Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) has garnered a huge following since it was released ten years ago. With a huge esports community that embraced the title with open arms, following the game’s already extremely successful previous iterations, the franchise has built its fan-base through unique gameplay requiring teamwork, skill, and elevated levels of discipline. However, with so many pro players and with such a steep learning curve, it can be intimidating to get started as a newbie.
Like with anything, practice makes perfect and you can be on your feet in no time. Below, we provide an essential guide on how to play CS:GO.
The Basics – How to Play
CS:GO is a team game, played between two groups of five players. There are 30 rounds, which alternate between attacking and defending. One team, the terrorists, must plant a bomb and the other team must diffuse it, giving each team fifteen rounds of each task.
Each of these teams starts with $800, which increases as they perform kills during a round. This money can buy upgrades and new equipment for the next round. When a team reaches 16 wins, they claim victory.
Rounds play out on various CS:GO maps. Some of these give strategic advantages depending on if the team is defending or attacking. Success is built from working as a team. From selecting positions to determining how to spend your cash, you need to function as a group.
Choosing the Best CS:GO Settings
The number of settings in CS:GO is vast and, for newcomers, this can be overwhelming. It will take time, patience, and lots of playing to get the ones that suit you exactly. However, there are a few you can adjust to get you off to a great start.
Begin with the crosshair, your targeting system for the whole of the game. Your choices are between the colour of it and how the cross-hair moves. Play a few games, adjusting this until you find a setting you like. You may already have an idea of what you prefer from other FPS games you have played.
Your next choice is the resolution. This is simple, and it will be best to go with the aspect ratio of your monitor. You can try it in 4:3 making the view smaller. Some players do this as they prefer to see fewer distractions on the screen, but it is a personal preference.
Next up is to choose the sensitivity of your controls. Go slower and they will be steady but may not give you the response you need. More sensitivity will provide speed but may provide a more erratic control system.
Pro players will tend to use a low in-game rating between one to three, coupled with a mouse DPI of 400 to 800. If you are new to FPS games, start as low as possible then work your way up until you find a level, you are comfortable with.
If you want, you can replicate s1mple’s CS:GO settings, one of the best players out there.
Why CS:GO Is Not Call of Duty
While the two games are both FPS, they have some fundamental differences. Each has a distinct style of play, with alternative competitive elements. However, if you are switching from one to the other, you should not have much trouble if you adjust your mindset and tactics.
The first major thing anyone who plays both will notice is that the team element is much bigger in CS:GO. You cannot function unless you have people working alongside you and each person must perform their given role. When it comes to Call of Duty, players have more scope to act as lone wolves.
Of course, not having a team makes Call of Duty more friendly for casuals. It is easy to learn but hard to master and has a story mode to ease people into it. CS:GO is about skill, and this can only come through practice, which of course involves the use of a team.
Don’t Spray and Pray
One tactic new players should avoid is a spray and pray approach. This is where you hold down fire with the expectation of controlling the recoil well enough to consistently hit your targets. Unfortunately, players with even a small amount of experience should know to avoid this – because hitting enemies like this is on par with doing a bona fide Jesus miracle.
This is because weapons in the game have specific spray patterns that become extremely hard to control when fired out of control. To counteract recoil patterns you must move your aim in the other direction. You can practice this by firing at a wall and seeing how the spray pattern hits. From here, work on how to counteract it, and finally, use it during a game.
Don’t Run and Gun
One of the hardest things to adjust to when starting CS:GO is the running and shooting mechanics. Most guns will not let you shoot properly while you are moving, so you need to come to a stop before firing. Advanced players can counteract this with a counter strafing method, involving moving in the opposite direction to bring a character to a halt quicker. This takes a lot of practice, so it is not something you need to practice when you are beginning.
Be a Team Player
Another tip is to be a team player! There is no place for heroics or taking the glory alone. When you have a role, if you do not stick to it, you will find it exposes weaknesses in your squad. Make sure you have a mic so you can communicate with other players and listen to what they have to say.
In CS:GO the roles fall into five categories. You may want to try different ones to decide what you are best at before getting serious with a regular group of players.
- Entry Fragger – This is the person who is at the forefront of a push. They are usually the first person into a site, calling out enemy positions and attempting to make a kill.
- Support – Support players need versatility. Their primary objective is to provide cover and backup to the entry fragger. However, if that person dies, they need to be ready to take their place.
- In-Game Leader – The team leader’s job is to coordinate tactics and keep everyone on the same page. A leader will decide what to buy, when to push, and give players moral support. When someone dies, they must also be willing to step into the breach.
- Lurk – These players rely on stealth and cunning, using surprise to outmanoeuvre the enemy. Very often, this involves having the discipline to get behind enemies on CS:GO maps without taking shots until they have the right position.
- AWPer – The AWP is an expensive weapon, but a useful one for sniper attacks from long distances. The weapon will not always be available in the game so AWPers must also be adept with rifles. However, when one becomes available a talented player will be able to hold down areas and pick off enemies from afar.
Teams will use CS:GO callouts to discuss virtual locations on a map. For example, you may hear teammates talking about highways and cubbies. Some CS:GO maps can have a huge number that it helps to learn. For example, the CS:GO callouts for the Dust 2 map has over 40 different terms for its locations. That’s why it’s also super useful to learn each map’s call-outs, so you can communicate quickly and efficiently with your team.
Which CS:GO Weapons Are the Best?
Many of these come down to personal preference and to another degree, the role you have chosen. However, there is a few weapons beloved by most players and teams in the game.
The most used weapon is the AK-47. Once you have learned how to counteract its spray, you can get good targeting on your enemies. A head-shot with the weapon is enough to provide an instant kill.
One of the most powerful guns is the AWP. This sniper rifle will be an instant kill for any shot above the legs. Even a shot in the bottom half will severely deplete a health gauge.
Grenades are also a very important part of CS:GO. You will need them for entering and clearing a site. A wide range of grenades are on offer in the game, so get used to how they work and what tactics to use them with.
How to Get CS:GO Weapon Skins?
There are four main ways you can get skins in CS:GO. Skins can change the appearance of your weapon, letting you tailor your look and style. Certain skins may also have different properties. You can get them through:
1. Random drops in online games
2. Opening containers
3. Trading ten skins of the same rarity for ones of a higher rarity
4. Buying them from Steam
5. Swapping with other players
How to Surf in CS:GO
Surfing is a glitch in the source engine that runs the game, which lets players pick up speed on steep angles. It has now turned into an alternative mini-game, with over 1900 custom surf maps available.
Start by strafing left to right using the A and D keys. Jump down onto a ramp and attempt to stick as you slide down it. When you reach a gap, you will need a certain amount of speed to cross the void, so strafe upwards as you hit the end of the ramp. Turning gets a little more complicated, as mistiming it can kill your momentum.
What Is CS:GO?
CS:GO is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. This is a first-person shooting game, developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment. It has a thriving online eSports scene, mainly due to its team play and unique mechanics.
When Did CS:GO Come Out?
CS:GO was released in 2012 on Windows, Mac, Xbox 360, and PS3. Two years later it became available on Linux. There have been many updates and patches since its original release.
How Do You Show FPS in CS:GO?
There are currently two ways you can show FPS in CS:GO. These are through Steam’s settings and the command console. In Steam, go into the setting menu. Select the ‘In-Game’ option and then you will have the option to set up the FPS Counter. You can then choose to put the counter in one of the corners of your screen. Your second option uses the command console. Start by going into settings and enabling the developer console. Then use ‘~’ and it will bring up a command console. Typing ‘cl_showfps 1’ will bring up the FPS counter. You can remove it by bringing up the console later and entering ‘cl_showfps 0’.
