Counter-Strike: Source

List Price: $19.99 Discount Price: $14.12

Features:

• Single-elimination, team-based online shooter
• Completely overhauled with better graphics, new characters, items, and environments
• Package includes Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Day of Defeat: Source
• Real-world physics adds depth the gameplay
• Internet connection required for online play

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

An Addicting First-person Shooting Game.... [Posted on 2007-11-16]
Counter-strike Source is a fantastic gaming experience. The game is gorgeous (if your computer is able to handle the graphics) and the sound is intense.

At first, you may be disoriented (I began running around shooting like a madman as if I was playing a Quake game). But soon, you will realize how to play. You can't just run into a room with guns a-blazing.

The game interface is simple (point and shoot) but the game play may be difficult or even frustrating; practice makes perfect though!

I play this game with my house-mates and we love every minute. Buy it and host a LAN party; just don't kill each other if you lose. Some people who play this game online play too often (get a life you losers)!

Eh. Doesn't hold up at the end of 2007 [Posted on 2007-11-24]
This game isn't bad, and it does have a huge number of players, but it isn't all that good either. The game is completely multiplayer-only, and the graphics and weapons are more complex on the completely free multiplayer portion of F.E.A.R. Other problems include unimaginative level design by third parties, annoying voice-overs, and a strange astandard default keyboard layout. Personally, I feel like I've wasted the ~$20 I blew on this game, given that I already had a copy of that free game. Probably should have held on to my money and used it to pick up the Orange Box. This game doesn't hold up on its own to warrant blowing any real money on it. It's worth fiddling with if you can get it for free or bundled with a good game, but it certainly wasn't worth $20.

An excellent game that steam won't let you play [Posted on 2007-12-24]
Counter-Strike Source itself is a great game. Repeatedly starting a round over in the same map can get tiresome, but for the most part the gameplay is enough to keep you going. IN my rating, the game itself deserves at least a 4 star rating. Because you have to have the steam client to run it, however the game is, for me, dragged down to a 2.
In my experience, you'll only be able to click on the counter-strike icon, get it to load, get it connected to a server and play, about 45% of the time. The other 65% of the time, well, there are a variety of steam related problems. Steam updates are the most frequent, i think, though they don't last too long it is annoying to be told when you can or cannot play a game that you bought fair and square. Being disallowed from setting up your own server with bots because "Steam is not connected to the internet". Steam's tendency to remove the game from your "My Games" list, deny that you own it and have installed it, then ASK YOU TO BUY IT AGAIN, is more troubling. The fact that this has happened 4 times in the 6 months that I have owned the game is perhaps criminal. The customer support is useless, waiting 2 weeks to respond to queries because there is nothing useful in the forums.
The kicker is that people who have stolen illegal copies of the game, cracked not to need steam, will be able to click the icon and play the game while you're looking for your installation disc.

A Simple Game With A Somewhat Steep Learning Curve [Posted on 2008-01-16]
I never got a chance to play Counter-Strike till only recently when I bought this latest version of it. I'm however an experienced FPS gamer who played a lot of Unreal Tournament, Tribes 2, Raindbow Six, etc. There are some nice things about this game that I think I should mention first.

My computer is pretty basic for this day in age and it had no problem running this game at max graphics. The graphics are great though. The textures are very crisp and the models are detailed enough to look good overall. The thing is that they just didn't over do it. Who says you need photo real graphics to look good? So I think the graphics are great. They are very clean and acceptable on the eyes.

The gameplay though is what this game is supposed to be all about. This game is all about learning the little things to be able to get the first and most effective shot off before your enemy does. When you come in contact with the enemy there is usually literally less than a second before someone is dead. If you lag just a little bit then you can have a really hard time enjoying this game online because you will be dying a lot more than people with lower pings.

Now there is some strategy in this game. You can learn a lot of little things that can help you take down the enemy before they are even aware you are there. You can use sound to your advantage to locate an enemy's position before you make contact. You can also learn effective spots on the map to be at to flank or surprise an enemy who is just running and gunning around the map. Flashbangs can be very effective in this game to blind enemies before attacking them head on. There's a lot of little things like this but usually it comes down to being in the right place at the right time and ofcourse fast reflexes and a good connection.

I've been growing out of games lately so I tend to look for innovative games that can hold my interest these days. I have already uninstalled this game for that reason but I do recognize why this game is/was so popular and why it's a great LAN game. I'd suggest playing this on LAN rather than on the internet with strangers to get the most out of it.

So if you are looking for a game where you can pick up and play it and do the same thing for hours upon hours at a time occasionally pulling off some really nice kills then this game may be for you. If you can't stand dying due to luck or just really effective/cheap strategies then I would look elsewhere.

I'd say if you are aged 13 to 17 then you will probably get the most enjoyment out of this game. Since I have a job now and everything I just shrug this game off because it's now apparent that it's a waste of time after you get used to it.

Fun... but repetitive, and full of annoying microphone-abusing children. [Posted on 2008-03-25]
First of all, I've been a Counter-Strike gamer since CS 1.3 for HL1. The game has always retained the fun factor. HOWEVER, as the community has grown, so has the nuisances. Microphone abusers. TKers. Hackers. You name it. If you can find a clean server where people just want to play the game rather than talk a storm and talk about how they won last night's clan match, then you'll discover an awesome game.

Second of all, even though the game is fun, it gets highly repetitive, very quickly. 99% of the servers play either de_dust2, de_dust, or cs_office. Honestly, there are a bunch of great maps out there, but the server admins love to make those maps 24/7. How much office/dust can one possibly play??

All in all, it's a fun multiplayer game, if you can avoid the idiots and nuisances. Pretty simple: Terrorists vs. Counter-Terrorists; kill the opposing team; rescue hostages; or plant bombs.

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