CS:GO – A Game Where Visuals Outweigh Experience

The trial version of CS:GO has been out for a while, but I never got around to downloading it. Usually, I just close the ads that Steam aggressively pushes. Today, on a whim, I clicked on one and found out that CS:GO is officially launching tomorrow.

At this moment before the official release, Valve has generously offered a 50% pre-order discount, with an additional 10% off, effectively reducing the original price of $30 to $13.49 (￥84.x). Such a great deal couldn’t be missed, so I immediately added it to my cart and paid via Alipay.

The downloaded version is the beta test version, which might have some minor differences from the official version launching tomorrow. The game itself is 3.5GB in size. Notably, the download speed almost maxed out my 2M broadband, taking about 5 hours in total. In the past, no matter which download server I chose for CS1.6, the speed was always stuck at 30-40KB/s, forcing me to download backup packages from others for a faster installation.

Since I’ve had my account banned by VALVE a few times before for using black keys bought from Taobao, I was a bit worried this time. The current account I’m using also has CS1.6 and other games with black keys…

After opening the game, I was surprised to see a prompt to install DirectX every time, which, although brief, felt quite odd.

Next, I entered the game:

Start Screen

Similar to previous versions, you can quickly skip by pressing the mouse or enter key.

Waiting Screen

Main Game Interface

Achievement System

Personal Statistics

Navigation

Game Instructions

Video - Advanced Settings

Control Settings

International Leaderboard

Available Game Modes

Available Maps and Info

Friend Mode

Online Servers

Favorites

View Friend’s Server

Choose Team

Waiting to Start

Gameplay Screenshot

It’s worth mentioning that the game has high system requirements. The screenshots were taken on a PC with the following specs: i3 550 3.2G / 4G DDR3 1333 / 8600GT / Win7 32bit.

With this old graphics card, at 1280×1024 resolution, the FPS stayed between 30-50, which is playable but not ideal for a game like CS that requires quick reflexes. This was with all effects turned off.

Of course, if I lowered the resolution to 800×600 or 640×480, commonly used in CS1.6, the FPS would rise to 80/120 or more.

Since I just installed it today, I haven’t had much time to play. My initial impression is that compared to the smooth operation of CS1.6, CS:GO feels a bit like an online game, with some lag and difficulty in control. This isn’t to say it’s not smooth, but relative to CS1.6, it feels less fluid. Compared to some poorly optimized online games, it’s obviously much better. Additionally, the visuals in CS:GO are indeed very impressive. With all effects turned on, it should be a great visual experience. But isn’t the essence of the game about cooperative combat and the thrill of taking down opponents???