Counter-Strike started out as a modification for the half life 1 engine and became one of the most successful online multiplayer first person shooters of all time. Even disregarding the modified servers and the way they expand the lifespan of this game, it has always been fantastic.

This game is by no means friendly to new players. The gun mechanics and physics take a lot of work to get truly accustomed to and, when up against players who have been playing for years, newer players are very likely to find themselves totally out of their depth.

That said, it is an extremely rewarding game once you are used to it. Knowing the maps and how to move and shoot is key and few games reward actual skill to the same extent as counter-strike, the same way as few games are quite so harsh to people who don't know what they're doing.

The counter-strike franchise, to this day, I feel represents the most enjoyable multiplayer FPS experience. With skill removed from the equation, players are put on a pretty level playing field unlike most modern games which handicap new players at an equipment level.

When including the modified game servers into this review including deathmatch, gungame, zombie mod and suchlike, this game transforms from just a fun multiplayer FPS into an all round FPS that can suit any player. The only reason this misses a 5/5 from me is because the game repeatedly suffers updates that do nothing noticeable other than break server mods and server quality can differ immensely depending on both client and server configurations.

More realistic and slower paced than some other shooters. The guns also tend to be less accurate than your normal video game for realism, and shooting while you run is nearly impossible. Still, a reasonably fun multi-player FPS.