Counter Strike; the little mod that could.
For over a decade, the Counter Strike series has enjoyed largely unrivalled success within the FPS genre. Coupled with worldwide recognition, an impressive feat by any standards, the notable support for the Counter Strike brand is even more impressive when you consider that it began life as a mod for Valve’s hugely popular survival shooter, Half Life, way back in 1999.
Counter Strike: Source, the most popular title within the series, is still played by thousands today. Yet for a game first released in 2004, it’s beginning to show its age. As such, mass speculation regarding the next version of Counter Strike has flooded internet forums and discussion rooms in recent years.
Speculate no more, though, for Valve has recently responded by announcing the launch of Counter Strike: Global Offensive, the spiritual sequel to Counter Strike Source, scheduled for an early 2012 release.
From the video below, it looks like in-game graphics received the most attention. However, Valve has promised new maps, new weapons, and the much-anticipated official support for matchmaking and leaderboards.
Interestingly enough, Global Offensive is also pitched for multi-platform support, with the game due for release on Xbox Live, the Playstation Network and of course Steam (for both Windows and Mac). Yet quite how this will work for competitive play remains uncertain, as it has long been suggested that PC gamers have the ‘edge’ in multi-platform situations, e.g. Shadowrun.
Valve has featured in gaming news recently regarding their not yet released free-to-play League of Legends competitor, DOTA 2. A few weeks back, Team Fortress 2 was also made free-to-play via Steam, raising questions about whether Global Offensive will follow suit.
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