Technology Counter-Strike 2 has officially launched, while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is gone

[CyberTech]

Content source

https://www.neowin.net/news/counter-strike-2-has-officially-launched-while-counter-strike-global-offensive-is-gone/

After months of private testing, Valve has officially launched Counter-Strike 2 on Steam. Like the previous game in the series, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the new game is a free-to-play multiplayer team shooter where players take the roles of either terrorists or counter-terrorists in online matches.


Here's the official info about the game from Valve:

A free upgrade to CS:GO, Counter-Strike 2 marks the largest technical leap in Counter-Strike’s history. Built on the Source 2 engine, Counter-Strike 2 is modernized with realistic physically-based rendering, state of the art networking, and upgraded Community Workshop tools.

In addition to the classic objective-focused gameplay that Counter-Strike pioneered in 1999, Counter-Strike 2 features:

• All-new CS Ratings with the updated Premier mode
• Global and Regional leaderboards
• Upgraded and overhauled maps
• Game-changing dynamic smoke grenades
• Tick-rate-independent gameplay
• Redesigned visual effects and audio
• All items from CS:GO moving forward to CS2

Here are the hardware requirements for the game

• OS: Windows 10
• Processor: 4 hardware CPU threads - Intel Core i5 750 or higher
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: Video card must be 1 GB or more and should be a DirectX 11-compatible with support for Shader Model 5.0
• DirectX: Version 11
• Storage: 85 GB available space

Of course, Valve has made sure you can play Counter-Strike 2 on your portable Steam Deck as well.

If you are wondering if Valve was going to keep Counter-Strike: Global Offensive going, well the answer seems to be "No", as Counter-Strike 2 has completely replaced it on Valve.

That may be an issue for long-time CS:CO players, especially the ones who play in paid online tournaments. PC Gamer has posted a survey of several eSports players, and many of them feel that the older game was superior compared to Counter-Strike 2. One of them, Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen, stated:

It’s not better than CS:GO yet, not even close. It is way better than when CS:GO came out [in 2012] though. There are a lot of things we will have to get used to and then there are some things I think are just straight up good and bad

It will be interesting to see how the player counts for Counter-Strike 2 will compare to CS:GO in the days and weeks to come.

 

[ashok.silwal]

I’ve been playing CS2 since it dropped, and it’s definitely a mixed bag. The updated visuals and new features like dynamic smoke grenades are cool, but a lot still feels off. The hit registration seems inconsistent, and some maps feel unbalanced compared to CS. It’s definitely a step up from the early days of CS, but there’s a learning curve, especially for those of us who were really comfortable with how CS played.