Sure, now counter-terrorists can also use the new shield as a defensive weapon, and the interface is much more streamlined, but you’re still playing the original Half-Life mod. However, what has been packaged is simply a rehash of the old game, including the same objectives and the same guns, with some new maps thrown in for good measure. And after two years, Counter-Strikers expected that a sequel would offer new weaponry and equipment - and, above all, that promised single-player game. Alas, as it turns out, the gameplay is literally the same thing. The original intention of Condition Zero was to make a compelling single-player game out of the multiplayer concept. And that’s a bad thing when you’re paying full price for a game that doesn’t have anything really new. The phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies perfectly to Counter-Strike.
Don’t re-cock that gun too fast, though - Counter-Strike: Condition Zero doesn’t necessarily make your shot any better than it was before. After a long two-year wait in which the game has passed through the hands of no fewer than four developers and undergone radical changes in design, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, the single-player follow-up to the popular multiplayer game, should finally arrive in gamers’ hands this month.
