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Counter-Strike: Source Review - PC

Counter-Strike (from now on, CS) has been the one true online FPS war game that has caught the attention of almost every gamer in the world. CS is without a doubt the be all end all GTA3 of online FPS. Millions of gamers round the world played it to its death, which some may also know as CS 1.6. Infamous maps including Dust, Office, and Inferno have made their mark as some of the best designed maps in any game, ever - and they continue to flourish. Counter-Strike: Source is the rebirth of this everlasting epiphany that some people simply take for granted. Let's take a look at what's new, what's better, and what's the same.

CS: Source is a graphically updated version of the original CS. All your favourite guns are still there, they don't have the annoying shield that was added for no reason in CS 1.6, and all those great maps that you love are still ready to be torn to pieces. For those that have never played CS before, shame on you! CS is a simple game, it's the terrorists verses the counter-terrorists. The CT's wear dark clothes, and the T's tend to wear light clothes, although they can be mistaken for CT's sometimes. There are two different normal match types - one where the T's must plant the bomb (usually somewhere near the CT spawn point), and then the CT's must try to defuse it if it's planted. This mode is definitely more enjoyable, as you're always frustrated when you can't shoot while disarming the bomb and worrying whether or not a Terrorist is going to stab you in the back.

The other game mode involves rescuing the hostages, which is fairly self explanatory. In maps like Office, Havana, Italy, and the newly added Compound, CT's must do everything within their power to rescue the hostages from where the Terrorists are keeping them hostage. Unlike in SOCOM on PS2 however, the terrorists can't move the hostages around. Planting the bomb and waiting for it to explode takes about the same amount of time as telling the hostages to follow you, and reaching your extraction zone.

Arguably the best characteristic of CS is the money issue. If you kill people, you get money. Depending on how you kill them you can get more money too. Say, a headshot is worth as much as a grenade kill. At the end of each round, each team gets money. Obviously the team that won the last round will get more than the other team, and so the other team must now try even harder to win. Being rewarded for victory is a lot better than trying to even it up by getting less money, and this is why CS is highly regarded as the best online FPS out there.

It doesn't matter if you think (continued next page)