August 12, 2011 by Paul Curtin
With a new Call of Duty game released on every major console each year, it’s easy for gamers to forget the original modern tactical shooter, Counter-Strike, the Half-Life free-to-play mod which turned into a full retail game back in the year 2000. In 2004 Valve released the follow-up to the original game, Counter-Strike: Source, which played almost identically with minor tweaks and a massive graphics update. But since 2004, we haven’t heard anything from Valve regarding a new Counter-Strike game and the Call of Duty series has dominated the American FPS market ever since Modern Warfare was released almost five years ago in 2007.
Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 are set to duke it out in a couple months for the modern shooter crown, and now it looks like Counter-Strike is coming back, but on a smaller level than the two modern juggernauts. Valve has just announced Counter Strike: Global Offensive, a first-person shooter targeted for the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Steam for early 2012. CS:GO is being developed by Valve and Seattle-based Hidden Path Entertainment and is said to “expand upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched exactly 12 years ago” with “new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content.” In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more.” Expect tons more information about CS:GO as it will be playable at this year’s PAX Prime and London Games Festival.
