Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

[NoahTheBoa]

Just to add to Deslock's updates. I've played about 6 hours of the beta so far.

-Spray patterns are semi-random. Much more random than source or 1.6. Spray'n'pray tactics do not work, I've emptied 30 rounds from the AK at very close range and done 0 damage. I like this since it rewards aiming and burst fire.

-It looks really different. There's fog everywhere that makes visibility at a distance kinda hard, but they've just changed how the fog works in the latest update and I haven't played since then. The T models blend in with the backgrounds a lot of the time since the colors aren't as saturated. I miss the bright vibrant colors of 1.6 and source.

-The AUG and Krieg 550 are the best guns in the game. While zoomed in they fire at a good rate and have very little recoil. Zooming in is much more important now that the player models don't contrast with the background as much. In source you could get a HS with the AK from practically across the map, but thats very hard to do in GO.

-The Deagle is still the best pistol.

-Most importantly, it still feels like CS.

[Deslock]

And the HE grenades seem to have a much smaller damage radius. From what I have noticed so far is that the 'nade has to be right on you when it explodes to get a kill, and the damage falls off rapidly as the distance from the blast increases. This should prevent 'nade spamming.
The Molotov Cocktail could be an interesting weapon. I've been using it as an area denial weapon, usually to slow up the other team just enough for my team to position itself behind good cover.
I agree with Noah. Spray n' pray does NOT work. Well-aimed bursts are the key.
I am still trying to find someplace to send some of the videos I have made. Is there a generic Steam complaints/cheating forum somewhere? I'm seeing waaaaaaay too many first-shot head-shot kills with pistols from a long way off. The "fog" effect should be preventing that with any weapon that isn't scoped.

[NoahTheBoa]

I think the steam forums are the best place to report anything

[bullet4o1]

I wish I got an invite

[Deslock]

Well, I am not longer able to play CS:GO. They updated the beta, and now requires at least Shader Model 3 as a minimum. I'm still running an AMD Sempron 3000+, socket 754, with a Radeon x800 Pro (SM2). It was running the game just fine before this last update. Bummer.

[NoahTheBoa]

Anybody else get into the beta??

Thoughts from the last week or so of the beta:
-Arsenal Mode is kind of a lame version of reverse gungame. You start with good guns, there are only about 5 levels, and you only change weapon at the beginning of a new round. The map, de_lake, is alright, nothing special.

-They just switched the map to cs_italy, I've only played a little bit of it so far. But MOST IMPORTANTLY they added the chickens back.

-Oh, and they added the famas, galil, and some more pistols.

[Flash]

Nope I haven't gotten the invite yet so I'll have to keep living vicariously through y'alls updates!

[BigBiker05]

Who needs my +1? First come first serve.

* Gave to buzzy

[Flash]

Thanks for spreading the love Biker, I'm glad more of us are getting a chance to play! Chaffe hooked me up a while back.

[Dirty Dan]

Method for getting an invite? I had about 2,000 CSS hours, very curious how this one is.

[Flash]

If you haven't taken the survey already do so by following the link here:

http://blog.counter-strike.net/index.php/facts/

[Will T.]

I must say, I really like what I've seen of CS:GO so far. I got my invite earlier this week and I've been pleasantly surprised by a lot of it. It seems to be a vast improvement over CS:S.

Likes:
-Arms Race and Demolition modes - I really like the instant-respawn of Arms Race as it means getting to play a lot rather than dying 25 seconds into the round and waiting 3 additional minutes for it to end. The weapons-progression setup in both Arms Race and Demolition is also fun as it adds some variety as well as something to strive towards.
-The ability to take control of bots - this is a wonderful addition IMO, as it means dying isn't the end of your participation for the round. See above regarding dying shortly after round start.
-Visually it looks great even with the settings lowered a little.
-Plenty of new maps to explore at this point, as well as most of the old ones with shiny new paint.
-The soundtrack adds a lot of drama, tension, and overall interest to the game scenarios that just isn't there in CS:S.
-The hostages actually look like hostages this time!
-The "Lake" Demolition map is laid out very similarly to the "Boathouse Finale" chapter of Death Toll in L4D (not the house, but the map as a whole). According to this Counter-Strike Wiki, this was deliberate, and apparently St. Marc is based on Swamp Fever in L4D2, but I'm not as familiar with that campaign to notice it myself.

Dislikes:
-Demolition mode feels a little cramped with only one bomb site per map - everyone just rushes into the middle and the bomb itself kind of gets ignored. I have yet to see a match end with the bomb going off. Might as well just have it be Team Deathmatch mode really. (Some maps are better about this than others.)
-Adding onto the above, there are areas of certain Demolition maps which are pretty much unused because there's no reason to go there. Example: the area up the hill from the main house in Lake.
-I'm not that good at aiming to begin with, and the bullet spread makes it worse. I can empty a cartridge into someone only to be killed by them and find out they only took 10% damage from all the bullets that I thought I'd hit them with.
-Some of my favorite CS:S maps aren't in this one...
-Having kills stolen at the last second by stray bullets in Arms Race makes me sadface.

Overall I very much prefer this one to the previous titles. I'm not a big Counter-Strike player, but I'm really enjoying this one so far, more than I ever have with CS:S.

[Dirty Dan]

Alright I filled out the survey. If anyone gets any additional invites they will not be wasted on me

[TheCarpe]

Will T. was kind enough to toss an invite my way

I admittedly haven't gotten a lot of time to play it, but what I have played seems pretty solid. The weapons feel different, but that might be because I'm coming off of years of CS:S experience so any little change seems glaring

I'm off work tomorrow and school is over, I'll try and put some time in.

[Fano]

Having never played CS 1.6 or CS:S too seriously, I'm really enjoying this beta, I'm able to hold my own on the one server that I ping well to and is decently populated, bots obliterate me though, such hackers.

Hopefully I'll get to play with some of you guys in the future.