Much to everyone’s surprise, the latest Counter-Strike 2 has just been unveiled and the changes from the beloved CS:GO are immediately apparent. That’s why the Valve team has adequately titled their first video “Leveling Up The World,” because it’s an upgrade without forgetting what makes CS so special in the first place.
According to Valve, Counter-Strike 2 is the “largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history,” giving it a much-needed refresh to keep the game competitive amongst its peers. What are these changes? The company can’t help but flex some of them on their website and social media as early as now. These are all made possible by the all-new Valve Source 2 game engine.
The first revolves around Smoke. Something as simple as smoke acts way more naturally now like it would in real life. Players can shoot through smoke now, momentarily creating sightlines to view enemies from afar. It can also combine with other smoke sources to whip up air in a certain direction, move up/down stairways and corridors, and even work with the lighting around it.
Another improvement is in Tick Rate. This will remove even milliseconds of delay previously seen on online servers between actions and results. For such a competitive platform like we’re sure Counter-Strike 2 will be, this is a necessary systemic change. As such, this latest Sub-Tick System is a game-changer.
Last but not the least, all game resources get a significant visual overhaul. It’s not only your weapons that will look spick and span; the maps also receive do-overs to represent what the creators really envisioned. They’re no longer as hampered by the limitations of hardware and software.
From updated textures, lighting, elements, props, and others, you might have a harder time recognizing your classic favorite maps. They’re much brighter and arcade-y now, whether you prefer that or not.
Other effects, such as flames, explosions, blood, bullet hits, audio accuracy, and how that ties into the environment have been overhauled as well.
Excited to experience these for yourself? For now there’s a Limited Test available to a select minority of CS:GO players. This will just be a test to make sure that all their additions translate properly to real gaming experiences. The full game will be released next summer – and it’s a FREE upgrade from those who had CS:GO. As the site also says it, there’s “more to come,” so we can expect more functionality to appear in the full version.
What do you think?
