A shiny new rebuild of a core that has appealed for 20+ years.

Playing the game solo remains a highly variable experience too.

People are even using the new-found ability to freely place stickers on their weapons tospell out racial epithets.

counter-strike 2 screenshot showing the end of game screen in premiere. five CT player characters are shown, each holding a weapon.

Given how well-polished and well-balanced Counter-Strike already was though, clearly a more dramatic shake-up wasn’t needed.

Input latency is superbly low too, with support for Nvidia’s Reflex tech.

Perhaps more critically, I’d also like the game’s stability to improve.

counter-strike 2 screenshot showing the player shooting a desert eagle vaguely towards an enemy on de_nuke

Climbing that ladder has been one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had in gaming.

This is already an incredible game that’s well worth playing - after all, itisCounter-Strike, too.

counter-strike 2 screenshot showing a dead enemy slumping to the ground after a usp-s headshot on de_nuke

counter-strike 2 screenshot showing a custom awp map on a community server

Counter-Strike 2’s premiere mode stats, showing recent per-map winrates and ladder position

Counter-Strike 2’s loadout screen, which allows you to equip weapons in three categories: pistols, mid-tier and rifles.

counter-strike 2 screenshot showing the main menu; a terrorist character holds an AK-47 (really an AKM if we’re being pedantic) coloured in a blue pattern, with menu items and a skill ranking visible.