Following weeks of advance notice, Valve today announced Counter-Strike 2 (opens in new tab), the next step in perhaps the greatest and most popular competitive FPS of all time. Counter-Strike players, while deeply in love with the game, have always been its unique breed, frustrated by its problems, and one of the things Counter-Strike 2 did right away was address long-standing complaints and excite those fans. The response has been almost entirely positive, but keep in mind, of course, that few people are playing the game itself at this point.

It is possible to recreate dozens of variations, from capitalized "Let's Go" to various online goblins talking about the impact of Counter-Strike 2 on their genitalia, but beyond the anticipation, it is important to understand what Valve is trying to do here and how the game There's a deep appreciation for how they're approaching updates: in other words, it looks like the Counter-Strike of my dreams (opens in new tab).

Just look at that smoking gun. Counter Strike 2 has very impressive GPU-based gameplay," says Alexander Battaglia of Digital Foundry (opens in new tab). The game is very GPU-intensive," says Alexander Battaglia of Digital Foundry (opens in new tab). Movable and deformable volumetric" volumetric af.

Everyone loves smoke. This new smoke changes everything completely," SixFU writes (opens in new tab)." Fighting around smoke is now a chess match itself." Sauce Science Guy (opens in new tab) sees the big picture." If my team has a head of p90s taps, there is no smoke."

"They better add liquid in the next bottle technology," says Karsvolcanospace (opens in new tab). "Check the website, it's in there too," says the kindly RaptorDotCCP; Karsvolcanospace is pleased: "Now that's a real upgrade."

Another minor change, laughed at by those who are not counter-strikers, and It's going to be, but it's a very important change. It's a game changer. Of course, Valve is socially inclined to do this.

By the way, this is CS:GO's Glock fade skin in the new game. Isn't it cute?

Even more impressive is that you can see your shadow being projected, as seen in Valve's instructional video. Another notable change, perhaps predictably, but one of the few that doesn't seem to be instantly very popular, is the new HUD.

"OMG I hope the original HUD is an option," says BusinessAd_9721. However, one of the neat details in this new HUD is that there seems to be a "kill card" that tracks how you are doing in a particular round.

Many on the competitive scene have known this was coming for a while now, and of course how Counter-Strike 2 will look as an esport is an open question. But we must not forget that Counter-Strike is not just a game for such people, it is a way of life.

"Counter-Strike 2 made me cry in the stream for the first time in my life," says former pro Jacob Winneche (open in new tab). I've lived, breathed, and loved Counter-Strike for the last 15 years. For the next 15 years, I want to love, live, and breathe Counter-Strike. Amen.

Some esports insiders, like Shroud, see this as a blowout for Valorant. As he says (jokingly) to one of his friends in this stream clip, "Quit Valorant, it's over. It's over.

Get_Right, one of the best players ever, played in a closed beta at Valve headquarters." It was great to try it out with some very cool people and it was hard to stay quiet for a while. But it was worth it. Once again, thanks for making @CounterStrike (opens in new tab) happy."

Popular CounterStrike streamer fl0m was one of those invited, and he was quite shouty about his experience.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed the accidental existential moment in this FaZe Clan video as the player digests the gravity of what the new cigarette means.

And fair play to Fnatic.

And while I'm embedding tweets, here's one from a week or so ago that I kind of like.

We'll soon see how the wider scene reacts when the game is in people's hands. esports host Frankie Ward told PCG, "Players have been asking for tick updates for years and will surely be happy with updates to weapon reaction times They will, but it's the dynamic grenades that will have the biggest impact on the pro scene."

"Honestly, my jaw hit the floor when I saw the video released. No more waiting for walls of smoke or "smoke-criminals." No more waiting for walls of smoke or "smoke criminals." Allowing players to shoot smoke grenades and plug holes would literally change the game forever. Smoke's behavior means that players will be able to adapt their tried-and-true formations or try new ones after years of trial and error. I for one cannot wait to see Smoke in action. Hopefully, at the second major championship in 2023."

Returning to the more specific changes and community reaction, I really like the change in aesthetic: a brighter, cleaner game; some people prefer the paler palette of CS:GO; and I'm glad to see that the new game is more "modern.

"If the depressing look of the maps is maintained," says Guccigang Crook (open in new tab), "I prefer that." This looks a little too vivid and bright. Remember, we are talking about a game where terrorists blow up cities, not a Hello Kitty browser game."

Obviously Hello Kitty has changed somewhat since I last checked in. One thing that Valve has not explicitly mentioned, however, and which I cannot confirm in the video unless I missed it, is whether or not Counter-Strike 2 will be changing the team names. While this is the most popular competitive FPS, it has often been pointed out that the "terrorist" and "counter-terrorist" designations may be preventing further popularity. While the character models are the same, and the atmosphere and goals are the same, a small change to "attacker" and "defender" may be part of this package.

Now, this is getting rather serious. Other reactions are more esoteric. One of them was, "I was watching the news about CS2 when a shelf my wife had just built broke over her head. My wife was literally hit with the second volume of Karl Marx's Capital. While I was thinking about the gas grenade, my wife's head was still bleeding. My son was fine, she was angry and tried to argue with me. I was not going to let her go, because weeks ago I had told her that these shelves were inadequate for all 42 volumes of Marx's "Oeuvre" (open in new tab). I will never forget this day.

DisguisedPrime, on the other hand, asks perhaps the only question that matters: "We have new chickens, don't we?"

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As for Valve, the studio has done something eye-opening, and I particularly enjoyed the new Twitter bio (opens in new tab) for Counter-Strike 2. This game is a "CS:GO killer."

That remains to be seen. But Counter-Strike 2 is real, and Counter-Strike fans seem excited.