CS:GO

[Scotty]

So Valve came out with their latest installment to the Counter Strike franchise, and I must say, I've missed this series.  For those familiar with the previous games, it's not much different past new maps, improved graphics, and a new game mode or two.  For those who haven't played the game, but have enjoyed other first person shooters such as the Battlefield games, or Call of Duty games, you're in for a big surprise.

The whole basis of Counter Strike is that you are a shoulder firing terrorist or counter-terrorist.  You have no iron sights to view from, and you have to eliminate the enemy, defuse their bombs, rescue their hostages, and you have a set amount of rounds to do it in.  You don't have re-spawn (unless you select that one specific game style from the four available), which means that once you die, you have to spectate the rest of your team until the round ends, at which point you start over with a new round.  Best of so many (often 10 or 30 rounds) wins.

The benefits of this style of game play are tremendous.  You find yourself checking every corner as you enter a room, you aim more carefully, and the kills are much more rewarding.  You don't want to go into spectator mode, so it's you, and the man across the room from you.  Kill or be killed.  As you kill others, or your team wins rounds, you accrue more revenue to buy better gear when the next round starts.  You can buy Kevlar helmets, body armor, powerful sniper rifles, wicked sub-machine guns, or even squad automatic weapons (e.g. belt-fed machine guns for the Rambo's out there).

Strategy is critical, and it helps to have a team of friends who are open to communication, be it through Valve's in-game communication system, or a third-party tool such as Teamspeak.  For those who are bored of modern FPS games, I highly recommend this game if they haven't tried a previous Counter Strike game.  It's refreshing in today's age of monotony, despite the fact that it's been around for over a decade in previous renditions.

Give it a try if it intrigues you.  It's only $15 dollars on Steam, and I've already recruited half a dozen people.  We regularly use my personal teamspeak server to play on, and all are welcome to join.  I'd love to see a full room of friends playing together.

I do have to warn people who haven't played it though.  It is very competitive.  You may likely end up in a game where you get slaughtered every round.  You may find that the opposing team wipes you off the map within 60 seconds through straight headshots, and the key is to not get discouraged.  You need to realize the faults in your strategy, and adapt to them.  If you go down hallway "A" and get whacked three times in a row, try going down hallway "B" and get behind the attackers for a good flanking attack.  If you haven't played a CS game in the past, there is a bit of a learning curve with regards to strategy, but once you are able to adapt, and improve your level of strategy, the reward is indescribable.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/730/

Let me know if you're interested, and have Teamspeak.  You are more than welcome to join us, and I promise, you won't be disappointed.

[Lingus]

Hah, CS. I haven't played this game since the original. I was playing CS before I played Half Life actually. Definitely a different game than your standard FPS with next to no strategy required. I should probably try out the new version at some point.

[Scotty]

... Definitely a different game than your standard FPS with next to no strategy required....

On the contrary, I'd argue otherwise.  There sure is a different aspect to the game requires a different strategy, and a lot of people don't abide by any since they play random games with people who would rather troll the voice channel, but when you play with a group of guys who communicate together as a whole team, it's a game changer.

[Lingus]

Sorry, I meant other FPS games don't require a strategy. I mean for the most part, you can pretty much just rush and shoot people and die and respawn and get power ups and blow everyone's face off and what not. Of course, I'm exagerating. There's certainly strategy that you can use in any FPS, but CS always seemed to require it. It always felt more real than any other FPS I've ever played.

[Scotty]

Sorry, I meant other FPS games don't require a strategy. I mean for the most part, you can pretty much just rush and shoot people and die and respawn and get power ups and blow everyone's face off and what not. Of course, I'm exagerating...

Ah, well with that clarified, I still say on the contrary.  That's not an exaggeration, that's actually how it's done more often than not.  ;D

When people are given the option of running in, dying quickly, then waiting two minutes before they can repeat the same short-lived mistake again, they tend to slow down, think more, and it's overall more conducive to strategy than just dying, re-spawning, and your only hurdle is the short distance you might have to run to get back into the action.

[Lucifer]

It's not that other FPS games don't require strategy, it's that their default game modes don't so that they can appeal to a larger, more casual crowd. If you look around in nearly any FPS, you'll find a game mode that features one-life rounds similar to that of the counter-strike series. You can also get the same effect in any FPS by joining a clan and playing competitively; even when played in a normal team death match, every death becomes important and you value your life that much more.

What makes Counter Strike unique is that it's a step in between the average FPS and a game like Day Z. In your average FPS, if you die you don't actually lose anything but a couple minutes. In DayZ, when (not if, aha) you die you lose everything, and not only that, the hours upon hours it took to gain said everything. Counter Strike fits cozily in between with its currency system, causing you to attach some meaning to your life, but not quite stuffing your dick down a toaster Day Z style when the inevitable happens.

I'm still homeless, but as soon as I'm able to set up my computer somewhere I'll throw some money at steam and join ya'll.

[ARTgames]

For anyone reading this that does not know much about counter strike there is an official "gun game" mode in which you do respawn when you die. There are also many custom game modes people make them self's on private servers. These can range from almost any game mode imaginable if your not into the default ones.