Since it's announcement earlier this year, the massive update to CS:GO changes the game over to Counter-Strike 2 and brings in huge technical changes to the game to improve gameplay and make everything look so much better.
The update is free for everyone that owns CS:GO... which is everyone since the game went Free to Play back in 2018. Let's breakdown the more important changes.
Important Changes in Counter-Strike 2
- Brand new rating system called "CS Rating" is a numerical score.
- Responsive Smokes - Dynamic volumetric objects now interact with the environment, lighting, gunfire, and explosions.
- The new smokes are also synced to all players due to engine updates, which means everyone sees the same cloud.
- Bullets can pierce temporary holes through smoke, allowing vision.
- Explosions and Fire have received big updates to their visuals.
- Tick Rate no longer matters for moving, shooting, and throwing.
- CS 2 introduces "Sub Ticks" so servers know exactly when actions occur.
- The hud has received changes to help communicate important states in the game. They also look better.
- Audio has been updated to better reflect the environment.
- Some maps have received major overhauls, rebuilding their lighting, adding more detail, and makes everything feel more modern.
- Overpass, Inferno
- Other maps received more basic changes which include new lightning, material updates, and reflections.
- Nuke
- The touchstone maps of CS:GO have only received lighting changes through engine updates so help evaluate the new game.
- Dust II!
- All items have received higher resolution models.
- All previously obtained weapon skins still work and some look even better.
- This is the proper way of going forward with a major game update. Looking at you previous Call of Duty games that sold people cosmetics each year and didn't bring them forward.
- If you previously purchased Prime Status, your purchase still works in CS 2.
Check out the launch trailer!
CS Rating - The New Rating System
A brand new rating system has been added to Counter-Strike 2. Here's how it works:
- Premier is a new competitive mode.
- The mode features a pick-ban system for active duty maps.
- Rather than a name-based rating, everyone now has a CS Rating which is a numerical value.
- Ratings display on seasonal leaderboards!
- Premier matches are not required to be played, and the old skill rankings now apply on a per-map basis.
More Preview Videos
Valve has previously put out a few more videos about the updates in CS 2. These are better than any screenshots would be, so if you're interested give them a watch.
What are you waiting for? Go download the update now on Steam and get ranked!
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