Upon originally discovering CounterStrike, it gave me everything a young boy could need from a FPS, and then it gave more.
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Several years later though, the above question, and many like it, are quite commonly asked within the PC First Person Shooter (FPS) community. Most PC gamers will happily agree (or at the very least, accept) that Counter Strike, and too Counter Strike:Source, are two of the best, all round, actively played FPS titles available today. You’ve got to question though, is the series beginning to show it’s age?
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CS 1.6 on it's last legs
From a graphical perspective, the original gaming phenomenon of CounterStrike 1.6 is dead in the water. Yup, those graphics looked a little dated even when they first arrived, and now in 2010, considering the series has by now spanned two decades, gamers need just that little bit more. Sure, most of your hardcore game buffs will scream at you until they’re blue in the face that to real gamers, “graphics don’t matter!”, but we all know deep down on some level that they do. Pretty things are.. well they’re pretty, and pretty is good. I mean, there’s a reason we don’t play Half Life 1 anymore, and it’s not just because Half Life 2 is most definitely better. Who wants to play with an ageing dog, when there’s a two week old puppy bounding about? I know it’s a poor analogy, but I also know I’m right.
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As time has shown us, natural progression to a new gaming engine coupled with incredible popularity led to the development of CounterStrike Source (CS:S) which as I mentioned previously is one of the most actively played titles on PC today. It might suprise some readers to discover that CS:S is in fact now approaching 6 years of age, and I’m sure the majority would agree that although game graphics have developed significantly over time, CS:S “don’t look bad!”, all things considered.
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Perhaps it is for this reason alone that VALVe (the development team behind the CounterStrike series) are reluctant to release a sequel. The fact that CS:S, and to a lesser degree Counter Strike 1.6, still have such an avid following of consistent gamers could go some way to show that a sequel isn’t needed. Alternatively, perhaps the fact that a newer, more improved source engine has not yet been released could be the primary factor. If VALVe ever get round to producing a Half Life 3, that could bring with it a Counter Strike: Whatever.
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CS Source, looking far better in comparison
It’s also important to note that CS:S was never intended as a stand alone game anyway, a potential explaination behind the lack of new content. Source was originally released bundled with Half Life 2, providing gamers of the time with not only a fantastic multiplayer element found in CS:S, along with an amazing continuation of the Half Life story, all for one price. Talk about bang for your buck, you don’t get that sort of deal anymore. I’m not sure whether it’s to do with rising piracy rates within the gaming community, or whether game developers just aren’t ‘with it’ anymore, but what was once a common occurance of games bundled with games has dwindled rather spectacularly over the past few years. These days you should consider yourself lucky to even grab yourself a free code for some DLC bundled with your game.
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Let’s not forget the crash landing of Modern Warfare, and now too its sequel Modern Warfare 2 into our already hectic gaming lives. The release of these incredibly popular titles by Infinity Ward has most certainly stolen the attention of a vast majority of the CounterStrike fanbase, as if nothing else like I mentioned previously, graphics do matter. For those capable of playing Modern Warfare 2 maxed out for instance, it really is a visual treat for the eyes, whilst the gameplay is an intense workout for the fingers. See what I did there?
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That’s not to say that others haven’t attempted to copy the winning gameplay of CounterStrike. In fact, some have downright stolen the maps ! Yeah, I am looking at you ‘Cross Fire’. If anything though, VALVe shouldn’t be angered by this quite obvious invasion of copyright, instead they should embrace the fact that people are still so very clearly obsessed with all things CounterStrike, that they’re trying to return the game to its former popularity, albeit in an very inferior form.
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Either way, whether a new CounterStrike would have the power to pull back some of the Call of Duty whores is not for sure, due to the extensive time period that has already been made available to the Modern Warfare duo, with limited opposition. That being said, I would be happy to place a bet that a fair amount of the diehard CounterStrike fans would be willing to return. Let’s not forget that CS:S at one point was the only viable game for competitive FPS gameplay, and I’m sure that thousands of gamers worldwide would welcome the return of a viable sequel.
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Woah, this article has turned out being rather substantial in the end. Bah, who cares. It’s about time I posted something that I had to actually apply my brain to, in order to complete. This could be a step in the right direction for Tech Critic!
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P.S – Long live CounterStrike.
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