Counter-Strike
Created | Updated May 27, 2003
Counter-Strike is a mod (modification) for the PC game Half-Life. Half-Life was first published in 1996, and Counter-Strike was created by people who were not affiliated with Valve, the company which made Half-Life, three years later, in 1999. Counterstrike is the most popular online PC game, beating others such as Team Fortress Classic and Quake 3 Arena. It is the first ever game, which has started off as a modification for an existing computer game, which has a retail version.
There are two teams in Counter-Strike, the Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. Both teams must attempt to meet certain objectives before a time limit is reached. For example, on some maps, the Counter-Terrorists must rescue the hostages which are held captive in the Terrorists' base, and the terrorists must stop them. Or perhaps the Terrorists' must plant a bomb at a particular bomb site, and the Counter-Terrorists must either kill the terrorists before the bomb is planted, or defuse the bomb when it has been planted.
What sets Counter-Strike aside from other FPS (First-Person-Shooter) games are several features. It is not as mindless a game as many other first-person-shooters, there are objectives which can be reached and this adds both excitement to the game and gives the players a choice to make. You also have to buy weapons and armour at the start of each round - you can get money from killing people or completing objectives - this is when one team wins the round, and a new round is started.
The final, and perhaps most important thing about Counter-Strike is that when you die, you stay dead. You do not come back to life, or 'respawn' until the end of the round, this can be up to 10 minutes. This means that life is very sacred in Counter-Strike, and this has two factors. It means that you are less likely to go in guns-a-blazing, because you are likely to get killed, and when you do, you will stay dead for a time. It also means that it is much more satisfying and exciting when you kill someone.
Half-Life was and still is a revolutionary game. However, it is now 5 years old and the technology is looking slightly dated. But there's life in the old dog yet, and Counterstrike has rekindled the flame. Whatever you may think of it, it is popular the world over amongst all types of gamers. It has a very loyal fan-base, and it is a work of genius. Whatever you personally may think about it, can half a billion gamers be wrong?
There are two teams in Counter-Strike, the Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. Both teams must attempt to meet certain objectives before a time limit is reached. For example, on some maps, the Counter-Terrorists must rescue the hostages which are held captive in the Terrorists' base, and the terrorists must stop them. Or perhaps the Terrorists' must plant a bomb at a particular bomb site, and the Counter-Terrorists must either kill the terrorists before the bomb is planted, or defuse the bomb when it has been planted.
What sets Counter-Strike aside from other FPS (First-Person-Shooter) games are several features. It is not as mindless a game as many other first-person-shooters, there are objectives which can be reached and this adds both excitement to the game and gives the players a choice to make. You also have to buy weapons and armour at the start of each round - you can get money from killing people or completing objectives - this is when one team wins the round, and a new round is started.
The final, and perhaps most important thing about Counter-Strike is that when you die, you stay dead. You do not come back to life, or 'respawn' until the end of the round, this can be up to 10 minutes. This means that life is very sacred in Counter-Strike, and this has two factors. It means that you are less likely to go in guns-a-blazing, because you are likely to get killed, and when you do, you will stay dead for a time. It also means that it is much more satisfying and exciting when you kill someone.
Half-Life was and still is a revolutionary game. However, it is now 5 years old and the technology is looking slightly dated. But there's life in the old dog yet, and Counterstrike has rekindled the flame. Whatever you may think of it, it is popular the world over amongst all types of gamers. It has a very loyal fan-base, and it is a work of genius. Whatever you personally may think about it, can half a billion gamers be wrong?
