User Reviews (21 - 31 of 248)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Counter-strike the best mod/game EVER!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: November 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Counter-strike started from nothing about 2 1/2 years ago with 1 type of game play and several weapons to choose from.

Now almost 3 years later the game is now the most popular mod on the net, with more player minutes then tfc and hl combined. There are two teams counter terrorist, and terrorists each team has its own different unique abilities, characters and weapons. Some of which include grenade, mp5, m4a1 and ak47 just to mention a few there are alot more. The game is team based obviously, there can be 20 players in game game most of the time.

Counter-strike is also one of the most realistic games I have ever played, and with that realism it is also Extreamly fun. Me being here since the very beginning since day one and playing 3/4 the time its been out, I can honestly tell you that this game never loses its fun/appeal.

There are several types of gameplay for this mod: Bomb diffusion or planting the bomb if a terror, assasination/protection, hostage rescue/protect and escape.

Having those different modes of game play gives users a great deal more to experience. Personally i think the old maps own the new ones but thats just me.

Personal note Get your work done before you start playing this cause you won't stop playing it once you start. I HAVE SPOKEN. PLAY ON

Bestest, Awsomest, Team FPS ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Maybe even best the game ever... but I don't want to argue about it. Heres some quick ratings for those of you considering this game.(Out of 10):
Control: 9.5
Key Binding helps out, and the default keys are very well placed. However, it does take a long time to buy weapons if you haven't memorized the hotkeys, which is a pain for beginners.

Graphics: 8
This is the only area where the game suffers at all is in the graphics department. With a good video card, things look fine, but everything looks slightly gritty. Compared to modern graphic superpowers, like Morrowind and Splinter Cell (for PC), this game is lacking slightly.

Sound: 8.5
The excellent real-world weapon sounds keep the mood right, and adds to gameplay tremendously. Sound can be a major strategic aspect in Counter Strike, and the way it was excecuted in the game was pretty good.

Overall Rating: 9.5
Bear in mind, this is not the average score from above. This is more of a "fun-factor" (sorry gamepro). This game is a must have for any PC-Shooter fan. The only compaint I have is that in public, online games, people tend to steal kills and not play with the team, which can't be helped. The only solution to this is really to form a clan of your own, and play with your friends. Once you get a game going playing with people you know, devising strategies, usinging teamwork, this game truly shines. It's plenty of fun without using a whole lot of teamwork, but I would recommend playing more organized games if you can.

Just my 2 cents
-...

Sketchy at least: Can we say "HACKERS?"

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: October 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Don't buy this if your just going to play counter-strike. you can download it for cheap/free. if your buying this, it means your connection is slow. If your connection is slow, YOU ARE GOING to get slaughtered in multiplayer. even cable modems are slow. 56 or 28k modems are not going to stand a chance in the game. you need minimal DSL, preferably dual cable lines, or a T1. If you don't have the connection to download it, your not gonna survive in the game.

That's just the connection speed. Contrary to belief, Counter-strike (CS) is FULL of hackers. people use external programs to change things for them in the game. they have hacks that let them see where you are, shoot through walls, auto-aim hacks that aim for the head. No flashbag or smoke hacks, so special weapons that are meant to stun/confuse you have no effect. there are also no damage hacks/scripts which make people INVICIBLE. you CANNOT kill them. these hacks also make it possible to fall 40+ feet and take no damage. there are also weapons hacks. They can make a shotgun get a headshot at 400+ meters aganist a full health, fully armored opponent. it's totally not cool. They can shoot through brick walls with berettas and get HEADSHOTS. they can even use these hacks to get jumping headshots with sniper rifles. the online CS serveres are full of hackers. there's a new hack whicha allows players to run extremely fast, essentially you can be in their spawn point in seconds on the game starting. Meaning you, if your new, haven't bought weapons are are almost totally defensless. There's not much you can do, even the server moderators use hacks occasionally.

Now the other players. there are alot of players with no respect for anyone. they will kill you to get your weapon if your on the same team. they'll finish off the guy you've been stalking because they want a kill. they'll just shoot you if they're feeling mad/angry/sad. there's alot of uncool people outthere.

New players, beware, there are alot of older (2 or more years of CS) out there with fast connections and good vid cards. they will own you. There are even a few with T1s, Gforce 4 128ddr, with 2+ hacks and are better than 95% of the players WITHOUT hacks. they're extremely hard to get rid of if your new. they also memorize the maps and camping points.

Campers: alot of servers don't have scripts that stop campers (they damage you until you move) . alot of players simply wait in camping spot and wait. it's boring and a form of cheating.

The game is NOT realistic. you can get shot in the foot and still run at normal speed. you can shoot a AWP (sniper rifle) while climbing a ladder. how, i don't know. you can open doors and still shoulder rifles at the same time. you can fall 20 feet and still run. the game is far from realistic. there are barely any weather conditions and no gravity.

the weapons are cool, sorta realistic. the terran is ok...graphics are good, online with exception of hackers/cheaters/riggers is good.

the game is overall good, but it's been abused beyond belief. beware. Not everyone is bad, but there's enough of them to ruin the game for you. beware.

I Think It's Time We Move On, People

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 14
Date: February 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

First, let me say that I whole-hearedly agree with the review by Tiberius. Back in the glory days of Counter-Strike (2001-2002), this game was the be-all end-all for 1) Online video games, 2) First-Person Shooters, 3) PC Games, and 4) Any video game basically. It had real-life weapons, the graphics were superb at the time, the maps were extremely well-made, the system requirements are still obscenely low, and damnit it was fun. Then, inevitabely, the hands of time began to take their ruthless, indiscriminate toll. Video cards supported better graphics, new (and yes, better!) games came out (Battlefield 1942, Unreal Tournament 2004), hacking became the unmistakable poison of Counter-Strike, and a lot of the cool, casual gamers grew up or moved on. From 2000 to 2004, Counter-Strike went from an utter joy to a sensation to a fading diamond to a nuisance. By 2004 to present day, it has become a problem. Great games and great game developers are losing tons of money because people are still playing this game after five years on their mom's worn-out 640 Megahertz Pentium III PCs running Windows 98. Counter-Strike is still one of the most popular games of all-time, with a ridiculous number of people playing it on average a day, because people just don't seem to have enough self-control to give up their hopeless addiction.

Today, server admins are, for the most part, humorless dictators, and will not stand for anything that deviates from this game's undeniable, monotonous drone. People are still playing the same maps from the 1.0 release, that have completely lost all their zest and initial potential. It always feels as if I've played the same round a thousand times before, and I probably have. Even the custom maps are sickening in their monotony. fy_iceworld is fun for 3 consecutive seconds. Many other popular custom maps in heavy server rotation are the same way, and all look disguisting. I've played on probably over 500 servers, and downloaded probably over the same amount of *quality* custom maps, and not more than 3 have I ever seen a server run in its rotation, or voted on by the players. Furthermore, people are still playing the game using dial-up, and CS veterans are always complaining about camping, even if its a tactic used to complete the objective. As far as the objectives are concerned, Counter-Strike has basically become a deathmatch game. No one will listen to anyone's plan (on the rare occasion there is one), no one tries to rescue the hostages, and everyone always calls someone a "p***y" or "nub" if you use the auto shotgun or AWP. And to top it all off, Valve cancelled the outstanding won.net and replaced it with this Steam garbage, a utility soaking wet with incompetence.

L337 Speak has also gained mass popularity to the jaded Counter-Strike culture, and has become its own incessant frustration. But I won't even get into that. If you're new to CS, don't bother, veterans of this game are far from friendly, and you'll probably get called a bunch of names involving lots of zeroes and threes if you're a beginner. For now, if you want to indulge yourself in a great online game, check out World of Warcraft, Battlefield 1942, Sven Co-Op, or even Team Fortress Classic (a dated game with an *awesome* community that has yet to lose its initial charm).

Best First Person Shooter Ever! The Counter Strike History:

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: September 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

When it comes to First Person Shooters (FPS), I've "been there, done That"... Castle Wolfinstien, Doom I/II, Quake I/II/III, Etc, Etc. When little known Valve Software took the QuakeII engine [modified it] and relased Half-Life... It smacked down QuakeII and Sqashed ID Software's Upcoming release of QuakeIII. Bear with me a sec and let me give you a little background.

Half-Life was (and still is) an epic game and game engine modification (Mod): Real Weapon Types (vs "Magic" Weapons), Realistic movement, Great graphics, Great player models (graphics and visual movements). It's release (in retrospect) was just as big of an event as the release of QuakeII.

In order to convert the Hard-Core QuakeI/II fans (teamplay stuff), Valve cooked up the idea of true-to-life team combat game. problem was, It would take at least a year to make, and they wanted to get the QuakeI/II Teamplayers (Groups of them are called "Clans") converted NOW! The biggest group of the old school Clans were playing QuakeI/Team Fortress (TF)(capture the flag, different player classes). Since this was the closest thing to a online "Combat Community" going, they named their New upcoming game Team Fortress-II, and worked a deal with the original guys who made QuakeI/TF to mod it for the Half-Life engine (Why inovate when you can buyout?). This resulting Mod, Team Fortess Classic (TFC) was an instant success and gave Valve the breathing room it needed to work on TFII.

Looks like Valve bit off way more then they could chew with the TFII idea... at E3 1999, They had a 30 second demo video of players talking to each other.. and no release date... now... a year and a half later.. no game. Durring this lul, right after Valve (finally) released the open code for Half-Life (so ppl could make mods), a couple of guys cooked up the idea of a simple Mod of Half-Life... They called it Counter-Strike (CS).

Month by month, beta version by beta version, Counter-Strike has been gaining rapid popularity in the Clan world. It now apears that CS is the most popular online team game (besting QuakeIII).

Well... Valve must be pissed... lots of money towards TFII (in order to beat ID software), and CS happens. In the Valve style, They must have cooked a fat deal with the CS boys (why inovate when you can buyout!)

Just like TFC, Valve is now going to release a retail box offering of Counter-Strike... not like the entire hard-core gaming community isnt already playing it!

If you havent yet bought a version of Half-Life, but are a little weary of buying a 2 year old game, don't be. Half-Life/Counter-Strike is ABSOLUTLY THE BEST FIRST PERSON SHOOTER currently available. If you like the idea of using real weapons with realistic effects and real-life senerios, CS the the game to play. BUY IT!!! 5 STARS!

Dont buy this actual game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: March 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Hey, this is a great game and all, but before i begin, let me tell you not to buy this actual game! This game is a modification of Half-Life, meaning, if you bought Half-Life, you could download Counter-Strike for free (not to mention other great mods like Day of Defeat :D) and you'd have a whole lot of games in one.

When you get this game, be prepared for a MASSIVE responsibility. This game is CONTINUOUSLY updated, for example, the version right now is 1.3, and in a few months, it will be 1.4. You will have to actually download and update your version to continue playing this game. Same for Half-Life, you must keep it's version updated.

Ok, now to the fun part. This game is so great, beware of its addiction factor. There are two teams, T's and CT's. Both teams have objectives on different maps, and they must fulfill them to win the round. To do this, real life weapons are used. These weapons include the H&K MP5, which you will learn to love, the AK-47, which you will learn to hate, and the Artic Warfare Magnum, which you will learn to despise. The Arctic, A.K.A AWP, is also referred to as the n00b cannon because of its ability to kill with one shot to the foot. It is a sniper rifle that is banned on most servers, but is still included on some. Even though the pistols are fun, most of them are pea-shooters. My favorite is the Glock, which I have oodles of fun with getting Headshots.

The graphics are ok, they are pretty dated. But that isn't to say that the in-game models are bad, they're great. Weapon models and player models are wonderfully modeled and animated. The only reason the graphics are "Okay" is because of the dated Half-Life engine.

Well, I hope you like my review, happy rushing. :D

Counter-Strike The most addictive online game ever.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: October 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

There is a review on this page that claims that CS is full of bugs and cheats. well, all games have cheats....all. even TFC has a fair amount of cheaters. CS is a well built game with great player models ,awsome weapons, and some of the best gameplay i have ever seen..i enjoy the game...and cant stop playing it.

Counter Strike - A critical review

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Most of the reviews so far have focussed on the positive aspects of the game. This review will highlight the negative ones.

Personally, I think CS is pretty overrated. OK, I'll admit it was good when it first came out, but as with other products, its value has decreased with age. Of course, CS addicts will rave about how this is the "best game ever", but the fact is it has serious flaws that make it a very frustrating experience.

My first problem relates to realism. CS is a game that supposedly prides itself on realism. My first problem is the damage modelling. For a game that prides itself on realism, it simply takes too many shots to the torso to kill someone. It takes around 6 shots to the chest from the M4A1 assault rifle at close range to kill someone. Plus if they have a helmet on, you won't even kill them with a headshot at point blank range. I'm pretty sure, in real life, the bullet would go through the helmet at point blank range. Now six shots wouldn't be a problem in an unrealistic arcade type shooter like Quake. But CS is supposed to be realistic, so the guns have recoil when you fire, making them less accurate after every shot. Now at close range, the 6 bullets are fine. But at long-range, where it takes even more bullets, the high amount of shots required kill someone, combined with the recoil, make it a nightmare. By the time you get enough bullets in from your assault rifle, the enemy will kill you with a single shot from the AWP sniper rifle, which most CS players will no doubt be very familiar with. For those who aren't, the AWP sniper rifle is by far the most powerful gun in the game. It's around 4 times more powerful than the assault rifles, can kill with one shot to the torso and can bring a player to near death with a hit to a limb. So whilst the other guns are too weak, the AWP is simply too powerful. But it's not the actual power of the AWP that bothers me, it's the relative power ei. the other guns are too weak.

Now, the shooting wouldn't be such a big problem if it wasn't for the unrealistic nature of the recoil. Every time you try to shoot one of those "pros", they constantly strafe back and forth whilst still managing to shoot you accurately. Then you try to do it yourself, and you notice that the recoil is even worse whilst you move, as would be in real life. So you sit there and wonder "how the hell does he do that?". There is a flaw in the game that allows people to do that. Although the crosshair becomes bigger while you move, making the gun inaccurate, once you stop moving, the accuracy of the gun returns to normal within milliseconds. This simply would not happen in real life. In real life it would take a while for you to adjust after running. You would not be able to just stop abruptly after running and then just shoot accurately within a split second; it would take a while for you to put your rifle back up to aim. But in CS, the players can just run around with their rifle at their hip and still shoot accurately. This problem has been fixed in most new games; hence one of the reasons Counter-Strike's age makes it less appealing. This may sound like whining, but the fact is this flaw completely takes the caution out of the gameplay. It completely takes away the incentive to sneak around, "lean" around corners, use teamwork and just generally use caution. You may as well just rush in and strafe around like a maniac. This wasn't much of a problem when CS first came out because not many people knew about it, but lately this flaw has been exploited so much that CS has become like an arcade style deathmatch. Now many people would argue "stop whining and start practicing this technique you n00b". This would be a valid response if the game was Quake III. But CS is supposed to be realistic. When I play a game that supposedly prides itself on realism, I expect to be rewarded for using realistic tactics, not rushing out and strafing around like a maniac. If I have to do that to win, I may as well play Quake III or Unreal Tournament.

There are around 30 guns in the game to buy but I guarantee that once you've been playing for a while, the only guns you'll ever use are the AK47, M4A1, Desert Eagle and the AWP. That's because every other gun in the game is terrible compared to these. The sub-machineguns are just too weak to be an advantage at close range. The TMP takes around 10 shots to kill someone at point blank range but due to the recoil you'll be finding yourself emptying a whole clip into them. The Desert Eagle (pistol) is almost as powerful as the AK47 assault rifle. The shotguns are only good at very close ranges. The Para, the only machinegun, is one of the most inaccurate guns in the game and even weaker than the Desert Eagle. You'll quickly discover that this gun is in now way worth the (approximately) $5000 you are charged for it. And the two semi-automatic sniper rifles are more expensive than the AWP, yet they are weaker and too inaccurate for the firing rate to be an advantage. In the end, it just becomes boring with everyone using the same guns in every round.

The same thing happens with the maps. There game comes with around 25 maps, yet you'd be lucky to play more than 5 of them in a single day. As another reviewer mentioned, people are still playing the same old maps from version 1.0, which was released in November, 2000. People have been playing the same old maps over and over again for around 6 years. De_aztec, de_dust, de_dust2, cs_office and de_inferno is all you seem to see on the server list, or at least in Australia where I live. There are very few servers that have maps like de_survivor, de_piranesi, de_cbble and de_storm but they're usually empty or don't have enough people in them for a decent game. Most servers nowadays don't even have a map rotation greater than 3 maps. Either that or they employ a new democratic system where the players are given a list of 5 maps and asked to vote for which one they want to be played next. But nobody ever chooses any other maps than the ones I mentioned above. This is not necessarily because they suck, but more because all the players care about nowadays is their score, hence they don't want to play a map that they are unfamiliar with because they are too scared they are going to get "owned". They would rather play the same old maps they've been playing for 6 years. I don't know about you, but to me that's just plain boring. Even if you think the other maps aren't as good, haven't you gotten bored enough with de_aztec to try something new? This problem is only exacerbated by the small size of the maps. CS maps are pretty small compared to other games. Most of the maps only have around 3 main pathways to get to the other side. Because the teams start at opposite sides of the maps, most of the maps will have certain points, usually at the middle of these paths, where the clashes between the two teams occur. For example, on de_aztec, the clashes almost always occur at the double-doors, the bridge and the end of the sewers. Like the other reviewer mentioned, it feels like you've played the same round 1000 times.

One of the worst things, if not the worst, about CS is the players who play on the public servers. I understand that this is not exactly the game's fault, but since this game can be only played on multiplayer mode, the enjoyment that the customer receives from this product will be highly dependant on the people connected to the servers that he plays on. Although I don't know what it's like in other countries apart from Australia because I don't play on their servers. This is yet another of the external factors that lessen Counter-Strike's appeal. CS is a team-based game, yet none of the players seem to be interested in teamwork. Hardly anyone ever listens to someone's strategy; they prefer to go it alone as if it was a deathmatch. This is a real shame because CS is a lot more fun when the team works together. Also, let's just say that the CS community are not the friendliest bunch of people out there. The majority of online players are rude and obnoxious. They're always arguing about who's the best at the game, like a bunch of little children. They have no respect for anyone new to the game, calling them "n00bs", which is "leet-speak" for "newbie", although recently changed to "you suck at the game", and making fun of them when they die. What they don't realise is that they are destroying the popularity of the "best game ever" by harassing anyone who's new to it. And if they can't call you a "n00b" then they'll call you a "random" which supposedly means someone who isn't well known on the server or in the CS community; in other words, someone who has a life outside the game. The demographics of the CS community are as follows:

Immature kids (90%)- Usually around 10-15 years old. On the verge of adolescence, hormones raging, they won't hesitate to show how tough they are by insulting you over the internet. They will call you a "n00b" regardless of how good you are, and especially after you kill them. They tend to spam their high-pitched voices over the mic, to the point that you wish Valve never introduced the mic system. Tend to get into pointless arguments with other players and are prone to e-thuggery and wiggerism.

1337 pr0s (9%)- Play CS 24/7. Completely ruin the game for casual players who have no chance of catching up to their skill level without quitting their job and every other hobby they have, including other games. Although, generally they have more respect for other players since they are usually older and more mature.

Cool, casual gamers (1%)- These people are a dying breed. Most of them either got put off when they were "n00bs" or just got sick of all the BS and found better games. It is clear that CS was not made for these people.

Also to make it even worse, everyone in the CS community seems to be brainwashed by hip-hop culture, calling each other "bro" and blasting rap music over the mic.

Overall, CS is an addictive FPS but its age has exposed flaws in its engine and has been brought down by external factors.

Incredible!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: March 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I have been playing counter-strike since the beta 7 came out. I have never played such an involving multiplayer game ever. Half Life Counter Strike is the best first person shooter out there, and it may even be the best multiplayer out there! You are not a gamer until you have played CS.

In CS, you can play as either the Counter Terrorists (Police) or the Terrorists. The terrorists have to cause terror, by bombing a location or such. The CT's have to stop the T's at any cause. The ways to win are as follows: For CT's: Wipe out the entire Terrorist force or defuse the bomb; T's: Wope out the entire Counter Terrorist force.

As fun as Counter Strike may be, it is not easy. Folks that play Quake 3 Arena or Unreal Tournament a lot will have trouble adjusting to CS. CS is a VERY tactical game. It isn't as tactical as Operation Flashpoint or Ghost Recon, but it requires plenty of strategy. Ways to get away from enemy fire may be to jump or duck. You can't excape bullets by strafing. The game is too realistic.

The graphics are great, and may be the best graphics for a 1999-2000 game (besides quake 3 arena).

The only thing I found bad about CS is the compatibility. Even though it says that 133mhz computers can run CS, it is not likely to, or if it does, it will not run well. I have a P3 500mhz computer and before i got my Radeon 8500, CS ran terribly. Dial up users should shun CS, for you CAN NOT run CS on a 56.6k modem unless the server is absolutely positvely running a t3 connection with no users in it. The best way to get good performance:

ATLEAST 733 Mhz (unless have very good graphics card(450mhz or higher))
ATLEAST 128 MB of memory
ATLEAST a GeForce 2 graphics card (I would recommend a Geforce 3 or 4 or a Radeon 8500 for slower computers)
ATLEAST a Cable modem or DSL connection

For better graphics, Anti-Aliaising and Anistrophic Filtering make a HUGE difference.

OK. Hope this review helps. I'm out now PEACE

Half-Life: Counter-Strike - Over 2 million Players...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

And growing by the day. Half-Life Counter-Strike is the game to buy. With an already 1,000,000 players playing it every day from online visitors, the popularity of it is sure to expand when it goes retail. But one thing that everyone has to remember is: COUNTER-STRIKE WAS NOT BOUGHT BY VALVE, VALVE HAS LITTLE OR NO CONTROL OVER COUNTER-STRIKE AND WILL NOT GAIN CONTROL OVER IT. They are publishing the game, but did not develop it and have no control over what goes in the game. As the actual developer calls them... "They are simply tech support.." So all you guys stop saying it has been bought by valve or sierra because it's not. But anyway, it's a really great game and anyone is sure to like it. No matter if your a fps, rpg, or whatever, you'll be playing it for weeks. You'll even be saying "Hostage Down!" in your sleep.

-Dr. Nick

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions