Our all-time favorite FPS shooter Counter Strike: Global Offensive has a new version coming this Summer 2023. Valve, the creator of Steam Client, is known for its secrecy during the development of games has suddenly rocked the eSports world with an upgrade of CS:GO with many reworks, although the core gameplay remains the same.
What has changed in Counter Strike 2 – CSGO2
Personally, I don’t want to sugarcoat the new version of CS. It looks more like a visual upgrade than gameplay one, the in-game maps have better shaders (brightened). Dark areas of maps de_dust2 have been lit up, smoke mechanics reworked with better physics, the smoke reacts with air pressure from grenade blast, and responsive according to the terrain/environment. Bullets and explosions can temporarily pause the smoke effect. Molotov fire looks glossy, as if it is taken from a Michael Bay movie, or Hogwarts Legacy game.
This video has summed up the changes quite good.
Tick Rate – The Only Major change
Tick rate is the refresh rate of how the information is processed & updated on the game server. Valve official CSGO servers are capped to 64 ticks or hertz frequency.
In Counter-Strike 2, sub-tick system has been introduced, it is indeed a major update. In earlier tick system, there was a chance for servers to incorrectly register the time of shooting action. Therefore, competitive scene preferred their own servers with 128 tick. However, with the coming CSGO2, tick system is entirely rebuilt and replaced with more accurate responsive system according to Valve.
Sub-tick updates are the heart of Counter-Strike 2. Previously, the server only evaluated the world in discrete time intervals (called ticks). Thanks to Counter-Strike 2’s sub-tick update architecture, servers know the exact instant that motion starts, a shot is fired, or a ‘nade is thrown.
As a result, regardless of tick rate, your moving and shooting will be equally responsive and your grenades will always land the same way. [source: valve]
Players are selected for the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test based on a number of factors deemed important by the Counter-Strike 2 development team, including (but not limited to) recent playtime on Valve official servers, trust factor, and Steam account standing.
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) March 22, 2023
It must be noted that CS2 beta access is locked to the account, Players who are selected Counter Strike 2 beta will get “Enroll” button inside CS:GO. So if someone is selling you CS2 Beta key, it is scam 100%, don’t try to buy it!
How to get into CS2 Limited Test
- Open up the CS:GO client.
- Check to see if you received an invitation of Counter Strike 2 Limited Test (beta)
If so, click the ENROLL button, then click “Exit and Download” - Steam will automatically start downloading with the Counter-Strike 2 update files.
- Once the download is complete, Steam will allow you to launcher either CS:GO or Counter-Strike 2 beta (the “Limited Test” version)
- If you don’t see any “Enroll” button, this means you’re not currently selected for the CS2 Beta.
Will there be Wallhacks and AimBots in CS-2?
Wallhacks/cheats are the main reason I quit playing CS:GO competitive (ranked) matches. If Valve fails to tackle the hacking problem in CS2, then I see same fate as TF2 which was one of the most enjoyable FPS at one time.
Counter-Strike 2 System Requirements
Valve has not officially disclosed the system requirements for CS2, however based graphics (shaders, animations, materials) here are the minimum PC specifications you must have to run CSGO 2 smoothly.
Minimum Requirements for CS2:
OS: Windows® 10/11
Processor: Intel® Core™ i3/i5 3rd Generation or later or AMD Ryzen 1200 or Ryzen 1600 series
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 750 Ti or equivalent or GTX 960 for consistent 100+ FPS
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 60 GB available space, SSD/NVMe for faster loading times.
The CS2 will be CPU intensive due to sub-tick rate system. If you can play CS:GO on your PC smoothly, there’s 90% chance you can run CS2 as well.
