ORIGINAL REVIEW:
This game is very good
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After nearly 1900 hours later, I no longer stand by that point. CS:GO was ageing sure, and it was in a dire need for some modernisation, either through a new operation with new features i.e a campaign like the old ops or something different. The game gets boring quick when just playing Premier or Competitive all. the. time.
Mind you back in CS:GO days I'd hop on arms race, talk to some friendly chaps, some of which were much older than I thought (shoutout to the 60yo retired police officer missing a finger, you know who you are). So many different characters from all walks of life. This and the community browser felt closer to the old days (sure we complained when we had it that it wasn't like 1.6 then Source but you don't know what you got til its gone).
I was looking forward to CS2 as I'd been waiting for a while now, patiently, not in extreme anticipation but that thought was in my head.
I remember mid 2023 when there was a hype build-up and we were soon seeing how close the game was actually coming. To the fated day when the trailer released, I was excited as.

That died the moment I actually experienced the Limited Beta. Mind you I had to watch other people, pros and Americans play the game before me (due to Australia not existing in Valve's world - ♥♥♥♥ you Valve where's my Index?), so the hype built even more. Up until I actually played it, and it's not nostalgia, I genuinely think this is a downgrade to CS:GO. I have been patient, always will be, and I always am a fan of Valve games (minus Ricochet lol), but this was honestly a flop. If you say otherwise you're lying to yourself, and I know a few people did.

So, the reason it's now a 'don't play' from a 'absolutely play', is that, I bought the game in 2017 right, and I recommended it EVEN BEFORE IT WAS FREE. This game is FREE now and I don't think it holds up to PAID CS:GO.
Cheaters (always had them so not actually that crazy of a difference), the same boring maps, no Operation and no new features apart from a few gimmicks - smokes, water and brighter graphics (not BETTER, just brighter). Those are the factors on why you shouldn't really bother playing the game, not until Valve puts their pants on and actually steps up and changes some stuff.
I've never been the biggest sweat, I play when I enjoy the game, when I tilt, I back off, do something else or maybe play some chiller gamemodes instead of competitive. Can't do that in CS2 so it results in me just NOT playing the game at all. It is honestly a little upsetting seeing yet another company get greedier and greedier as the years go on, this is evident in Valve because they actually tried to push the game out the door at a specific date to meet their original SUMMER 2023, deadline or whatever the ♥♥♥♥ it was and still, like 6 months later it's not ready.
The insulting updates - a single fix in a 100mb download (that's actually ridiculous, think about the people with limited internet!), and the total lack of them for a few weeks now, even months of substantial change. If they thinking of dropping something soon, they better caus' the major is nearly a month and half away now so if you wanna keep the slowly declining playerbase, you better drop something.

I don't know, honestly just don't bother. Unless you are a testosterone freak and constantly wanna challenge other people in Premier, or rage constantly in Competitive because of cheaters, sweats or the abundance of griefers, don't bother. They've silently given up I think, and this method of 'Valve Silence' and working no more, it isn't mysterious. They drop a game, say 'expect new features soon' then shoot themselves in the head and go completely silent like they had a jaw necrosis and got their vocal chords ripped out their arse. It's just dumb for no reason.

This sounds like I'm slandering it, well because I am. I liked the game for a bit, but people get too invested in it and don't know when to walk away, and luckily that ain't me. I see posts of people ♥♥♥♥ talking the game saying 'ValVe FiX yOuR AnTiChEaT' and honestly at that point just stop playing.
I changed my review as a precautionary measure for anyone deciding to start the game for the first time.
Don't bother, go play Red Dead or something good quality that will last a lifetime.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: This game is very good ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After nearly 1900 hours later, I no longer stand by that point. CS:GO was ageing sure, and it was in a dire need for some modernisation, either through a new operation with new features i.e a campaign like the old ops or something different. The game gets boring quick when just playing Premier or Competitive all. the. time. Mind you back in CS:GO days I'd hop on arms race, talk to some friendly chaps, some of which were much older than I thought (shoutout to the 60yo retired police officer missing a finger, you know who you are). So many different characters from all walks of life. This and the community browser felt closer to the old days (sure we complained when we had it that it wasn't like 1.6 then Source but you don't know what you got til its gone). I was looking forward to CS2 as I'd been waiting for a while now, patiently, not in extreme anticipation but that thought was in my head. I remember mid 2023 when there was a hype build-up and we were soon seeing how close the game was actually coming. To the fated day when the trailer released, I was excited as. That died the moment I actually experienced the Limited Beta. Mind you I had to watch other people, pros and Americans play the game before me (due to Australia not existing in Valve's world - Fuck you Valve where's my Index?), so the hype built even more. Up until I actually played it, and it's not nostalgia, I genuinely think this is a downgrade to CS:GO. I have been patient, always will be, and I always am a fan of Valve games (minus Ricochet lol), but this was honestly a flop. If you say otherwise you're lying to yourself, and I know a few people did. So, the reason it's now a 'don't play' from a 'absolutely play', is that, I bought the game in 2017 right, and I recommended it EVEN BEFORE IT WAS FREE. This game is FREE now and I don't think it holds up to PAID CS:GO. Cheaters (always had them so not actually that crazy of a difference), the same boring maps, no Operation and no new features apart from a few gimmicks - smokes, water and brighter graphics (not BETTER, just brighter). Those are the factors on why you shouldn't really bother playing the game, not until Valve puts their pants on and actually steps up and changes some stuff. I've never been the biggest sweat, I play when I enjoy the game, when I tilt, I back off, do something else or maybe play some chiller gamemodes instead of competitive. Can't do that in CS2 so it results in me just NOT playing the game at all. It is honestly a little upsetting seeing yet another company get greedier and greedier as the years go on, this is evident in Valve because they actually tried to push the game out the door at a specific date to meet their original SUMMER 2023, deadline or whatever the fuck it was and still, like 6 months later it's not ready. The insulting updates - a single fix in a 100mb download (that's actually ridiculous, think about the people with limited internet!), and the total lack of them for a few weeks now, even months of substantial change. If they thinking of dropping something soon, they better caus' the major is nearly a month and half away now so if you wanna keep the slowly declining playerbase, you better drop something. I don't know, honestly just don't bother. Unless you are a testosterone freak and constantly wanna challenge other people in Premier, or rage constantly in Competitive because of cheaters, sweats or the abundance of griefers, don't bother. They've silently given up I think, and this method of 'Valve Silence' and working no more, it isn't mysterious. They drop a game, say 'expect new features soon' then shoot themselves in the head and go completely silent like they had a jaw necrosis and got their vocal chords ripped out their arse. It's just dumb for no reason. This sounds like I'm slandering it, well because I am. I liked the game for a bit, but people get too invested in it and don't know when to walk away, and luckily that ain't me. I see posts of people shit talking the game saying 'ValVe FiX yOuR AnTiChEaT' and honestly at that point just stop playing. I changed my review as a precautionary measure for anyone deciding to start the game for the first time. Don't bother, go play Red Dead or something good quality that will last a lifetime.