Six months after Valve’s confirmation, Counter-Strike 2 has concluded beta testing for its public release.
Replacing the decade-old Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, this hotly-anticipated free upgrade to the insanely popular first-person shooter has been built on the Source 2 engine. Essentially, this means sharper textures, new geometry, and lighting realism like never before.
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“Counter-Strike 2 is the largest technical leap forward in Counter-Strike’s history, ensuring new features and updates for years to come,” explained the game’s landing page.
“During this testing period, we’ll be evaluating a subset of features to shake out any issues before the worldwide release.”
Although Global Offensive has been completely phased out, you’ll be happy to hear all items from the previous game will carry over.
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Other major features Counter-Strike 2 has debuted with include the following:
- Improved mapmaking tools
- “Overhauled” and “updated” maps (along with touchstone maps)
Launch map set: Mirage, Overpass, Vertigo, Ancient, Inferno, Nuke, Anubis, Dust 2, Office, Italy - “All-new look and behaviour” for visual effects, ie. fire, bullet tracers, muzzle flashes
- “Game-changing” dynamic smoke grenades
- A brand new ranking system dubbed “CS Rating” (global and regional leaderboards)
- Redesigned audio
- Tick-rate-independent server architecture
According to PC Gamer, however, it’s still far from being “competitive-ready.” At least as per the assertions of pro player Héjja “Kezziwow” Kászandrá. In any case, you can try it out for yourself via the link below.
