DAILY MANIFESTO

Counter-Strike GO Will Bring Gamers Back To PC Gaming

Posted on Saturday, February 4 @ 09:37:05 Eastern by Jonathan_Leack

Before the days of Call of Duty and Halo, PC gaming had a tight leash on the first-person shooter genre. Games like Unreal Tournament and Quake housed extremely competitive communities, and their high skill-caps paved the way for e-sports and LAN tournaments where thousands of the coolest people around the world would gather to stare at monitors without moving for hours. Counter-Strike was my game of choice, and I can't think of another game that was as competive, popular, and balanced as it was in its prime. Now that the series is making a comeback this year with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, I couldn't help but wonder just how much of an impact the game will have, and what it can mean for PC gaming's growth.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will not only be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, but it will support competitive cross-platform play for the first time ever in an FPS between the PS3 and PC. You'll finally be able to scream at your friend who's playing with you whether you're on the same platform or not. So you might be thinking, "I'll just go out and get the console version, I don't want to buy a PC!", but not so fast. If you talk to anyone about Counter-Strike and what has made it such a special series, you'll find out that the qualities that made it so great won't translate well onto consoles.

For one, headshots are extremely important in Counter-Strike, and they will also play a huge part in Counter-Strike: GO. Being able to quickly aim at a guy bunnyhopping across Aztec ruins before popping him in the head is what separates the boys and the men. What gives PCs an edge in this regard is that they're played on keyboard and mouse by default which offers a much higher level of precision that analog sticks can't compete with. Now, it's true that the PlayStation 3 version of Counter-Strike: GO will support USB and bluetooth keyboards and mice, but games like Unreal Tournament 3 have offered the option in the past and very few players ever bothered. You're better off just playing at a desk with a PC.

Steam's functionality isn't bad on the PlayStation 3 by any means, but it is noticeably handicapped. The PC version of Steam is full of community and profile options which play a part in games like Counter-Strike feeling even more social and group-oriented. The competitive side of Counter-Strike is fueled by group play where voice chat is practically required, and finding a rival group to play against you and your buddies is the greatest way to enjoy Counter-Strike. Using tools like mIRC to build a legion of players up and play in leagues, scrims, and rated games gives a great sense of reward. Valve knows how bring balance to first-person shooters, unlike Infinity Ward, so if you think you'd ever enjoy playing competitive matches with tons of social options, PC is by far and away your best bet.

Mods are another reason Counter-Strike has remained so popular to this day. Players have made thousands of maps, custom weapon models, player skins, UIs, and more over the years. You can mod all of the players in the game to look like Joe Pesci, turn your knife into an energy drink, and then download a map that has been designed to look exactly like your local Wal-Mart. How can you say no to that? I remember spending hundreds of hours playing kz and surf maps, which were extremely unique sets of levels that incorporated the platforming of Mario and the awesomeness of hair in the 80s. Sure, you can plop down $60 and get a console version and be stuck with what's on the disc, but why do that when you can get the PC version which will let you do whatever you want whenever you want. Not a hard decision.

Lastly, Counter-Strike: GO might not be the next Crysis, but better graphics don't hurt. Consoles are limping along with more than five years of rust while computer hardware is evolving rapidly. If you could choose to play the same game with better graphics, why wouldn't you?

Once the multi-platform competition commences, and console players start getting headshotted through doors and quick-scoped after coming around a corner, reality is going to set-in. Counter-Strike: GO is going to be a very fun and competitive first-person shooter, but the PC experience is going to be drastically better. This among many other reasons is why PC gaming is on the rise, and 2012 will kill the myth that the platform is dying.

Related Games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Tags: PC, Valve

Comments

xDUMPWEEDx
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 5:32 pm
I am getting the PS3 version. I will be using a mouse+keyboard setup with my PS3, and furthermore the PS3 version supports cross platform play with PC players. While it's true that most PS3 players will simply use a DualShock 3 against PC players and get utterly annihilated, I won't fall into that noob PS3 group that does so. This is a great article though Jonny, and I can't wait to play against you doing some PS3 vs PC head-to-head matchups :).

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 5:40 pm
You were Cal-I Team Fortress Classic, so if you're using a keyboard & mouse then you'll be a cold-blooded grim reaper. :)

See you ingame.

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sliverstorm
Joined: Jun 2007

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 7:29 pm
They're releasing on PS3 with no aim assist and m+k support?

Ballsy and awesome.

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Masterwabbit
Joined: Mar 2009

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
No aim assist with a controller?

Jeeves, fetch me my popcorn! I'm going to watch the Valve forums explode with Call of Duty morons who complain about "quickscoping" not working!

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Masterwabbit
Joined: Mar 2009

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 9:21 pm
The one thing I'm looking forward to is the eventual PS3 v. PC matchups, where the PS3 people use controllers and the PC users use keyboards & mice. As a PS3 owner, I would participate in such an event with great gusto.

... And promptly be annihilated because my aiming stinks. Also, I prefer the mouse to the right analog stick for aiming. The former's more accurate for shooting things in an FPS.

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Chunibrow
Joined: Mar 2010

Posted: Feb 4th, 2012 at 11:00 pm
I don't think this game is going to sell well at all on consoles as the CS style will not translate and people know this/will figure this out. Also depending on what changes are made the CS crowd may shun it and find it inferior to the CS source they have played for so long and it may not sell well on PC either

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friggest
Joined: Mar 2008

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 8:34 am
On my favorite servers I boasted a hs ratio of over 0.5. I still was only mediocare by cs standards. analog controls will get destroyed.

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 9:22 am
Nice to see other CS players on here. Isn't it amazing when you watch videos of people who have headshots down to a science?

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Bras
Joined: Jul 2008

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 4:32 pm
When someone says "headshot" I can only think of the name "HeatoN" and how amazed I was when I saw him do 3 of them with just 4 D.Eagle bullets.

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Ah those were the days. HeatoN, Potti, Ksharp... They were like warlords of their time.

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Squiggy
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 8:51 am
I'm not really a Counterstrike fan, but I'd get it for PC if I got it at all. Mouse and keyboard is just better for first person games, for me personally. The cross-platform play between PC and PS3 is nice too, but it just reminds me of how Microsoft needs to take the stick out of their asses and allow the 360 to play cross-platform, at LEAST with PC Steam users.

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xDUMPWEEDx
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 7th, 2012 at 12:11 am
As was stated in the article, the PS3 version supports mouse and keyboard. No excuses.

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JunkyArd
Joined: Aug 2006

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 1:00 pm
Ah the days of PC shooters in their prime. CS was a blast, but I liked RTCW (Return to Castle Wolfenstein) the best. That game was my life back in the day.

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
I think everyone had their FPS of choice, but one thing we all shared is that we were HOOKED! Maybe it was that online gaming was still fresh, or maybe it was our age. All I know was that no matter what I play I can never enjoy it as much as I did CS.

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xDUMPWEEDx
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 7th, 2012 at 12:12 am
RTCW was a really fun game back when it released. Shortly after that though, BF1942 released and I was addicted to that for a while :0

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C_nate
Joined: Apr 2009

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I can't even remember how many hours I lost playing CS back in the day. Used to play at RUNArena which I loved because they had another server that had tons of amazing custom maps. Was pretty deadly with the scout and took much joy and countersniping awpers with it. I'm surgical with this *****, Jake!

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Custom maps for the win! Remember fy_iceworld where there were tons of weapons on the floor and narrow corridors?

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C_nate
Joined: Apr 2009

Posted: Feb 5th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
Oh yeah, people used to run up crazy scores on that map. Some of my favorites though were cs_mouse which was a map that was a giant kitchen, some starwars map with a giant jawa sandwalker thing that was drivable, a warehouse map filled with crates in a maze like fashion that was knives and desert eagles only, an arena map with only 2 pillars and the floor was littered with pump shotguns, and another map that was 2 bunkers across from each other filled with awps and scouts. Fun times.

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Jonathan_Leack
Joined: Jan 2012

Posted: Feb 6th, 2012 at 8:16 am
I've played all of those. I don't know if that's sad or cool, but I was a massive CS-head, as I imagine you were.

Cheers.

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Chunibrow
Joined: Mar 2010

Posted: Feb 6th, 2012 at 12:21 am
Cs_crackhouse

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Ranim
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Feb 6th, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Indie games, RPGs and MMOs will be the biggest PC narratives of this decade. Counter Strike will attract quite a few, but I'll bet a majority of the folks that will play the new Counter Strike will end up being TF2 and CS:S users.

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