The world of gaming is vast, with many dimensions of various titles. Some of them are small and disappear quickly. Some are big and still they slowly move away to shadows of forgotten. And some games are so huge that it seems like everyone in the gaming community knows them – they remain for many generations of players, maybe even forever and ever.

Counter-Strike is one of such gigantic games. It defines the very genre of First-Person Shooters, and in fact, it has started the tradition of team-based battles.

Now, this legendary game is known with the name Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It’s a polished and significantly improved version of the (ancient) title. So, how the original Counter-Strike made this way from a small mod to the biggest esports discipline on the planet?

Counter-Strike – Half-Life mod (1999)

Once upon a time, two guys decided to make a modification for the popular shooter game Half-Life. That mod threw away the story and heroes, taking only basics from the original product. Minh Le and Jess A. Cliffe came up with the idea of multiplayer matches on a closed virtual territory. One team is of terrorists and another is of counter-terrorists, and they fight each other.

First, this mod wasn’t very popular. The authors say many people refused to be testers of an unknown small thing. Then, the mod was released for everyone in the community – and it became a real bomb.

Strictly speaking, it was a beta version of the future game. The initial playing scenario was Hostage Rescue, then another one was added – Bomb Defusal. Later, they became the primary scenarios in the Counter-Strike series. 

Even at this very early stage, the developers and enthusiasts created a lot of maps to play on. Many of them were removed in the following release.

The popularity of this mod became very impressive. Simple and easy to grasp rules were a nice attraction for newcomers. Many possible in-game tactics and strategies became a substantial reason to visit the matches again and again. The star was born and big players in the gaming market couldn’t leave it unnoticed.

Counter-Strike (2000)

Valve, the development company behind Half-Life, noticed an impressive inflow of active players. They felt – here is a hit, so they bought the mod and soon released it as a standalone game, Counter-Strike.

The game got quite a lot of changes in comparison to beta, and still, it wasn’t completed – a few patches were needed to make Counter-Strike perfect for its time. After a while, the final version of this original game has been released. It’s known as Counter-Strike 1.6, and you can purchase it on Steam. Its graphics look rather weird for modern standards, but even now you can enjoy its gameplay.

Counter-Strike 1.6 is well-known as an esports title. It started the great tradition of professional Counter-Strike tournaments.

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (2004)

This game has been built on the same engine as the original one – GoldSrc. One of its key features is the “story mode”, where players fight against bots, unlock maps, and slowly get more powerful teammates and opponents. This mode has special conditions for winning, such as killing a specific number of enemies with a specific weapon. Some levels of the single-player mode were included in the bonus pack “Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes.”

Of course, this game also has a multiplayer mode with traditional scenarios (could it be Counter-Strike without it?) – and the developers made significant improvements in many details, such as textures of the surrounding world, playing maps, appearance of the characters.

Counter-Strike: Source (2004)

It may seem strange to release two games of the same series in one year, but a simple explanation makes everything clear – Valve released a new game engine and made an example of using it with their super successful game.

The Source version became more popular than Condition Zero – probably it was much closer to the original team-based principles. Also, the original game was improved in multiple possible ways, keeping the level of the series and preparing for the next, (ultimate?) step in its evolution.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012)

This game was released and it became a real phenomenon of the gaming (and human) culture. CS:GO exists for many years already but it still living and breathing. Its amazing success is based on the following aspects:

• Significant quality improvements – visuals and sounds are very impressive, the overall feeling of playing CS:GO is strangely satisfying. And the process of improvement doesn’t stop throughout the years;
• Constant work on the maps and weapons – the developers regularly make changes to old maps and experiments with guns to reach the best possible power balance in the game;
• Cosmetic items for the weapons – these cosmetic items make a powerful change for players, allowing them to express their style and personality in a totally new way. Skins became so popular that they have formed a big market, where players can buy and sell CS:GO skins for real money. This seemingly small aspect gives a strong motivation for players to return to the game. The addition of skins in 2013 became one of the key moments in the whole Counter-Strike history.
• Esports competitions with big prize pools – the level of CS:GO tournaments is much bigger than of Counter-Strike 1.6, it’s a show for millions of fans to enjoy and wonder the skills of professional players. For now, CS:GO is one of the most popular esports disciplines on the planet, and it’s not going to lose this achievement.

Spin-offs

There are some other games, released with the title Counter-Strike. They are quite specific by their localization and quality.

Counter-Strike: Neo – a Japanese adaptation of the original Half-Life mode. It has been made by Namco in the anime style for arcades.

Counter-Strike Online and Online 2 – these games have been made specifically for eastern Asia. They are free-to-play with microtransactions.

Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies – this version has been made by the Korean company Nexon (the same as Online). The game got negative reception and never became close to popularity to original CS. The graphics are bad and the whole experience is outdated.

A look into the future

For quite a long time we hear nothing about the development of the next game for the Counter-Strike series (probable Valve is too busy with Half-Life 3). The reason for this is totally understandable. CS:GO has become an ongoing project, there is no motivation for the developers to close it and release something else. They can support the game as a service model, make further improvements and even migrate to another engine. Still, it seems like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a real masterpiece and we will see it shining in the industry for many upcoming years.

The post Evolution of Counter-Strike (from Half-Life Mod to Global Offensive) appeared first on MP1st.

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare news, the game will be the the first game in the franchise to not only offer crossplay, but it”ll offer cross-progression, too! Now, if you’re wondering how the Modern Warfare pre-order bonuses will work, say you bought the game on PS4, and wondering whether your pre-order bonuses will carryover to PC and such, wonder no more! Activision has confirmed it will.

Over on the Reddit. user lupiloopdiloop posted a chat he had with Activision support, which confirmed that Modern Warfare bonuses will crossover as long as you got it for one platform.

In other Modern Warfare news today, in case you didn’t know, Modern Warfare’s Spec Ops mode will have a Survival portion that will be exclusive to the PS4 for one year, which isn’t ideal for most. For those getting the game on PS4, this exclusive part of Spec Ops will need to be a separate download! Here’s an image confirming it via Pourkinator:

Mind, it does make sense since it is exclusive to the PS4.

In case you didn’t see it, don’t forget to check out Infinity Ward’s confirmation that we won’t see loot boxes, but rather, the game will employ a Battle Pass, which you can read about in detail here.

More Modern Warfare Reading:

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Xbox One File Size Revealed via Xbox Store, and It’s Big
• Rumor: New Modern Warfare Prestige System Won’t Require Players to Unlock Items, Weapons to Have 80+ Levels
• Here’s Every Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Bonus Item and How to Get Them

The post Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Pre-Order Bonuses Work Across All Platforms, Spec Ops Survival Separate Download on PS4 appeared first on MP1st.

In case you haven’t been keeping tabs on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare news, the game will be the the first game in the franchise to not only offer crossplay, but it”ll offer cross-progression, too! Now, if you’re wondering how the Modern Warfare pre-order bonuses will work, say you bought the game on PS4, and wondering whether your pre-order bonuses will carryover to PC and such, wonder no more! Activision has confirmed it will.

Over on the Reddit. user lupiloopdiloop posted a chat he had with Activision support, which confirmed that Modern Warfare bonuses will crossover as long as you got it for one platform.

In other Modern Warfare news today, in case you didn’t know, Modern Warfare’s Spec Ops mode will have a Survival portion that will be exclusive to the PS4 for one year, which isn’t ideal for most. For those getting the game on PS4, this exclusive part of Spec Ops will need to be a separate download! Here’s an image confirming it via Pourkinator:

Mind, it does make sense since it is exclusive to the PS4.

In case you didn’t see it, don’t forget to check out Infinity Ward’s confirmation that we won’t see loot boxes, but rather, the game will employ a Battle Pass, which you can read about in detail here.

More Modern Warfare Reading:

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Xbox One File Size Revealed via Xbox Store, and It’s Big
• Rumor: New Modern Warfare Prestige System Won’t Require Players to Unlock Items, Weapons to Have 80+ Levels
• Here’s Every Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Bonus Item and How to Get Them

The post Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Pre-Order Bonuses Works Across all Platforms, Spec Ops Survival Separate Download on PS4 appeared first on MP1st.

Possibly the biggest question mark regarding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is whether it will feature Supply Drops (loot boxes), and how it’ll work. Well, good news! Today, Activision announced the Modern Warfare Battle Pass, and confirmed that there’s not a loot box system for the game.

In post on Activision’s blog, Infinity Ward explains that the Modern Warfare Battle Pass won’t include any gameplay-affecting items, how there’s going to be two streams for it (premium and free), and it won’t be available at launch. Here’s the quick and official rundown:

·      We are introducing a new Battle Pass system, not a loot box system.

·      All functional content that has an impact on game balance, such as base weapons and attachments, can be unlocked simply by playing the game.

·      The new Battle Pass system will allow players to see the content that they are earning or buying.  Battle Passes will launch timed to new, post-launch live seasons, so you can unlock cool new Modern Warfare-themed content that matches each season.

·      With the new Battle Pass system, players will be able to earn COD Points by playing the game. 

·      There will be both a Free Stream and a Premium Stream of content in the Battle Pass System in Modern Warfare. New base weapons will be earned through gameplay, simply by playing Modern Warfare. Functional attachments for base weapons can be unlocked through gameplay as well just like in the game’s Beta.

·      The Battle Pass and the In-Game Store will feature a variety of cosmetic content that does not impact game balance.

Infinity Ward also explains why the Modern Warfare Battle Pass won’t be available at launch.

The Battle Pass System for Modern Warfare will not launch when the game releases on October 25^th. Here’s why: First and foremost, we are all focused on making the Day One experience awesome. Second, it’s important to us that everyone who is playing Modern Warfare has the chance to work their way through the new game and unlock all the rewards that are waiting for you. We expect to launch this system for Modern Warfare later this year.

Note that the announcement doesn’t really say there won’t be Supply Drops or loot boxes for the game’s entire lifecycle, so Activision could technically introduce it at some point down the line, and technically would not be lying. Don’t forget, Supply Drops made an appearance during the Modern Warfare beta, which was less than two months ago.

Do you believe that we won’t see Supply Drops at all in Modern Warfare, or will Activision introduce it down the line after a few months have passed?

More Modern Warfare Reading:

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Xbox One File Size Revealed via Xbox Store, and It’s Big
• Rumor: Modern Warfare Battle Royale Release Date Set for End of Jan. 2020, Battle Pass Planned Just for the Mode
• Should Battlefield Be Worried With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s 32v32 Ground War?

The post Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Battle Pass Announced, No Loot Boxes appeared first on MP1st.

Following yesterday’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare PS4 file size info where it was also mentioned how the Xbox One file seemed a lot smaller, it seems that’s in error. Today, the official Microsoft Store has listed the Modern Warfare Xbox One file size and it’s at 137GB.

Note that consoles usually list down double the actual file size a game needs due to patches and such, which is most likely the case here. However, if this is really the Modern Warfare Xbox One file size, then, it’s even bigger than Red Dead Redemption 2!

In case you’re curious, the official Battle.net client lists the PC version of Modern Warfare as requiring 175GB. We’ve reached out to Activision regarding this and will update the story if we hear anything back.

Just to be safe though, best to clear up some HDD space on your Xbox One now.

More Modern Warfare Reading:

• Infinity Ward Says They Are Not Working on “Any Kind” of Modern Warfare Supply Drop or Loot Box System, Info to Be Shared This Week
• Should Battlefield Be Worried With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s 32v32 Ground War?
• Rumor: New Modern Warfare Prestige System Won’t Require Players to Unlock Items, Weapons to Have 80+ Levels

The post Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Xbox One File Size Revealed via Xbox Store, and It’s Big appeared first on MP1st.