Is CS2 an improvement over its predecessor?

CS2, the long-awaited addition to Valve’s Counter-Strike series, has no doubt divided the community. As everyone makes the switch from Global Offensive (CS:GO), we are seeing yet another case of the playerbase being vocal about their experience. Is this just Counter-Strike players being stubborn as usual or is there more than what meets the eye?

CS:GO has been around for a little over a decade, so providing a worthy successor was never going to be an easy feat, even for a developer with a track record like Valve's. But let's look at this with an open mind and see why CS2 is actually worth playing and not as bad as some have made it out to be.

Note: This article is subjective and only expresses the author's opinions.

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What makes CS2 stand out over CS:GO?

Advanced smoke physics

The long-awaited upgrade (Image via Valve)

Amidst all the hype and fancy graphics that are a clear step up from CS:GO, what many consider the biggest change is how smokes work in CS2. Players tend to treat smokes as walls and, more often than not, all you can do is wait till it fades (unless you are Stewie2K).

But now, thanks to the Source 2 engine, Valve has revolutionized smokes with CS2. Smokes now react and move out of the player's way based on their interactions with it, making it an undeniable step up in terms of gameplay and strategy. We are just one Major down and we have already seen so many insane plays by the pros and the community. If you ask me, that is a point in favor.

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Ticking off a major complaint

What you see is what you get (Image via Valve)

A huge complaint players have had about Counter-Strike was the lack of 128-tick servers. While the competition made the switch ages ago, Counter-Strike had kept the official servers at 64 tick. Now, after years of outcry from the community, Valve has come up with a solution.

The developer has effectively gotten rid of tick rates by introducing sub-tick technology. This was heavily featured in the promotions leading up to the release. That said, sub-tick servers have not yet been the big win that Valve hoped for and issues with it continue to be addressed. Only time will tell if it can become all it was marketed to be.

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Graphics (but at a cost)

Updated graphics and lighting make CS2 a sight to behold. (Image via Valve)

CS2 no doubt knocked it out of the park graphically, bringing it up to date with present-day standards while still retaining the feel of its predecessors. However, its fancy graphics and updated lighting have not been kind to some lower-end PCs. You can still get acceptable framerates on a half-decent rig, but it is safe to say that the update has rendered a good portion of the community’s setups obsolete.

That said, the game cannot really be blamed, for, it's the price of progress that many would argue was long due.

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CS2 is here to stay

So here we are, back to the original question - Is CS2 better than CS:GO? Yes. The game has its flaws; some bigger than others. But at its core, it is still the same game that has been winning the hearts of gamers over a span of four decades now.

At launch, CS:GO was one of the worst versions of the franchise ever, but with over a decade of tender love and care, it had grown into something truly magical. Through every controversial update and questionable balance change, the fans kept true to their game and that is what ultimately made Counter-Strike what it is today. We are still less than a year into CS2’s release and look how far it has come already. And I'm confident that with time, it could even surpass CS:GO's popularity.