| Half-Life: Counter-Strike | 
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| From: Vivendi Universal
Category: Video Games
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $4.84
You Save: $25.11 (84%)
Buy New/Used from $4.84
Avg. Customer Rating:   (298 reviews)
Sales Rank: 13677
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows 95
ESRB: Mature
Media: CD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 8 x 2
Model: 71114
UPC: 020626714488
EAN: 0020626711142
ASIN: B00004TJCL
Release Date: November 14, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Counter-Strike is a team-based online action game that pits terrorist teamsagainst counter-terrorist squads in strategic squads in strategic scenarios. | | • | Players can choose to play one of variety of characters, each with theirown unique ability. | | • | Weapons and equipment can be upgraded with funds earned for successfullycompleting a mission. | | • | Each mission contains a unique objective that encourages strategiccooperation. |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Counter-Strike is team-based, and casts players in the role of terrorist or counter-terrorist. Each team has access to different ammunition and equipment, and each player has unique attributes and the ability to upgrade their gear as they successfully complete each mission. A growing number of missions are available, each having specific goals, such as rescuing a hostage or eliminating key enemy structures. Since it's initial Beta release in Fall 1999, Counter-Strike has taken multiplayer gam
Amazon.com Product Description
Half-Life: Counter-Strike contains all the elements of the popular online multiplayer game originally built as an add-on for Half-Life. While the version of Counter-Strike available online requires a copy of Half-Life, this standalone version contains the Half-Life engine on the CD-ROM. The team-based gameplay divides players into terrorist or antiterrorist squads. Each team has access to different real-world ammunition and equipment, and all players have unique attributes plus the ability to upgrade their gear after completing missions. Missions have different goals, such as defusing a bomb or rescuing hostages. All the multiplayer maps and gameplay from the original Half-Life Multiplayer and Half-Life: Opposing Force Multiplayer are included, plus Team Fortress Classic. Half-Life: Counter-Strike also contains four new gameplay modes of Counter-Strike: firearms, wanted, ricochet, and redemption.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 293 more reviews...
 best first person shooter on so on March 4, 2008
one my favs and incredible ai i mean like they jump on stuff try to go behind that truck if im shooting at him or hide at corners and shoot when enemy come
One of my favorites... September 11, 2007
This is one of my favorite games, right up there with Starcraft Broodwar and Neverwinter Nights. This and those two games are about the only video games I ever play anymore, and with good reason. They are awesome games. This is a must-have for any FPS lover.
 Counter Strike - A critical review January 23, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
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.
The heart of action games for the past, present, and future. November 11, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Half-Life made its debut in 1998, and it shocked the entire world. Half-Life at the time featured stunning graphics, gameplay, and sound. It was simply one of those games that had to be in every gamers hands, and still to this date Half-Life is a game that every action-game developing company carefully needs to study in order for their games to be a success. Shortly after the release and once the gasp from the world has ended, two game developers joined together to create a game that not gasped the world again, but made it scream.
The game pits terrorists and counter-terrorists in a fast-paced sort of "S.W.A.T." type of tactical firefighting gameplay. Matches can consist of one of two types of game types. The first and probably the most popular type is bomb defusal. In both of the game types, you can win by either eliminating the opposing team or following the objective. In bomb defusal a random player on the team will receive the bomb each round. The player can plant the bomb in one of two bomb spots or simply drop the bomb for another teammate to pick it up and use it. Once the bomb is planted the counter-terrorists must defuse it regardless if the terrorists have been eliminated. The counter-terrorists usually have about thirty-five seconds to defuse the bomb and win the round. The second type of gameplay is hostage rescue. The terrorists must protect four hostages in an area of the map from the counter-terrorists rescuing them and taking them to their base. If the hostages are killed by the terrorists or counter-terrorists, nothing will happen except that now the counter-terrorists must completely kill the terrorists to gain victory in the round. At the start of each round all players have a few seconds to quickly buy weapons with the money they have achieved from past rounds by victories. Both teams have a significant difference in the arsenal of weapons you can choose from, but neither really focuses on a specific time of gun style. All of the weapons in the game are one-hundred percent realistic and deadly as in reality. This is an element that makes Counter-Strike such a superior game.
Counter-Strike is without argument the most popular online action game in the world. An entire culture has formed around it. So what makes it such an extremely addictive and popular game? It is purely because of the fantastically well-crafted gameplay and not the graphics, or the game would not be as popular as it is. Players around the world will give you many "deep" reasons why it is such a great game. But one without argument stands out. It is simply the fact that versus other games, it is "difficult" to make a kill in the game. What makes the game so addicting is the pleasure of killing someone after a long thirty second gunfight or a quick shot to the head, knowing that the dead player is now experiencing some form of anger as he waits out the rest of the round. Another element is how realistic the guns feel in the game. Regardless if they are fake and the shooting has been totally simulated, it has been superiorly well done. And definitely once a new player to the game has gained enough experience to achieve kills at least periodically, a feeling of "power" will be experienced when holding an AK-47 or an M4. The game is quite punishing to new players, and a total hapzard to players who have never played first-person shooters or video games at all. But regardless the stress you feel at first, there is absolutely no reason to put down the game because of the entry-difficulty, as it is almost guaranteed you will get better in the game.
There are over ten maps in the game, and each one has been done as a masterpiece. All of the maps wildly differ from each other in the feel of action and even the environment. The most popular of all the maps, de_dust2 that has been created by DaveJ, is still commonly referenced in many gaming parodies, magazines, shows, etc. Due to its style and simplicity, it is a godly-designed map and arguably the most popular map in first-person shooter history. One thing that helps to fight a player of being bored of the game is simply the maps. Since each map has been superbly designed, a player could easily switch to another one after being bored and continue on with play, and with a different feel. The game also has many public map editors which 3rd parties can use to create custom maps. fy_iceworld and awp_map are some very popular maps that have been created by amateur designers. This makes Counter-Strike a game with an almost "infinite" value sort of feel.
The sound in Counter-Strike is absolutely insanely-realistic. The first time a player plays or even watches another player play the game, the person will definitely without a doubt notice the clear sounds of AK-47 fire or pistol fire. Not much is known why the guns sound so realistic, and the player's best guess is that the designers have actually recorded live gunfire of the weapons. The sound of the weapons combined with the look and feel; end up making the player totally immersed into the game and with a feeling of "power". This sort of thing is extremely rare in video game.
At the time Counter-Strike had simply jaw-dropping graphics. Created all from the Half-Life engine, players were amazed at the lighting effects and how clear the textures were. At the present, the game doesn't hold the same, but it is what in the past has mattered. Half-Life was one of the first games in history to have some slightly complex and dynamic physics. The bouncing of a flashbang or a player being blown away was also something at the time to look at. Games before the release of Half-Life hardly had any sort of physics, and if they did, it would be something very basic.
Counter-Strike is a game that without argument should be on any player's hard drive. There are still even thousands of players that since from the release of the game back at 1998, still actually play the game without losing an ounce of boredom. Counter-Strike will forever be played, and is the heart of all action games from the past, present, and the future.
Old game, yet popular today. December 1, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ok look, although this is a old game, it is one of the most popular Fps(First person shooter) games out there. Ive played this for atleast 5 years now, and my friends that I know still play cs today, like myself. From planting bombs to rescuing hostages, you'll find this game enjoyable. There are lots of custom made maps out there that can bring boardness from official maps, to playing this game 24/7. The screenshots and trailers could even grab your attention, espicially the clan trailers. If your looking for a great fps game, this is it. =D
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