Forget CoD & Battlefield – a free shooter has captivated me for years

Call of Duty and Battlefield were absolutely unrivaled for me in the shooter area for years. But in the meantime, the former shooter sensations are only a shadow of themselves and almost exclusively cause me frustration. An alternative was needed. Thanks to the recommendation of some Steam friends, I found what I was looking for and have been a happy Counter-Strike player ever since.

Counter-Strike instead of CoD & BF: Less frustration, more fun

Missing weapon balance, tons of bugs, hackers – in the last couple of years Call of Duty and Battlefield have messed with me. I’ve given both rows a chance time and time again, and I’ve always been disappointed. Ever since Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops, the fun of the game has continued to dwindle for me.

Although I still jump once a week with a few friends via Rebirth Island in CoD: Warzone (to the column on spieletipps.de) – but since switching to Caldera, Warzone is no longer what it used to be for me.

However, I currently only really have fun in shooters in one of Steam’s all-time favorites: Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Since the end of 2013, I’ve been making irregular trips to Dust 2, getting lost in Office, or forgetting what the hell the setup for the smoke grenade in Mirage looks like, with which I cut off the enemies’ view from the CT spawn .

I’ll admit it, I’m not exactly a pro at CS – although I have by now more than 550 hours of play on the clock. And even though I’m bobbing around in the bottom third in the rankings, CS:GO still makes me happy hell of a lot of fun! Why? Quite simply: I always have the feeling that I am responsible for my own failures. My opponent didn’t kill me because they used an exploit, the game didn’t recognize my hits, or they hid between two textures and were almost invisible. He was just better than me – or at least better prepared.

The history of Counter-Strike is full of fascinating stories:

Competitive, fair – and free too

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive probably won’t be the right replacement for every CoD and Battlefield-weary shooter fan – not least because it only available for PC is. It’s pretty hard to get started, since many of the mechanics work differently than the competition, if you play alone you will most likely quickly meet toxic team members and the graphics aren’t exactly one of the greatest strengths of the shooter classic.

But Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can score in completely different areas:

• Price: CS:GO has been playable for free since the end of 2018. However, if you want, you can buy the “Prime Status Upgrade” for 12.75 euros, which offers some advantages in matchmaking and additional rewards.
• Number of players: Hundreds of thousands of players romp around on the servers at all times of the day (source: Steam Charts). It is therefore never difficult to find a suitable match.
• Reasonable update policy: If the community discovers a bug in the game, the developers usually deliver a hotfix update within a few days.
• Own servers + modding: If you don’t feel like playing the classic Counter-Strike game modes, you can also have fun on dedicated community servers. These support all kinds of mods and also offer the option of increasing the update rate to 128 ticks per second, which has a positive effect on hit detection.

Counter-Strike is one of the most influential games in the shooter genre:

• Teamwork is the key to success: While in other shooters everyone somehow plays for themselves, in CS rarely anything works without communication. That’s why it feels all the more rewarding when a plan is successfully put into action.
• CS runs on every potato: CS:GO has never been a graphics board, but that has its advantages. Because even on computers that are getting a bit old or don’t offer much performance by default, the game often runs at acceptable frame rates.
• No leveling, no unlocking: Every player gets access to all weapons and equipment in the entire game right from the start. So you never feel like you’re at a disadvantage because you haven’t unlocked any attachments for that weapon yet.

Therefore my tip for you: If you are on the PC, CoD and Battlefield are no longer good for you and have a bit of frustration tolerance your own, you should definitely give Counter-Strike: Global Offensive a try.

Grab some friends (preferably one or two who already know the game a bit and give you a hand in the beginning) and look for a ranked match on Dust 2, Mirage, Inferno or Nuke – then we might even face each other! And until then always diligently rush B with the P90.