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Counter-Strike

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Posted by: kombo

Originally developed by fans as a mod for Half-Life, Counter-Strike’s fast tactical action quickly dominated the Half-Life community. Later released as a standalone product, Counter-Strike proudly totes the title of most popular online action game. Allowing gamers to alter character models and create their own maps, Counter-Strike offered gamers almost infinite replay ability, while developing a huge cult following. Now the game is headed to the Xbox, giving Xbox Live gamers to chance to enjoy Counter-Strike in all of its broadband glory. Features -Intense Xbox Live multiplayer action: Gamers can battle real players throughout the world with Xbox Live, strategizing and communicating with up to 15 other players. -A unique player-ranking system will allow gamers to select games with equal-caliber opponents, while Xbox Live helps ensure cheat-free playing fields. System Link functionality will also be available. -Xbox enhancements and exclusives: Players will be treated to new, graphically enhanced missions from Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, as well as new, exclusive content designed only for Xbox. Players can engage in the usual favorites, such as Bomb Defuse and Hostage Rescue, as well as play the new single-player component. -Realistic counter-terrorist experience: Players will experience a deep and involving counter-terrorism world, where danger abounds. Lead an elite team through the jungles of Asia, the cold regions of Eastern Europe, and the unbearable humidity of Colombia. -Real-life weapons and gadgets: Players can choose from more than 25 real-life weapons, including shotguns, sniper rifles, pistols, and other military artillery. New gadgets include a riot shield, blowtorch, and fiber optic camera, bringing new strategic elements to the Counter-Strike world. -Downloadable content: New downloadable content will be available via Xbox Live. Gameplay A Difficult Undertaking It should come as no surprise that many Counter-Strike junkies are looking at the Xbox version with a degree of skepticism. The development team at Ritual Entertainment has set quite a task for themselves porting Counter-Strike to the Xbox. Counter-Strike on the PC is tried and tested, perfected through a series of betas, each one improving the game and adding new game play elements. Based on this, it goes without saying that from the get-go the transition will be an arduous one. As they continue the porting process Ritual must tread lightly, as even a minor difficulty may have vast effects on the end result. To make the transition successful, Ritual will have to come up with new solutions to many of the problems the programmers faced while designing the original game. For example, expect a new weapon purchasing system or a longer time delay before the matches. If the winning team is allowed to keep their weapons for the next round, it would be unfair to give them valuable time while the losing team struggles to buy new equipment. To their credit, once they’ve completed the difficult initial conversion, balancing the game shouldn't be as tricky as it was on the PC. The mouse/keyboard combination, being much more responsive, is also more apt to take advantage of even the most negligible imbalances in a game. While some may consider an ungainly controller as a limiting factor to the game’s success on the Xbox, there’s plenty of room for improvement on the original model. Talk To Me Xbox Live's voice communicator has opened up a whole new dimension to online gaming, making complicated strategies easier and easier to carry out. By changing the focus of the game from "your ability to click on the other guys head in X seconds" to communicating with your team mates, public servers may very well find themselves participating in a level of strategy and cooperation previously unheard of. The infamous accuracy of the AK-47’s initial shot and the “spray and pray” mentality of the MP-5 and Colt users will vanish, and hopefully will eventually be replaced by more virtuous qualities, like communication and teamwork. In addition to voice communication, new paraphernalia like the riot shield, blowtorch, and fiber optic camera open up an awesome amount of strategic possibilities. Imagine a warehouse where counter-terrorists with riot shields are blocking terrorists from escaping through the back door. Meanwhile, snipers cover the front door, and two operatives use a blowtorch and the fiber optic camera to sneak through the ventilation system, catching the terrorists totally unaware. Between the gameplay and the many weapons and devices that facilitate it, gamers will have to do some careful planning to pull off a successful mission. But communication and weaponry aren’t the only elements that will receive a facelift. Graphics Lookin’ Good Watching media for the game was a pleasant surprise. While the modding community will inevitably be disappointed at the prospect of no longer being able to modify the game through their own processes, downloadable content may very well allow PC mods to become an Xbox reality. On its own initiative, Ritual has taken considerable steps to enhance the atmosphere. Character models are smoother, and more attention has been paid to the environments. Unlike PCs, all Xboxes are identical; allowing the visual and aural aspects of the game to be refined even further. Ritual won’t have to worry about incompatibilities, or supporting low-end computers, so we can expect a uniformly clean, smooth experience on the Xbox. Overall Counter-Strike on the Xbox has incredible potential, and, considering the superior Xbox Live service, it has arguably even more than it ever had on the PC. For now, we have the long wait until Counter-Strike appears in our living rooms. Cameron Armour -- FunXbox Staff
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