Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where do I start, shortened and commonly known as CSGO, the game is a 5v5 defusal focussed game that imposes many different strategies and experiences for all players. Over the course of all the time I have totalled playing this game, it goes without saying that I have developed a deep Love/Hate relationship with the game. The game is overwhelmed with so many pros, yet is overpowered by so many cons.
As there are too many to list, and for the sake of the tidiness and easy interpretation of the review, I will list them individually under their respective categories based ON MY OPINION. For people that seriously are considering playing the game, take these points into account. The game is still very enjoyable, but these are just things that I have to point out throughout my 2000 hours of playing this game.


𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒:
- The game features a wide range of map selections in which individuals are able to choose their own maps of their choosing, in which they play best at. Allowing for optimal chances of winning and success whilst executing plans and strategies in order to play the best and fairest match possible.

- The game has a wide market range, with many pixels that make your gun skins look and appear cool, although they provide no competitive advantage, it adds a great aesthetic and theme to the game, personally as of writing this review, I have a grey themed inventory, not very expensive but it looks very nice and definitely boosts my enjoyment and excitement for the game due to the variety and amount of options that there are available.

- It's free, you can try it out, if you enjoy it, you will have plenty of hours of fun without having to pay anything, and if you don't enjoy it, the free cost means that you didn't waste anything in the process of playing and trialling the game.

- The game is very interactive with its pro-scene, involving and allowing all players and spectators to watch at home or live at the event, with an ingame system that allows you to choose who wins the MAJOR events, providing ingame rewards that can further contribute to the status and aesthetic of your profile.

- CSGO has great graphics to provide (with the right gaming setup) and does not demand heavy duty PC parts to run, it is very friendly with budget setups and laptops without ruining the experience and enjoyment of the game.

- In comparison to its current competitor, VALORANT - the game has no "e-daters or discord kittens" and has teammates that use their microphone in game. Giving people a fun and enjoyable experience whilst being able to socialise and talk to people in game.

- Another comparison to VALORANT: CSGO buy phase is only 15 seconds long, contrary to valorant which has a 45 second buy phase, the action is fast and you can continue to buy past the buy phase, as long you are still within the "buy zone" which is the T or CT side spawn. The game is much more fast paced and is more difficult than VALORANT, challenging players and you have less people instantly one tapping you in the lower ranks.

- Issues about hackers will be discussed in the "Cons" down below, however, the only way to reduce the amount of hackers that are faced within the competitive match making system, is to purchase "CSGO Prime Status" which allows for players to gain access to the ranked game competitive playlist, have the ability see what their level is. By purchasing this, players gain access to prime status which most hackers avoid due to the cost and amount of spending required if they constantly get VAC banned.

- In order to make a more fun and competitive experience, the better population of players drift away from the basic ranked playlist that is provided and play on third party websites that set up matches for players. For example, FACEIT and ESL (which will also be discussed in the cons) are great sources of competition and improvement of gameplay in CSGO, with more serious players playing in this part of the game.


𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒:
- Although map selection is a good addition and aspect of the game, it is diminished through the choices of the matchmaking system that Lord Gaben provides us with. Being an ex-mid gold nova and now silver elite, I find myself still versing high gold novas and maybe some master guardians, with the occasional global elite hacker.

- Hackers are another issue that continues to rise within the game, as mentioned in the prior "con", the game is very known for the lack of strength in its anti-cheat system, being very prone to hackers, it makes the experience very much less enjoyable, especially since people are able to boost themselves and are more keen to hack due to its very easy access and free cost. Ultimately impacting the innocent player's elo and eventually rank.

- Personally I am not affected by the games player base however, other individuals may be. The game is filled with racist players and that is the accepted and common behaviour that the game has adapted to, almost every game you encounter a middle aged white man that overuses the n word and uses it as an insult when you choke your shots.

- Rank tracking is a big issue in CSGO >> there is no way to track where and what your progress is like whilst playing the game, typically players either "feel like they're about to rank up" or suddenly rank up. However, being able to track ranks is hard due to the inconsistency in the matchmaking system.

- In comparison to other games on steam and other games in general, CSGO's developers (Valve) do not contribute or care about the community too much. For example, VALORANT - CSGO's prime competitor, constantly rework the game and update agents in order to allow for the most enjoyable experience, whereas, CSGO have had a hacker issue since release. Players typically rely on third party websites such as FACEIT and ESL which have better anti-cheats and gameplay in comparison to the normal CSGO matchmaking system.

- Due to the lack of care for the matchmaking system, the time it takes to find matches and games is extremely inconsistent. There is a feature where whilst queuing for a match, players can see how many people in the world and their region are also queuing their selected playlist, which is commonly over 5000 searching consistently, however, it can take from 30 seconds to 30 minutes to find a game despite the 5000 players searching at the same time as you, rarely does it get to this point, but it is very annoying. This is another reason that players move to FACEIT and ESL as those third party websites both track your matchmaking rating and have faster and better matchmaking. Although, this is not normal CSGO MMR, rather it is the MMR that you have within those third party websites.


𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘:
Overall, the pro's heavily outweigh the con's as to why the game is good as the con's are not too big of a deal and there are ways to work around them. The game is very enjoyable and I highly recommend it to all players. It is definitely my favourite game and that is why I have so many hours on it, being the first of its kind, evolving from 1.6 to Source to Global Offensive, CSGO will always be a place of nostalgia, memories, laughs and funny moments. Over those hours that I have played on the game, I have acquired almost 30 gigabytes of shortened clips that are a constant reminder of the great fun and joy that this game never fails to bring me, highly recommend the game if you can stand the negative side of the game, but you get used to it. On a personal note, the main reason that I enjoy and continue to enjoy the game is because I am able to see and adhere to my own progress throughout all the time that I have played the game. My overall game sense and I also really enjoy watching the pro scene and how watching them can also help me learn, ultimately making the gaming experience more fun, as the better you play, the more fun the experience. Very good game, good luck and enjoy :)