Counter-Strike 2 premiere. Players summarize 11 years of CS:GO

Last night was quite emotional for shooter fans. After more than a decade, players said goodbye to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and the old game was replaced by a new one from Valve – CS2.

Counter-Strike 2 premiere – players and competitors sum up 11 years with CS: GO

The official premiere of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) took place on September 27 at 11 p.m. Polish time. It was a kind of passing of the baton, because Valve first closed the CS:GO servers, then updated the game and network infrastructure, and then allowed fans to play again.

Like the previous title, CS2 is available for free and distributed in a free to play system. However, players can purchase Prime, which costs just over PLN 60. Premium status allows matchmaking with other Prime players (which reduces the number of cheaters) and other bonuses such as weapon boxes and add-ons. Prime purchased in CS:GO transfers to CS2.

The game’s release night was also full of nostalgic entries from many players who spent long hours. A farewell video appeared on the game’s official account, the ESL organization did the same, and FACEIT flooded players with a sea of ​​statistics about the CS:GO era. One of the best professional players – Ukrainian Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev – revealed that he spent as many as 23,476 hours in the now disabled game.

Counter-Strike 2 – what’s new in Valve’s game?

Although the core gaming experience will remain similar, Valve has provided a lot of changes in Counter-Strike 2. The basis is to switch the game to the newer Source 2 engine – CS:GO has been based on the old Source engine since 2012. Changing the engine allows for many improvements, including graphical, technical and title mechanics. The big change is, among others: brand new lighting system.

The new features will also be available on maps. Flagship locations such as Dust 2 and Mirage have been improved, but their overall appearance and zone layout have not been changed. Major changes were included in the pool of improved maps, including: Nuke. There are also completely reworked maps, where the oldest locations were built from scratch.

The way smoke grenades work has also been completely changed. These actually disperse smoke, which is no longer just an effect, but physically reacts to flying bullets, grenade explosions or players passing through the smoke screen.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, because CS2 also introduced new weapon models, a changed system of purchasing them with the option of resale, a CS Rating system for measuring player skills, and … visible legs of our character.