First of all I bought the game in December 2015 right after release. Used to be pretty good at it too (Gold I to plat III range (WL 1.3 KD 1.5)). Haven't played a lot since 2019 and just got back to it the last few days. So this is more of a short review on how the game has changed.

The core gameplay hasn't changed a lot and is pretty solid, yes there are still some occasional hitreg or network issues but that has gotten a lot better over the years.

Maps changed a lot in the last 5 years and not for the better. Most maps are just way too big. There are so many rooms or sections that are almost never used for anything. ThemePark for example, a map I played a lot of games in over the years, has sections I never used and still have trouble navigating in. Overall liked to original maps better because now every map is basically the same big maze with a different flavor. The original maps where vastly different from each other and you actually needed to adjust to that, not so much with the new maps. My all time favorite maps are original House and Favela.
The game used to be defender sided since day one which is normal considering the nature of the game. Now with the new maps it got even more defender sided IMO so I really don't see why those changes were necessary.

New operators are often just flavors of existing ones. They get increasingly futuristic and stupid. Original operators and Season 1 ops are still the best ones hands down. Those also have a semi realistic touch to them which is really nice unlike pretty much all of the new ones. I often don't even know what the new ones can do because I almost never play them or don't bother learning their ♥♥♥♥. Since playing against the new operators never really gets me to think damn that ability looks cool that probably will never change.

The community got increasingly toxic and idiotic over the last 5 years which turns some matches literally into a match of wasting time. Especially in casual.
The game is basically a meta game. 95% copy some idiotic strat or tactic from whoever is popular on youtube or wherever and run with it. That makes the game at least on higher levels very predictable and not very challenging on a tactical level.

Nevertheless I had a good experience with the game for most of my time.
But with all the changes and issues I have with the game right now I think its not worth it to buy it at full price, especially not the deluxe, gold or whatever they call it. Get the cheapest version or get it on sale.
To me its not more than a 7/10 (2 or 3 years ago I probably had given it a 8/10).

First of all I bought the game in December 2015 right after release. Used to be pretty good at it too (Gold I to plat III range (WL 1.3 KD 1.5)). Haven't played a lot since 2019 and just got back to it the last few days. So this is more of a short review on how the game has changed. The core gameplay hasn't changed a lot and is pretty solid, yes there are still some occasional hitreg or network issues but that has gotten a lot better over the years. Maps changed a lot in the last 5 years and not for the better. Most maps are just way too big. There are so many rooms or sections that are almost never used for anything. ThemePark for example, a map I played a lot of games in over the years, has sections I never used and still have trouble navigating in. Overall liked to original maps better because now every map is basically the same big maze with a different flavor. The original maps where vastly different from each other and you actually needed to adjust to that, not so much with the new maps. My all time favorite maps are original House and Favela. The game used to be defender sided since day one which is normal considering the nature of the game. Now with the new maps it got even more defender sided IMO so I really don't see why those changes were necessary. New operators are often just flavors of existing ones. They get increasingly futuristic and stupid. Original operators and Season 1 ops are still the best ones hands down. Those also have a semi realistic touch to them which is really nice unlike pretty much all of the new ones. I often don't even know what the new ones can do because I almost never play them or don't bother learning their shit. Since playing against the new operators never really gets me to think damn that ability looks cool that probably will never change. The community got increasingly toxic and idiotic over the last 5 years which turns some matches literally into a match of wasting time. Especially in casual. The game is basically a meta game. 95% copy some idiotic strat or tactic from whoever is popular on youtube or wherever and run with it. That makes the game at least on higher levels very predictable and not very challenging on a tactical level. Nevertheless I had a good experience with the game for most of my time. But with all the changes and issues I have with the game right now I think its not worth it to buy it at full price, especially not the deluxe, gold or whatever they call it. Get the cheapest version or get it on sale. To me its not more than a 7/10 (2 or 3 years ago I probably had given it a 8/10).