Tl;dr - fun and a competitive game. Has it's toxic side just like any other multiplayer game. 8/10 would recommend it.
This game is the epitome of reflex. I love this game because it's simple yet the most complex of strategies can be implied. It doesn't just test your mechanical skill but also makes you really put in a mental effort. Really fun in a competitive 5 man lobby.
Thank heavens this game enables you to access the settings menu whilst queuing for a match.. it was due for years. The new UI seems innovative but I suppose there is still more room for improvement.
Having about an average number of hours. here's what the pros and cons of this game are to me-
Pros:
If you love a fast paced competitive game, this is the game for you.
Simple (no breaking walls and♥♥♥♥♥♥ yet it's fun and there's a lot of♥♥♥♥♥♥you can do to achieve success - victory, fun, both; whatever objective you have set for yourself/definition you have set for the word.
Could also make a great game to play casually between other games, you find these kinds of players mostly in the lower ranks.
In-game ranking system to motivate you on a short-term to play more and get better.
Besides the Competitive (classic 5v5) game mode, there are many others you can choose from. Community made maps and skins to give you a better experience.
Being updated regularly- new maps, changes in existing maps, changes in the economy in-game, etc,- leads to creating new metas.
3rd party matchmaking clients (ESEA, SoStronk, Faceit) offer more opportunities with more stable and better servers (128 tick), tournaments over various periods of time, in-built ranking system with lots of prizes to be won- really brings out the most out of this game- thus leading to a newer and better experience, for the ones who take this game seriously and for the ones who play casually both alike.
Very active and an entertaining e-sport scene- the content it provides really shows that humans are capable of the impossible.
Pretty cool community, I've played a lot of other games and have been a part of many communities but I've got to say the CS:GO community is pretty cool. We have one of the smartest, one of the most humorous communities on Twitch, Reddit and on YouTube, unlike in other games where at least one of these platforms are more cancerous than the better part of them. And ah, some extremely attractive female streamers and pro players.
Cons-
Matchmaking servers are the worst... I don't know what the devs have planned for this game. The servers are never stable and really ruins the experience for us. This game was at a point where all of us were gonna request Valve to upgrade the MM servers to 128 tick but really need to resort to 3rd party clients and many of us really don't want to do that ALL the time or cannot.
So many bugs and stuff being abused in maps and this game takes forever to get them fixed.
I know this is a long shot since it took them years to make other sub-menus accessible while in queue for a match.. but would be ♥♥♥♥in GREAT if we had the option to choose servers. Indians and Pinoys are literally the worst. I'm not generalising but you know it makes no difference to generalise or not because I've never had a good experience with players from these nations. They RUIN our games. Can't have one fun match without an incompetent Indian crying on the mic in Hindi about some really dumb♥♥♥♥♥♥ Like just shut the ♥♥♥♥ UP dude. Always looking for something to blame, extremely annoying when they rush first, die and then comment on what you're doing and if you don't do as they say they just have a mental breakdown on mic. Thank goodness this game is capable of a block communication feature. I don't even know how they get to the ranks they do with their intellectually incapable selves. They're extremely bad and just hold your team down. Super toxic. I don't mind losing because it's a fair part of the game but the games are just RUINED by these players. Coming from overpopulated countries where they don't get enough attention or where they can't get any due to the lack of a special talent, they just show their frustration on the mic and ruin the experience for us. Videos on YouTube get super popular in the CS:GO communities and these players just try out tricks/tips/ whatever BUGS they've discovered etc. and because of their incompetency they fail and it isn't fun nor productive. Request to all Indian and Filipinos- please do not try out the stuff you see on videos. They hold an IQ threshold that you people cannot match. It only ruins our games. And I'm sure every region has some♥♥♥♥♥♥like this so it's only fair CS:GO let's us choose our servers to reduce the risk of getting into a game with an Indian or whoever with an underdeveloped brain.
Hackers and smurfs are still into existence despite the efforts of Valve. It bums me the ♥♥♥♥ out because I've exchanged a lot more time and effort to get to the same rank as the hacker or smurf did only to get paired against them for a definite loss in elo points. Ruined the game after it became f2p.
After this game turned f2p the servers became WORSE due to the high load and they removed the option to report servers. It's like they knew it was bound to happen. Great, the game struggled with stable mm servers and now make the game f2p and introduce the ♥♥♥♥♥iest Battle Royale in existence - Danger Zone.
Poorly optimised game, anybody that gets <250 fps know the huge drop in fps when in smokes etc.
Hope Valve does something about the servers and add more features to this game instead of funding some♥♥♥♥♥♥p2w garbage like ARTIFACT that nobody gives a ♥♥♥♥ about.

-Tips for new players:
1. Get some friends to play with to begin with. More known players more the merrier.
2. You can completely customise how the games looks for you. Crosshair, viewmodel etc can be adjusted for your convenience. Make use of it.
3. Watch videos.
4. Indians/Pinoys on your team or general mic cancer teammates? Type enable_voice 0 in console.. you're welcome.

Conclusion: It's a fun game if you've a taste for competitiveness. Lower skill curve yet hard to master. 8/10 would recommend it.
My first review and it's long as ♥♥♥♥ I don't think most of you would read it- but for those who have regardless of whether you relate to my review or not, thank you for spending time on this. Really appreciate it. Sorry for any mistakes I've committed and have not noticed to change them.

Tl;dr - fun and a competitive game. Has it's toxic side just like any other multiplayer game. 8/10 would recommend it. This game is the epitome of reflex. I love this game because it's simple yet the most complex of strategies can be implied. It doesn't just test your mechanical skill but also makes you really put in a mental effort. Really fun in a competitive 5 man lobby. Thank heavens this game enables you to access the settings menu whilst queuing for a match.. it was due for years. The new UI seems innovative but I suppose there is still more room for improvement. Having about an average number of hours. here's what the pros and cons of this game are to me- Pros: If you love a fast paced competitive game, this is the game for you. Simple (no breaking walls and♥♥♥♥♥♥ yet it's fun and there's a lot of♥♥♥♥♥♥you can do to achieve success - victory, fun, both; whatever objective you have set for yourself/definition you have set for the word. Could also make a great game to play casually between other games, you find these kinds of players mostly in the lower ranks. In-game ranking system to motivate you on a short-term to play more and get better. Besides the Competitive (classic 5v5) game mode, there are many others you can choose from. Community made maps and skins to give you a better experience. Being updated regularly- new maps, changes in existing maps, changes in the economy in-game, etc,- leads to creating new metas. 3rd party matchmaking clients (ESEA, SoStronk, Faceit) offer more opportunities with more stable and better servers (128 tick), tournaments over various periods of time, in-built ranking system with lots of prizes to be won- really brings out the most out of this game- thus leading to a newer and better experience, for the ones who take this game seriously and for the ones who play casually both alike. Very active and an entertaining e-sport scene- the content it provides really shows that humans are capable of the impossible. Pretty cool community, I've played a lot of other games and have been a part of many communities but I've got to say the CS:GO community is pretty cool. We have one of the smartest, one of the most humorous communities on Twitch, Reddit and on YouTube, unlike in other games where at least one of these platforms are more cancerous than the better part of them. And ah, some extremely attractive female streamers and pro players. Cons- Matchmaking servers are the worst... I don't know what the devs have planned for this game. The servers are never stable and really ruins the experience for us. This game was at a point where all of us were gonna request Valve to upgrade the MM servers to 128 tick but really need to resort to 3rd party clients and many of us really don't want to do that ALL the time or cannot. So many bugs and stuff being abused in maps and this game takes forever to get them fixed. I know this is a long shot since it took them years to make other sub-menus accessible while in queue for a match.. but would be ♥♥♥♥in GREAT if we had the option to choose servers. Indians and Pinoys are literally the worst. I'm not generalising but you know it makes no difference to generalise or not because I've never had a good experience with players from these nations. They RUIN our games. Can't have one fun match without an incompetent Indian crying on the mic in Hindi about some really dumb♥♥♥♥♥♥ Like just shut the ♥♥♥♥ UP dude. Always looking for something to blame, extremely annoying when they rush first, die and then comment on what you're doing and if you don't do as they say they just have a mental breakdown on mic. Thank goodness this game is capable of a block communication feature. I don't even know how they get to the ranks they do with their intellectually incapable selves. They're extremely bad and just hold your team down. Super toxic. I don't mind losing because it's a fair part of the game but the games are just RUINED by these players. Coming from overpopulated countries where they don't get enough attention or where they can't get any due to the lack of a special talent, they just show their frustration on the mic and ruin the experience for us. Videos on YouTube get super popular in the CS:GO communities and these players just try out tricks/tips/ whatever BUGS they've discovered etc. and because of their incompetency they fail and it isn't fun nor productive. Request to all Indian and Filipinos- please do not try out the stuff you see on videos. They hold an IQ threshold that you people cannot match. It only ruins our games. And I'm sure every region has some♥♥♥♥♥♥like this so it's only fair CS:GO let's us choose our servers to reduce the risk of getting into a game with an Indian or whoever with an underdeveloped brain. Hackers and smurfs are still into existence despite the efforts of Valve. It bums me the ♥♥♥♥ out because I've exchanged a lot more time and effort to get to the same rank as the hacker or smurf did only to get paired against them for a definite loss in elo points. Ruined the game after it became f2p. After this game turned f2p the servers became WORSE due to the high load and they removed the option to report servers. It's like they knew it was bound to happen. Great, the game struggled with stable mm servers and now make the game f2p and introduce the ♥♥♥♥♥iest Battle Royale in existence - Danger Zone. Poorly optimised game, anybody that gets <250 fps know the huge drop in fps when in smokes etc. Hope Valve does something about the servers and add more features to this game instead of funding some♥♥♥♥♥♥p2w garbage like ARTIFACT that nobody gives a ♥♥♥♥ about. -Tips for new players: 1. Get some friends to play with to begin with. More known players more the merrier. 2. You can completely customise how the games looks for you. Crosshair, viewmodel etc can be adjusted for your convenience. Make use of it. 3. Watch videos. 4. Indians/Pinoys on your team or general mic cancer teammates? Type enable_voice 0 in console.. you're welcome. Conclusion: It's a fun game if you've a taste for competitiveness. Lower skill curve yet hard to master. 8/10 would recommend it. My first review and it's long as ♥♥♥♥ I don't think most of you would read it- but for those who have regardless of whether you relate to my review or not, thank you for spending time on this. Really appreciate it. Sorry for any mistakes I've committed and have not noticed to change them.