Instead of Marine Recon & aliens, in this game you are matched up against an array of terrorists. You are also not alone this time around; each scenario gives you the chance to be on an anti-terrorism bomb squad or hostage rescue team.
You get a set amount of $$ for each encounter, depending on how well you do. This money serves as the funding for your unit, and with it you can acquire team members, weapons and equipment. The better you perform, the better personnel & toys you're able to buy.
A nice feature of the game is that you're also able to custom make your own game. Want to have a virtual army of commandos go up against an army of terrorists? No problem! Want to be a terrorist instead of one of the good guys? No problem! Just be careful: if you get "caught" by yourself in one of these scenarios you will be taken out like a torch in a tropical storm.
While the game is fun, it does get a bit redundant after awhile. There are two basic missions: find and defuse a bomb (or kill the terrorists before they can plant it) or rescue hostages (or kill all the terrorists). While the maps change, your primary missions do not. People expecting an endless montage of missions similar to HALF LIFE might be disappointed.
Also, I do have a few minor critiques of the game. For one, your team dresses differently. Some dress like Navy SEALS while others are European anti-terrorism personnel. Not only is this unrealistic, but it's also distracting. Sometimes you can't tell your own men from the terrorists.
Secondly, the voices are the same whether you play a terrorist or a commando on the custom game. Somehow I can't imagine a terrorist saying "Yes Sir" or "Lead the way, sir" through a radio. Perhaps I'm being overly-picky here.
The single best feature of the game is what is known as DELETED SCENES. I didn't know what it was at first and almost didn't download it. I'm glad I did! It is a separate set of 10 or so missions. These are much closer to the HALF LIFE feel as you have a LOT of hit-points and you also work alone (for the most part) in the majority of the scenarios. These missions are very cool, not redundant & they're worth the price of this game all by themselves!
All in all this is worth picking up if you like role-playing shoot-em-ups. While it can't really compare to HL (except for DELETED SCENES) it's still worth picking up. For beginners I would recommend starting out with sniper rifles as you can pick off terrorists from afar without getting shot-up yourself. The range of the remainder of the weapons leave you very exposed to incoming bullets.
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BASICS:This is a PREview, not a REview: Condition Zero was just announced to be released this fall. (I am 80% certain they'll finish it by then, too). CZ is an sequel to the hit internet game, Counter-Strike, which has been the #1 team-based shooter on the web for over 3 years. 70,000 fans cannot be wrong Counter-Strike is the funnest, most addictive game you can play right now. Trust us. Check out reviews for Counter-strike if you don't believe me.
NEW MAPS, WEAPONS, & CHARACTERS:
New maps are themed from 6 new "Hot-spots", namely: North & South America, the Middle-East, northern Russia, Asia, and "urban" Europe. Each hot-spot has several maps to play on, and each map has 12 objectives to complete in order to unlock new weapons and characters. As the developers actually travels to these various locations for research, the maps look very realistic and authentic. Each map has 12 objectives to complete in the single player game, thus unlocking new weapons, maps and characters. You will outfit your team pre-mission, a la Rainbow Six, and as you unlock new soldiers you'll find each has unique skills, specialties, and personalities (ie, AI routines). I've heard there are over 160 characters in the game so far, so lots to unlock and play with.
New teams include the Russian Spetznatz for the Counter-terrorists, and extremist militia group for the terrorists. New weapons in CZ include: Machete, Galil, Famas, M60, Law Rocket, Molotov Cocktail, Machete, Riot Shield, tear-gas grenade and coresponding gas mask. The Riot Shield will add some very interesting strategy to old favorites like Dust and Militia; the Molotov cocktail also introduces fire to Counter-Strike, and sounds like the perfect terrorist weapon.
AI BOTS!
The greatest addition CZ brings are new AI bots. Finally, people without high-speed internet connections can enjoy the game. Basically, the developers, Gearbox, are working on a complex team-driven AI that mimics real players: your AI teammates will choose appropriate weapons, work in teams, cover choke points, and even do crazy stuff like jump irrationally in corners or do other weird things that people sometimes do. The bots actually learn your tactics and adjust accordingly. Some beta-testers for Gearbox have already reported that they have a hard time telling the computer-controlled characters apart from real players. The best part is that all the AI is script-able, meaning you can go in and adjust the AI to behave exactly how you want it to. I can't wait.
THE HUGE COMMUNITY ISN'T GOING AWAY:
One thing about CZ which might sound like a rip-off but is actually great the multiplayer updates will be available for free online, including the new maps and weapons. That means that the 70,000+ current players can play with the new CZ players right when the game comes out. There won't be a division between "haves" and "have-nots". Of course, those people who download the free updates will miss out on much of CZ's coolest features, like the single player bots and new graphics.
NEW GRAPHICS:
The game still uses the ancient Quake 2 engine (5 years old!) but Gearbox has somehow managed to make CZ look good. The game supports high-res textures, 32-bit color, and trilinear filtering. There are also new, high-geometry character models and weapons. This doesn't make CZ look as good as Doom 3, but it still stands up pretty well for today's standards. And this graphical update is only available to people who buy CZ, not those who just download the free updates.
Best Deals for Counter-Strike: Condition Zero - PC
Counter Strike CZ, is the sequel to one of the best games of all time: Half Life: Counter Strike. For those of you who play cs, the game has not changed much from cs 1.6. There are no new weapons, only new weapon skins and new player skins. The graphics are much better than original cs, and the traditional cs maps[ dust, aztec, inferno, militia, etc] have been slightly tweaked. This usually means another box or crate added here or there, or a slightly longer hallway in places, not enough to change the layout of the level, but enough to confuse you for that precious moment while that terrorist hits you with his ak47.Players of the original Counter Strike will have no problem picking up Condition Zero, and after a few weeks of play will never want to go back to the old counter strike. The question remains: Should you buy Condition Zero? The answer is simple if you don't have the original: HELL YES. And even if you have the original Amazon is selling cz for only $20 bucks, you can't lose much on that. In addition to the kick ass multiplayer you also get a brand new single player campaign, as well as the ability to play against bots in the multiplayer levels[ id save this for when your really bored]. I the missions to be fairly easy even on the hardest setting, but some of the missions are fun, and new players many like to play this after they get owned from playing online for the first time.
Note that when you buy cz the cd key you receive also allows you to play the original counter strike against your cheap friends who haven't bought the new version yet. It seems that the counter strike community is slowly making the change to condition zero. As of today [6-5-04] there are about 4x as many playing the original counter strike as there are playing Condition zero45,000 playing cs to 10,000 playing cz. (No I did not pull that number out of my ass, you can see for your self on steams website, ) If I remember correctly that number used to be more like 10 people playing cs to 1 person playing cz a few months ago. By the time you read this Condition Zero may have overtaken the original counter strike in terms of player usage.
I give this game five stars because it is wicked fun to play, and it never seems to get boring. Counter Strike: Condition Zero does require skill and some patience at times. The game is round basedmeaning after you die you must wait for everyone on your team to finish off the other team. If your looking for instant respawns and mass killing, you should play halo, or unreal tournament.
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