Half-Life: Counter-Strike

The Good
2nd Update. Note: This review is limited only to the multi-player experience.

The best Artificial Intelligence (AI) in gaming is called Human Intelligence. It is because the human mind continues to adapt against various real-life mathematical algorithms, although ironically in real-life they have usually have intelligence of an average mosquito, it's amazing what a human opponent can do when they are permanently settled in a moss-covered chair playing Counter-Strike all day long (all night and all week long for that matter)...like me a loooong time ago. :) Not having a life does have its moments. :p

The Bad
This will be one of the most serious reviews I'm about to attempt (yeah, right). This paper is about the The Sociological and Psychological Impact of the Multi-Player Counter-Strike Pop Culture Experience to Online Un-Suspecting Youth.

It all seemed so innocent the first time you entered the battleground. The purpose was short and simple: shoot the other team with everything you've got.
Well, until first blood apparently is YOU!

When that happens, you know you're going to say something bad. In fact, you want to say something ugly so bad, your head feels like its going to explode.

You remember you're younger years (which was several minutes ago), when you were naive and eager to serve your fellow team-mates: running as fast as you can to the front lines while trying to draw the enemies bullets from your comrades-at-arms... only to find out what damage a sniper rifle can do. You never knew where the bullet came from.

Next thing you know, you and the next pile of multi-player victims are swearing your young innocence all over the multiplayer screen, trying to curse all the players that are still playing about "not being fair" bla...bla...bla...hoping a response. Not realizing knowing that dead players can't speak to the living.

Technical Note: Chatting on the screen after being killed may only be viewed by other players not playing. The chat cannot be viewed by players still in the game (ie. alive).

After a several games and dozens of sniper bullets later, everyone now has a Sniper Rifle. No one no longer wants "to be a hero" in front lines with a $5000 Machine Gun or a simple pistol. Nooooo, everyone must carry a Sniper Rifle, since no one wants to die abruptly without warning.

Suddenly every one becomes...gasp a COWARD! Everyone's hiding in corners at unbelievable areas that even your momma can't find you. Hiding gleefully with that Sniper, scoping anything that remotely looks like movement. Sweat coming down your shin, ignoring other gun battles and the cries of your dying comrades in the alley beside you. It's every man or boy to himself now.

And there goes 20 years of chivalry, ethics, and comradeship of gaming down the drain. There goes the virtues of Ultima, the nobility of King's Quest, the bravery of Monkey Island. No one wants to be a pirate anymore. Everyone just wants to be "not dead".

This game truly inspires the worst of what an emo teenager can do in the terms of selfishness, immorality, egoistic and non-cooperation. They created monsters of people who were only idiots. :p

Some people actually "grew up" by simply walking away or putting down their sniper rifle, and just using the standard sub-machine guns. If that happens, the game usually became fun again.

Honor was restored since you now praise the person that killed you in melee combat or that shot your head (headshot) from a distance with an assault rifle, since it was fair and just combat. Although you still slander the bloke that knifed you when you weren't looking, but at least it wasn't a sniper bullet...

You may not be the top player in the "frag list" (number of players you killed), but at least now you had fun. This is essentially what games are supposed to be about.

The Bottom Line
I seriously think you have to be AT LEAST 25 if you want to play the multi-player game...