A few days ago, Valve announcedCounter-Strike 2. Though it stands as the fifth iteration of the mainline games,Counter-Strike 2promises to be the biggest overhaul yet, all while being offered as a free upgrade toCounter-Strike: Global Offensiveplayers.
On the whole,Counter-Strikeis a comparatively unchanging franchise. Much of the current iteration’s features are relics of the tried-and-true mechanics from the franchise’s inception. For Valve to win over fans, it has to tread lightly, leaving the bedrock untouched while addressing fans' most important concerns—as it has already begun to do with the first of theconfirmed changes forCounter-Strike 2.
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Counter-Strike 2 Should Bring Improved Anti-Cheat and Penalties for Toxicity
If last month’scheaters' debacle onEscape From Tarkovreminded gamers of anything, it’s that anti-cheat is of paramount importance for a first-person shooter’s success. For what it’s worth, Valve has always touted one of the most effective anti-cheat systems in the industry, but in order to facilitate a smooth transition for the upgrade toCounter-Strike 2, the anti-cheat needs to be as fine-tuned as it can be.Counter-Strike 2should have no issues converting inveterate players, but casual and first-time players will be quickly turned off if they are confronted with any degree of cheating.
By the same token,Counter-Strike 2needs to take greater strides than its predecessors and find new ways tocombat toxicity likeOverwatch 2does. As is,Counter-Strike: GO’s current system of automatically muting toxic players is an ineffective fix to a much deeper problem. In fact, one criticism against muting toxic players in this manner is that it harms future teammates by pairing them with someone who can’t communicate.
An alternative would be a system that imposes increasingly harsh penalties for repeat offenders. There’s no need to police friendly trash talk, but players taking to voice chat to spew abhorrent and hateful remarks should face consequences.
Counter-Strike 2 Should Consider Transparency in the Ranked System
Making any changes toCounter-Strike’s competitive systemis a precarious task, but one of the most called-for changes is to bring transparency to the ranking system. Unfortunately, this sort of proposal is a double-edged sword. While transparency gives players a better understanding of how their rank is affected by each performance and thus allows them to better enjoy the experience, it also makes the system more exploitable.
By opening up the system in thestyle of competitiveValorant—one ofCounter-Strike’s biggest competitors—Valve would also be giving cheaters, exploiters, and toxic players a boatload of information to work with. There are a plethora of factors to consider when moving from the current opaque system to a more transparent one, but with the growing dissatisfaction with the competitive system, it may be something for Valve to seriously mull over.
It’s Time for Counter-Strike 2 to Revamp the Original’s UI
The current UI ofCounter-Strike: GOis one of its most maligned features. Despite being one of theworst games to play with a controller, the current UI is often criticized for seeming as though it was designed with controller play in mind. For many, the UI feels clunky, convoluted, and generally confusing. For inspiration, Valve may want to look back into their own catalog of titles likeCounter-Strike 1.6orSource- while those titles boast dated UI that looks obsolete, it functions in a far more intuitive, player-friendly manner.
Since pleasing a broad player base with a UI revamp can be a tall order, Valve should take the opportunity duringtheCounter-Strike 2betato experiment. A strong option could be to allow players to greater customize their own UI settings and create an individual layout. Regardless of how players feel about the current UI, it’s doubtlessly in need of a revamp, as it has remained largely unchanged sinceCounter-Strike: GOwas released over a decade ago.
There’s also one microscopic change that fans have been asking about for years: lowering the default volume of the menu music. It’s an extremely easy fix, but the overwhelming loud default setting has achieved near-legendary status among players. If Valve tweaked it slightly, it would probably go a long way.
Counter-Strike 2 Needs to Fix the Demo Viewer
WhileCounter-Strike 2is carrying over plenty of featuresfrom the original, one it should leave in the past is the demo viewer. The built-in system for players to review in-game footage simply doesn’t function half as well as it should. Of all the features inCounter-Strike: GO, the demo viewer shows its age the worst. It can take players an eternity to comb through their games due to the long loading time between skips. In its current version, the demo viewer is a buggy, frustrating mess that is long overdue for an overhaul.
Sadly, the current state of the demo viewer only benefits hackers and exploiters. If a player can’t go back and easily review footage from their previous games, it makes it more difficult for them to identify and flag potential cheaters. If it revamps the demo viewer, Valve could implement a system where players could flag suspicious game footage, which would help the game crack down even further on hackers.
Counter-Strike 2will be released in the summer of 2023 for PC.
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