Counter-Strike: Global Offensive reminds fans of the series that holding a knife truly does make you run faster.

CS:GO is the third entry into Valve Corporation’s acclaimed first-person shooter franchise, Counter-Strike. CS:GO was developed by Valve Corporation and Hidden Path Entertainment, and was published by Valve Corporation. The game was released on August 21 for OS X, PlayStation Network, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox Live Arcade. CS:GO is only available for download.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the sequel to Valve’s 2004 Counter-Strike Source. After eight years of frantic firefights, is was a wise decision for Valve to give the series a fresh coat of paint.

CS:GO, like every other iteration in the series, is purely a multiplayer shooter; there is no story. The two factions pitted against each other are the appropriately named terrorists and counter-terrorists.

Fans of the series will enjoy the new game modes, weapons and maps. However, Counter-Strike virgins (you know who you are) have been presented with a fantastic update of a tried and true franchise that will stir your inner competitive side. CS:GO is nostalgia for the veterans and candy for the new guys and gals.

Visuals:

CS:GO runs on Valve’s Source engine, but this isn’t the aging beast we met back in 2004: It runs on a heavily modified version of Valve’s staple engine.

The comparison of CS:GO to CSS is moot considering the eight-year age difference, but the new paint job is one of the biggest draws of CS:GO.

Guns look great, character models pop and the lighting effects are nothing to wave a stick at.

As a fan of the series, there was nothing better than shooting up the wholly renovated Dust II map. Yes, Dust II is back, and it never looked so good.

Naturally, the PC version of CS:GO excels past the console versions in the visual department when played on a decent rig.

Audio:

Updated character dialogue sounds good; it is a huge improvement over CSS’s in-game voiceovers.

Weapons sound great. You can almost feel the gunfire through your keyboard, another vast improvement over the last iteration in the series.

Gameplay:

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive falls in line with its two older brothers; with that being said, this isn’t Call of Duty.

CS:GO doesn’t have a campaign, and it has no backstory. It’s just terrorists and counter-terrorists completing their objectives before each other.

You are limited to one primary weapon, one secondary weapon, a knife and maybe some explosives. There are no iron-sights, and there is no sprinting.

The key to victory in CS:GO is preciseness. You need to pay attention, work with your teammates and master the art of the headshot.

CS:GO is an intelligent game; you need to succeed in cooperation and skill. This can be off-putting for beginners, but don’t worry: Mastering the learning curve of Counter-Strike is all a part of the fun. The series has been around for about 13 years, and the gameplay hasn’t changed all that much. Dedicated players of the series are very good, and you will die often. Who doesn’t like a challenge?

Luckily, Valve has brought back the option to play with offline bots. This will give a new player an easy way to learn the ins and outs of CS:GO without humiliation.

CS:GO offers some new game modes along with some old favorites. Returning are the classic modes Defuse and Hostage. New game modes include Arms Race and Demolition. Arms Race has quickly become my new favorite. It plays along the lines of Call of Duty’s Gun Game. Arms Race is a team deathmatch game mode wherein each player will unlock a new weapon upon every kill; the game ends when a player meets the predetermined score. Demolition is similar to Arms Race, but the game is round-based, only allowing one life per round.

This game is undoubtedly best whilst playing with a keyboard and mouse, but the developers did a good job mapping the controls to gamepads. The PS3 version supports the Move controller along with USB keyboard and mouse. The keyboard and mouse support for the PS3 version of CS:GO is a major advantage of the Xbox 360’s sole controller support. Unfortunately, cross-platform play was binned during development.

Whilst the PS3 version of CS:GO gets the KB&M treatment, the PC version boasts a feature that consoles just can’t compete with: Mods. The CS:GO community has been hard at work since release to create new user-created maps and game modes, a major benefit for PC gamers.

I’ve spent dozens of hours playing Counter-Strike Source in my dorm room shouting the obligatory “BOOM HEADSHOT” down the hall whilst annoying the entire floor. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive caters to those past experiences and then some.

Round Up:

Eight years is a long time between sequels, but CS:GO was worth the wait. While it may seem that the major draw for the game is a new paint job–and honestly it’s a major component of the game–CS:GO offers sleeker menus, new weapons, and new maps. Veterans of the series will receive a breath of fresh air, and newcomers will quickly understand the hype that Counter-Strike warrants. It’s time to climb on board the franchise that rocked the PC gaming world in 2000 and is still lowering GPA’s today.