Counter Strike Global Offensive is a first person competitive game where terrorists play
against counter terrorists.
There's more to it than that, but that is determined by the game mode you're playing,
which can be chosen from the main menu.
I'll now go through the game types.
You can skip bits if you look in the description of this video.
The main game-style of CSGO can be split into two different map types.
The most popular is defuse and if you happen to watch a competitive match between pro teams,
the chances are it's this mode that's being played.
Terrorists start with a bomb and can choose one of two bombsites to plant it at.
The CTs start nearer to those sites and must defend.
Either team can win by eliminating the other team completely, or by detonating or defusing
the bomb.
If time runs out, Counter Terrorists win.
Hostage rescue maps are opposite.
Terrorists start with two hostages which the Counter Terrorists must reach, rescue and
return to their start zone- they only need to save one to win the round.
Once again you can also win by killing the other team, and the terrorists can run down
the clock and win on time.
These two map types can be played casually or competitively.
Casual is played on a 10 v 10 server.
There's no team killing, it's far more forgiving and you only have to reach 8 rounds to win.
Competitive mode is ranked, meaning that the game puts you in a 5 v 5 game with balanced
teams (in theory!) and your score is determined by how well you perform and whether you win.
If you die, you remain dead until the current round is over, which can take up to several
minutes.
After each round, depending on how you've done and which team won, you're awarded money
for bigger and better weapons and items.
You play on one side for 15 rounds and then switch to the other, with the first team to
16 winning the game.
Play enough games in this mode and you get a badge to show you how perform compared with
everybody else in the game.
This rank can go up or down, depending on whether you get better or worse.
More on this in a later video- it's best not to jump straight into this mode if you know
nothing about the game.
There are
several other modes supported which tend to favour more casual, drop-in play.
These are Deathmatch, Demolition and Arms Race.
Deathmatch is simplest.
If you die, you spawn again somewhere in your level.
You can choose which weapons to use and you must kill everybody on the other team.
The action is fast-paced and it's a great mode should you want to practice for a proper
match.
In Demolition there's a single bombsite and the maps are smaller.
It's like a more laid-back version of Defuse and is a race to reach 11 wins first.
If you die then you remain dead but if you manage to kill somebody then your weapon is
upgraded for the next round.
The weapons get worse before they get better but get kills most rounds and you can gain
access to some powerful sniper rifles.
And finally, there's Arms Race.
It's like deathmatch only you start with a certain weapon and work through the list by
killing people.
The final task is to knife an enemy which finishes the game and wins it for your team.
But don't expect your team to be pleased with you.
It's every man for himself in this mode!
A recent update made it so that the top player can be seen by others through walls, making
it drastically more difficult for one person to pull ahead of others in this mode.
I personally find Arms Race very frustrating but there's been a thriving community for
this mode for a number of years, well before CS GO even came out.
Counter Strike is a big game and it's growing rapidly.
It gets regular updates and new features and is a great game to get into.
There's always a match to be played and I have had many memorable experiences in my
time playing it.
I wish you all the best in yours!
What's the next step?
I have a basic tutorial on how to aim and what health and armour does, which I recommend
viewing if you're wanting to get started with the game.
Just click on it to watch it.
It's right there.
Just wanting to be clicked.
Go on... you know you want to!