Weapons

A New Version, A New Firing System

One of the things famous for every release of Counter-Strike is how the community acts to the weapon changes. Even if there were no changes, people will always think there are, and be adamant that “Valve screwed it up, again!”

Well, this time there are changes. All weapons are intact on the surface. They have the same clip sizes, secondary firing properties, and very similar models to previous versions. The changes aren’t so much in the guns, as with what’s under the hood.


The M4, The AK, They’ve Changed!

Firing is very different than 1.6. M4 and AK patterns are incredibly close and tight at close range. The further you get away, the more “random” they feel. While you may be thinking that it sounds like very little has changed, there is one thing that’s quite new – the crosshair doesn’t show the randomness.

In 1.6, buy a USP and stand straight ahead, noticing the size of your crosshair. In Source, that’s the largest the x-hair will get, for any gun, at full-on spray. Those of you who have been asking for tighter crosshairs may have gotten your wish. That’s not a good thing.

It’s very disorienting to have a tight crosshair and not know where the bullets are going, how far your spray has gone out of control, or have a realistic estimate for how tight your pot-shots will be as you strafe into action. The later releases of Counter-Strike on the Half-Life engine may have spoiled us with “smart” crosshairs. Nevertheless, the new crosshairs take some getting used to. There’s no doubt that this is something players will adjust to, and perhaps even love once they get used to it, but in the meantime it’s hard to grow into the game without understanding your gun.

On a side note, there are new sounds for almost all weapons, many copied from Condition Zero. In multiplayer, you can hear enemies reloading, but not switching guns.

Oh My, The AWP Is Back

Everyone that’s tried the AWP has loved it. It’s back, baby! The new AWP is quite possibly one of the best improvements in the game. It now rewards quick reaction and accurate shooting, instead of camping in 1.6.

The biggest change with the AWP is that quick-shooting now works again, for the most part. While it’s not instant like in previous versions, you don’t have to wait a full second like in 1.6. Secondly, the new scope zooms realistically, bridging the gap with a fluid increase instead of snapping to the next zoom mode. The zoom takes an appropriate portion of the screen, and has a “dirty” overlay on it for realistic feel. In practice, the overlay has little effect on the game.

Shotguns Are Good Now?

For some reason, Valve decided to make the Shotguns much more powerful, and more accurate at range. As much as I never thought I’d say this, they may become a match weapon in scenarios where you need a fast reacting and deadly weapon at close to medium range. Think “big deagle”.

Additionally, due to the netcode/recoil/crosshair changes, the para is much more useful. It’s great for laying down fire at almost any range, though still an expensive choice. The MP5 feels weak, and may finally be worth what it costs: not much. The pistols are mostly unchanged, and the desert eagle is still an accurate headshot machine.