in 1999 Minh Le & Jess Cliffe launched the first beta of Counter-Strike. Nearly 25 years later, Counter-Strike is still the best and most popular competitive team-based FPS on the market.

For those who never played Counter-Strike :
If you enjoy team-based FPS, just give it a try! Counter-Strike is easy to learn but hard to master. Initially you will need some patience but if you enjoy competitive FPS, this might become your go-to game. Game mechanics, weapon handling, audio, netcode - it's all top notch.

For veteran players coming back to CS2 :
Probably the main new feature of CS2 are the physically-based smokes. The new smokes are dynamic and alter the gameplay since you can dispel the smokes with grenades or bullets - for instance shotgun bursts trough a smoke can greatly enhance your visibility. Other than the new smokes, CS2 also comes with improvements to balancing, visuals & physics. While I recommend CS2 to CS veterans, it has some obvious issues Valve should address. Cheating in CS2 became more severe and Valve Anti-Cheat basically feels useless. Bring back Overwatch, please! Ranked play in Premier becomes horrible beyond 15k (around Top 30% of the players) - you'll find cheaters in many matches. In lower ranks you rarely encounter them, though. Competitive Mode has different ranks, but they don't make sense and are map-based for whatever reason. The lack of regular operations (seasons) is disappointing as well. Nevertheless, CS2 is a great experience and an upgrade over CS:GO.

in 1999 Minh Le & Jess Cliffe launched the first beta of Counter-Strike. Nearly 25 years later, Counter-Strike is still the best and most popular competitive team-based FPS on the market. For those who never played Counter-Strike : If you enjoy team-based FPS, just give it a try! Counter-Strike is easy to learn but hard to master. Initially you will need some patience but if you enjoy competitive FPS, this might become your go-to game. Game mechanics, weapon handling, audio, netcode - it's all top notch. For veteran players coming back to CS2 : Probably the main new feature of CS2 are the physically-based smokes. The new smokes are dynamic and alter the gameplay since you can dispel the smokes with grenades or bullets - for instance shotgun bursts trough a smoke can greatly enhance your visibility. Other than the new smokes, CS2 also comes with improvements to balancing, visuals & physics. While I recommend CS2 to CS veterans, it has some obvious issues Valve should address. Cheating in CS2 became more severe and Valve Anti-Cheat basically feels useless. Bring back Overwatch, please! Ranked play in Premier becomes horrible beyond 15k (around Top 30% of the players) - you'll find cheaters in many matches. In lower ranks you rarely encounter them, though. Competitive Mode has different ranks, but they don't make sense and are map-based for whatever reason. The lack of regular operations (seasons) is disappointing as well. Nevertheless, CS2 is a great experience and an upgrade over CS:GO.