Counter-Strike: GO Dons Casual Slacks

VG247 spotted a story spotted by GameFront spotted by Kotaku which I then spotted, and now you are. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is going to contain a casual mode, for lame-o n00bs like me. The reinvention of the game (rather than being any form of sequel) has a mode that will let you strip out the "in-game money restrictions on which weapons and items the player can buy." Which sounds like, to my eareyes, an attempt to make it much more gamey.

Which is a good thing. So nyeh. The hardcore Counter-Strike community, whom I like to think of as the Romulans, will be upset by absolutely anything. If Valve re-released CS 1.6 with a new font on the splash screen there'd be uproar, boycotts and possibly death threats to all involved. Sure - you're the exception. But you know it's true of everyone else.

So an attempt to make the game more accessible for others will be met with hostility, but fortunately they don't have to join in. Because CS right now is a game that I bounce off like a bouncy ball on a rubber trampoline. A few years back, at the behest of PC Gamer, I was given a lesson in CS 1.6 by one of the 4Kings. It was a brutally embarrassing affair, in which I wandered around lost, while the increasingly teeth-gritted expert patiently tried to explain to me how I had to jump on his shoulders. When it came to buying weapons, he just barked the keys I needed to press at me, such that I had no idea what was happening. It was better for everyone.

Other new bits and pieces revealed in the Kotaku article include the news that PS3 players on mouse/keyboard support will be matched against those on PC/Mac, and also raising the bar for the hardcore, with tweaks and improvements the dedicated players will appreciate (or complain about).

The game is due out early next year.