my love/hate relationship with frantic counter-terrorist Half-Life mod Counter-Strike. I gave up around version 1.1 due to the unstoppable numbers of cheaters online, and the frustrating inconsistencies of the HL engine’s collision detection. With the release of 1.4, Valve (CS creator Goose not so long ago signed the mod over to HL’s owners in exchange for a job there) seem to have addressed a lot of the problems.
Counter-Strike
There is new smooth interface, and I don’t know if it’s just me but the game seems to look better as well. There have been lots of engine and gameplay tweaks in this latest update, and it has resulted in (for me) a better experience. The game feels smoother and less random than it did previously, though they did stop my weapon of choice the AWP from being an automatic one shot kill. It’s still deadly in the right hands, so all is forgiven.
The disappointing but I guess inevitable thing is that despite claims of cheater proof code cheaters are still rife on the internet. Most players have just accepted it and attempt to outplay them, but it makes for a frustrating time. One player I came into contact with today who was using a speed and headshot hack (giving instant kills) bragged he had no less than 22 WON ID’s (unique security numbers that allow players to connect over the internet), and so we could “go ahead and call an Admin, I’ll be back right away”.
If you can overcome the distaste caused by cheaters and the endless nasty “smack” talk of obsessive online players, version 1.4 is a good reason to revisit this best of HL mods. If you can organise a private LAN (like at *cough* work for example), all the better.
posted by monty · at 10:39 am · filed under First Impressions