Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Just two days ago, Valve officially announced that a new Counter-Strike will come out.

It is said that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be out in early 2012. Not much is known about it yet (besides for the few that play tested it) but there will be new characters, maps, weapons and map updates to some of the more popular maps such as "de_dust".

If Valve were to make a sequel to CS:S, it would be now. Even though CS:S is 7 years old, it is still going strong and it seems like a great idea to capitalize using a sequel instead of letting the light burn out.


Are you excited by the news of a new "Counter-Strike"? What FPSs are you playing in the mean time?

Life Sized De_Dust?

Keeping with my seemingly unintentional "video game" themed post for the past week, there is hope that a life sized de_dust will be created!

De_dust, a popular map in the FPS, "Counter-Strike"

I know for some, this is old news (early June to be exact) but for me (as I just found this out) is pretty exciting news. Aram Bartholl is or will be the man responsible for this ambitious project measuring 115 x 110 x 15 metres. But for now though, he has a 1:250 scale model made out of plastic (see below). The final 1:1 piece will be created in full concrete with no colour or textures.

The 1:250 scale model

Bartholl's intention is to create both an art piece and a "walking museum".

Bartholl has worked on various projects such as the "Google Map Project:"

Making landmarks look like "Google Maps"

I do not own or take credit for all of the above images, if you would like them to be taken down, please message me.

What do you think of this de_dust project? Would you have chosen something else to better represent the gaming culture?

TF2 Tips

So a few TF2 related posts back, someone wanted me to post some tips for TF2. Now by all means, these are tips are not "professional" by any means. They are just little tricks I use (and probably a lot of other experienced players use) but should be helpful to new/F2P people.

Some of the stuff I will talk about applies to various classes or they are just class specific. I won't go over everything, just some things to start people off.

First thing first, rollouts. You probably won't need to know these for pub servers, but once you play lobbies or more competitive games, you need to understand what the most effective rollout is. For those that do not know what it is, a rollout is essentially the process of getting to the middle point/spot of the map from your spawn point; the faster (and more health you end up with at the middle) the better. Rollouts are unique for each class and for each map and there are many tutorials on video hosting sites you can check out to learn them.


Next comes sniper. Sniper is not my main class, but I play sniper in pub servers just to work on my aiming. But sniper gets really addicting once you start popping those heads.

Once you pop, you just can't stop

 Although I'm saying this is a tip for snipers, this can be applied for all classes. Get to know the map.
This can be especially useful for snipers as you can use landmarks to know where to aim. Take for example ctf_turbine (see below). I'm aiming at my enemy's garage door, but more specifically, my crosshair (or dot) is aiming exactly at the level of where an enemy head would be. So when an enemy pops out, I just need to pan left or right and it will be a guaranteed headshot. I know I'm at that "head" level is by using the "Gate 1" sign to the right. Looking at that sign, where the red meets the white wall (I added that yellow line in paint just to emphasize where it is) I know I'm already locked and loaded.

 Another tip for sniper is to aim your crosshair/dot where it can't be seen by the enemy, and at last minute, move your crosshair at their head. In the picture below, I'm aiming at this structure where enemies can hide behind. If they're behind it, they can't see my dot but right when they move to the right, I can just move my crosshair for a well place shot. Not having your dot seen can put your enemy at ease so they move freely out of cover whereas if they see a sniper aiming for them, they may be more reluctant to move out of cover.

 Next are the "TF2 Advanced Options". Under combat options, make sure you tick off "play a hit sound everytime you injure an enemy" and "display damage done as text over your target". I'll explain the "play a sound one" later but for "displaying damage done" is simple. You know approximately how much health they have left and you can replay this info to your teammates so they can also target weaker enemies.

Now for the last bit, the soldier. This is really a rudimentary skill, but immensely useful, shooting around corners. Your rocket deals splash damage within a fixed radius so you can injure enemies you cannot see.  Used in combination with the "play a sound when you injure an enemy" tip, you can now know if there is actually an enemy around the corner. This will help you decide whether or not you want to proceed or fall back and wait for backup.

Hopefully these tips will help some of you out. Do you have any tips for videos of TF2 you'd like to share?

Competitive Gaming

Well for those that know me on steam, you probably noticed that I've been going into the direction of competitive gaming.

Can you find me in here?

My first amatuer taste of this type of gaming dates back to the days of L4D1. As some of you may have read in my blog post about L4D, it's mainly based on 4 person teams and that was exactly the size of a clan that I joined. The clan tag we played under was -A.D- in case you're wondering and along our journey, we picked up a few more members, bringing up member to about 8 or 9. But this was a major inconvenience though as a team only consisted of 4 members. Anyhow, we weren't competitive to the point of joining ESEA but we entered in a few ladders and played a few skrims.

Not long after, our clan leader's attendance started dropping dramatically and we lost a few members. Fast forward to L4D2, we do not play under any clan tag anymore but rather a group of close knit friends. Our circle now consists of about 5 people and we just play mostly against clans or other groups of friends. It was a good change of pace as we don't always have that tense feeling as if we were actually a clan but we enjoy thinking up unique tactics while having fun throughout each game.

Now in the present day, I've been more caught up in TF2  scene (also refer to a previous blog post if you want to know more about it, it's also a free game now). So far, I'm on a 6 person team and we play mostly skrims, looking to get into more competitive play in the future.

Just as a quick intro, there are two types of competitive teams in TF2, a 9 person team and a 6 person team.

A 9 person team is called a highlander team, which consists of 1 person playing 1 of the 9 classes where no person can play the same class. This offers more variety but less co-ordination because of such a large team.

A 6 person team usually consists of 2 scouts, 2 soldiers, 1 demoman and 1 medic. This type of arrangement is traditional but you may find people who "off-class" which is playing a class that does not belong to any of the above classes mentioned (such as engie, sniper, spy...).

So far, I'm loving the teamwork and communication aspect of TF2 (something I've never experienced because I've only played pub since).

I do not own or take credit for all of the above images, if you would like them to be taken down, please message me.

 

What is your experience of online gaming? Do you play competitively?

Team Fortress 2 is Free!

With exams done, I finally got the chance to get back on steam and did a lot of things happen or what. The biggest thing is that TF2 is now free!

Team Fortress 2 is Free!

Those that were interested in TF2 from my previous blog post can now check out what the hype was all about for free! Just go to the following link http://store.steampowered.com/app/440/ and click install game (if you already have steam, it should launch and download/install TF2) for the people that don't already have steam, you need to install the steam client (it's free), make an account (also free) and install TF2 (wait for it....also free!).

Enjoy guys! Tell me how your experience on TF2 is!

Valve Games Review (Part 2 of 2): Left 4 Dead 2

For my Valve game review, I take a look at Left 4 Dead 2 and its predecessor. I still remember, back in elementary school, my friend and I (both avid FPS gamers) were getting tired of CS 1.6 and CS:S, but one day, my friend spots an ad by Valve featuring L4D. Every single day, both of us would search for new Left 4 Dead gameplay videos, and I can't begin to describe the anticipation that was in both of us. Remember for us, this was essentially the newest FPS out since CS:S from Valve so we were very anxious.

Leaf 4 Dead 2 features Uncommon Commons

Getting incapacitated, picking them up and healing them? Playing as zombies? These were all unheard features of any game before its time (to our knowledge at that time). And when L4D was finally released, both of us immediately bought it. I'll have to say, both of us enjoyed it thoroughly and the game pretty much lived up to the hype. But not a year later, L4D2 was announced and this marks the split of the L4D fandom/community.

     I personally was initially against L4D2 being released so early. The main reason was that Valve promised constant updates to L4D, just like in TF2 where maps, weapons and new features were constantly added (see my other blog post). I remember I read a quote from a Valve employee that said (I'm paraphrasing), "There were many things we wanted to do for L4D but didn't, so we're doing them in L4D2". Immediate, I thought "It's not too late!", "You can release your ideas as updates for L4D". But no, L4D2 was released, and eventually, the fan base rose as time went on.

     To be fair, there are lots of new features in L4D2 such as mutations, new weapons (Military Sniper Rifle, AK47, deagle, adrenaline, uncommon commons and new special infecteds). I've enjoyed L4D2 along with a bunch of my friends, but with any good game, there are always a few downfalls.

     To give a basic gameplay overview, there is single player where you play as a human (with 3 others) and fight your way through various zombies to reach a rescue point. There is also a multiplayer mode (max of 8 people, 4 on each team) and you essentially take turns being the zombies and humans for each map (you get to play as both on every map) so obviously, teamwork becomes a huge variable for enjoyable games. Well, so with multiplayer, there are some idiots (we are talking about the internets) and some people enjoy ruining other peoples games. Some enjoy glitching (such as getting to unreachable places) and some griefing (such as team killing). But not all of this comes at the fault of the player, there are many evident glitches in L4D2 that haven't been fixed for awhile. But overall, I found some good friends to play with, to ensure at least an enjoyable game and I'm also expecting many more updates in the future (such as map ports from L4D1).

I do not own or take credit for all of the above image, if you would like them to be taken down, please message me.

Anyone else play games from the L4D series? What's the best zombie game you know? What do you like/dislike about co-operative shooters?

   

Valve Games Review (Part 1 of 2): Team Fortress 2

I'm starting off this week with a game review/rant, the first of two. I've been a pretty avid gamer over the years and there are two specific games that I've kept coming to, one being Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress 2, or TF2 for short, first came out as a package with some other games called "The Orange Box", during the fall of 2007 and was later released as a standalone game during the following year. TF2 is essentially a team based FPS (First Person Shooter) where you can choose classes to fit a certain style of game play. Each class has their own specific roles and abilities. Their abilities are dictated by innate skills and by various weapons/items. And heres a quick run through of all the classes, their names should be pretty explanatory: Scout, Demoman, Sniper, Spy, Soldier, Medic, Heavy, Engineer and Pyro.

Actual Game-play of TF2. Here a medic is healing a soldier
while a pyro attacks.

     For me, this game has been "the best bang for my buck", even though I bought this game at it's highest cost ($19.99) where as it's lowest cost has been $2.00 during promotion periods. There are a few things that keep this game exciting and fresh, and that is through constant updates. New maps, weapons and items are periodically added, but this can be viewed as both positive and negative.

   There are a few things that annoy some players, one being the number of weapons available and two, a specific type of item hats. First off are the weapons, there are probably over 60 weapons currently available (more weapons are constantly added), but the problem comes with the balance of all the weapons. Every update, there will be moaners and groaners about the "OP" of certain items and etc.., and I don't blame them. Take for example the "Natascha", this weapon came out for the heavy a few years back, but only last year did they alter the damage and attributes of the weapon. If it takes that long to "fix" a weapon, how do they manage to keep up with all the new weapons they add?

    Secondly, are hats. Most of these "hats" are just for your visual pleasure (some hats give a class a bonus gameplay effect). Hats are constantly added and traded (a trade system was implemented a year back where players can exchange weapons, hats and other items) and has become a huge part of TF2. Since the implementation of the trading system, there are many servers dedicated just for trading purposes. Now for hats in particular, there is a very high demand because of the rarity of them. Some go as far as to purchase hats from the TF2 Mann-Co store or even from other players. Some hats (unusual hats), fetch as much as a thousand dollars. I've personally haven't ever bought a weapon or hat, but I have sold numerous hats and I've taken advantage of this market. I've since detached my association with trading and I just play TF2 for what it really is about. 

    But overall, there are many things that players can explore and experiment with. Whether if you fancy the hats, or the always exciting game-play though constant map additions and an ever growing selection of weapons, there is always something for you to enjoy. 

Satirically speaking, some people dub TF2 as a great hat simulation game, rather than a team and class based FPS.

I do not own or take credit for all of the above image, if you would like them to be taken down, please message me.

If you play TF2, how do you find it? Any good FPS recommendations for 2011? How to you find other valve games?