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Counter-Strike For Xbox Brings The Frag
Thanks to GameSpot for their hands-on impressions of Counter-Strike for the Xbox, as Valve's massively popular multiplayer title makes the transition to console gamers and Xbox Live. The article points out: "What began as a grassroots mod, literally created in a dorm room, has become the most widely played PC action game on the Internet - in just a few short years." There's also a number of new screenshots of this console conversion, which ships in November, and also includes map enhancements/downloads: "...of the 20 maps that will initially be available, seven are Xbox-exclusive... more maps should be available, via Xbox Live updates, sometime after release."
Theres something really odd. /that/ stupid, so I think theyre bundling it. I'm thinking either condition zero will ship with hl2 or condition zero will be pushed over steam this wednesday. Theres no way valve will try to compete with their own game, It just wont work.
CS:CZ's release date is sometime this month. So is HalfLife2.
Valve isnt
These screenshots just further help my theory -- Those are condition zero models and maps, but with some multiplayer maps
de_prodigy
de_dust
de_chateau
de_chateau
de_aztec(with the 1.6 bridge)
The CS:CZ models can be seen on here for comparison
A Gamespy article backs this up by saying
"On the multiplayer side, Condition Zero will contain ten new Counter-Strike maps, available exclusively through the retail package. For current Counter-Strike players, a v1.6 patch should be released right around the same time the game hits shelves, ensuring online compatibility between the two games. When When we spoke with Valve a few weeks back, they mentioned that they would likely release some of these maps to the public, perhaps one very few weeks. The guys at Ritual confirmed that this was a possiblity, but nothing official has been decided yet. It's worth pointing out that Valve has historically been pretty generous with this kind of thing, and we be surprised if an official map or two wasn't released to the community within weeks of CZ hitting shelves. "
So I'm thinking they are going to push cs:cz over steam, Possibly for free or maybe just at a very low cost. Theres no way you can sell it retail with HL2 coming out in mere weeks.
(This post is mostly so come wednesday if I'm right I can link to this, heh)
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
" is it just me or are the player models fatter than the pc version. Or is it just the horrible screenshots that gamespot provides."
CS has always been insanely out of perportion. When you make all the textures look good the unrealisticness of it all shines through
Take a look at this screenshot for example. So theres a ledge on the ground up to his knees(+2 points for whoever can think of something in real life that has a structure like that) and a flamible barrel bigger than he is.. with boxes that dwarf them also. It makes much better gameplay, but just looks silly with pretty textures.
Hopefully the game will be fast paced enough that you dont notice, like current counterstrike. Take a look at de_cbble some time, the map is supposed to be a persons house yet the door way are atleast twice as tall and three times as wide as you are. again, better gameplay.
Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
The graphics suck...a lot. Sure they are better than the pc version of the game. A game that uses an engine roughly equivalent to the Quake2 engine.
(For those who don't already know, Counter-Strike is a Half-Life mod. HL uses a heavily modified Quake1 engine peppered with some bits of Quake2 engine code). QUAKE1 people!!!
Therefore, comparing a nearly 5 year old game designed to run smoothly on a 300 Mhz PII with a TNT videocard to it's brand new Xbox counterpart is not really a smart move.
This port had the potential to look a lot better than it does right now. Maybe the developpers are just prioritizing the much expected CS2 for pc (which will run on the stunning HL2 engine).
Continuity? Transitions? What are you talking about?
Dear XBox owners,
You bastards.
Sincerely,
The Mac Gaming Community