NBrid

No summary available.

Written by: Cali_Love

Counter-Strike Update 1.4



Notice: This review is intended for the latest update to CS, update 1.4. This review was not written for any of the previous versions/updates, so please don’t get this confused with a review for the entire game or any other update. Also this review will not be intensively long because the only thing the CS team altered really was the game play, and a few other minor things.





Counter-Strike is the most played and well known of the mods out for CS. The game itself has been out for quiet some time now. I myself have been playing the game for a little over a year, so I am well acquainted with CS, and I will use this experience to match up 1.4 with earlier updates.



The biggest thing that has changed controls wise is the jumping. In the previous versions you could jump as much as you wanted; however, in 1.4 once you jump, and you land, your running speed is reduced about half of its original speed. I expected this change because on CS’s webpage they said this change was happening, but when they said change, they really meant it. I understand why they did this, to help with the problem of bunny hopping (a glitch in CS earlier versions), on the other hand I think this change is very drastic and was not needed. Out of all the new enhancements, this is perhaps the worst, however the rest of what has changed is very welcomed.



The shooting has changed as well. Before you could be running along and still shoot very accurately, this however is not very real (unless it’s in the moves) because in real life if you run and gun your aim will be entirely off. So what did the CS team do to correct this inbalance? They made it so that if you attempt to run and gun your aim will be horribly off. CS has always been more realistic, and even though it is a FPS, it is nothing at all like most of the same genre (Q3, UT). It’s a fast paced game, however it is much slower than something like Quake. So making this change forces the game to be slowed down even more by forcing the player to stand still or crouch to aim, which improves their aim greatly. This is a welcomed addition because it stops players from running in Rambo style.



Like CS 1.3, 2 new maps have been added: cs_Havana and de_chateau. Chateau is a Hostage map, where the CT must rescue those dumb ass hostages. The map reminds me a lot of de_torn just because of the atmosphere. Havana is a bomb map; the T must plant the bomb and successfully get it to explode. This map is very one sided in favor of the T’s because the bombsite is so close to the T spawn area. These 2 new maps add more variety to the already huge map selection of CS. However, these 2 new maps are far from stellar.



The last real noticeable change I see is the spectator mode. In previous installments after you died you could fallow another player still in the game a la 3rd person view. They really beefed up this mode. Now after you die the view is automatically switched to follow the player you were killed by, however now you can switch between viewing modes. There is 3rd person view, where you follow behind the player. The next view is the actual thing the player is seeing, as if you controlled his player, like Q3A for those of you who have played that game. And the last view is a bird’s eye view, where you can see the whole map and see each player’s location. This new way of watching games is very much improved from the older version, and receives 2 big thumbs up.



Value and the CS team have added a built in Cheat protection program, which will help eliminate cheaters (until they find some way to hack it). However, what makes it worse for normal players is that now since the cheaters can't cheat (at least until they crack the valve stuff) they get pissed when they meet up with someone who can play (like me=). I’ve already been cursed at more then once for being a good, legit player. Kudos to Value for adding this. The first person view mode also helps to find cheaters, because if you suspect them of cheating you can see what they see and watch for suspicious activity.



Like I said, nothing in the way of visuals or sound was changed, so I won't go into it. There may have been other small upgrades, but they must not have been important enough to remember. These are the extremely noticeable ones.

Gameplay: 4.5
Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 3.5
Value: 5.0
Multiplayer: 5.0

Final Score: 5.0   (out of 5)