Counter-Strike? More Like Boring-Strike!

The last time I played Counter-Strike was when Source first came out back in 2004 and the new coat of paint made the game fun again for a time. Before then, back in 1998-2001, I used to play that game almost religiously. Nothing could beat the 16x16 matches on DE_Dust. Nothing. No other game existed. It was... so good.

Headshots, leg shots, grenades, flashbangs, weapons, bunny hopping, knife kills, AWP... all great things. New physics model, new looks - game was on its way to back greatness. Then I stopped playing and never looked back... until last night. Friend of mine prompted me to play a game of CS:Source and I indulged him. That luster that I remember, all the things I loved... That was then and this is now.

Now it's crap. I can count all the faults and list them off one by one, but I'd run out of toes and fingers and you, you readership of 1 or 2, would run out of patience. Gaming needs to evolve. I wouldn't say I'm more sophisticated now after all these years, but I'd definitely agree that my tastes have changed and I do require a little bit more when it comes to playing games. With that said, my next statement might sound just a little hypocritical...

Call of Duty 4 is the next Counter-Strike. It has everything I once loved about CS and enough tweaks that makes it feel original and great that I appreciate. Grenades in CoD4 actually kill people. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to toss a grenade at someone's feet in CS and have it only do 50 damage. Headshots aren't anywhere NEAR as random. As great as headshots are, the frequency they are dished in CS is pretty ridiculous. No hacking - although it can't be proven that it doesn't exist on consoles, I know for a fact it exists in CS on PC's and it's rampant and almost exhaustive.

The funny part is, CoD4 is also being called a step backward in game design as it's a straight up basic shooter without lean, cover, or any of the neat abilities adorning many modern-day FPS titles. Interesting still, I never hear anyone levy these same complaints against games such as Team Fortress 2 or Half-Life. I think some gamers are just spoiled and want to win without taking any risk. Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair.

Anyways, enough of this. Back to CoD4.