How do you resist following CS eSports? With the release of Counter-Strike 2, the game feels completely different to watch and wager on. It’s much better.

Valve has achieved this with many minor tweaks to the game’s engine and gameplay system. The chances are, you won’t even notice some. But we did. So here are the 4 major changes to the game that make it feel different.

 

CS 2 Receives a Ton of Hype

CS 2 has become a fiesta among gamers. Everyone has waited for it, and the statistics prove it. A peak player number has been 1,818,773, which is a record for a game. This means 1 thing.

We’ll definitely see much more events for CS 2. Plus, existing events will receive more love with their prize pools expanded. Regular bettors receive a boost, too.

Bookies will raise their odds and introduce profitable promotions to attract all these players to betting. That’s especially true about some regions. For instance, eSports betting in Canada is quite popular, which means it will be one of the best regions for betting.

 

Round System Revamp

Until the release of CS 2, the game’s match-winner was defined by the first team to get 13 rounds. This was changed.

Now, cyber athletes need to get 12 rounds. For a regular player, that might seem like an insignificant change. But in eSports, that’s critical.

Now, each round is much more critical. As eSports competitors often intentionally went for an eco, knowing they could seize initiative later, this is tougher now. Plus, this indicates that games will end faster.

 

Dynamic Smokes

New smoke physics has become a signature of CS 2. They’re no longer static. They don’t just hang in the air like a dead texture but move like the real-life substance.

First of all, players’ bullets leave contemporary holes in the smoke. This has strategic implications. For instance, a player can shoot in the smoke to create a window for his teammate to pick an enemy.

Moreover, players can cast away huge chunks or the entire smoke screen with a default grenade. It catches enemies off guard. And just imagine how many outplay opportunities it opens.

ESports players will definitely capitalize on it. Probably, smoke interaction will be their new favorite thing to train. So you can expect many exciting smoke plays in the upcoming Clashes and ESLs.

 

Minimal Latencies

Observing the shooting of S1mple, M0NESY, ZywOo, and other top players, one thing comes to mind. They are complete masters. But there is something that holds them back from playing to their maximum.

The talk is about latencies. Those are little delays between input commands (keyboard and mouse) and their response in-game. Many CS players don’t even know about these. But pros who play CS for 6+ hours daily on the best possible gear can really feel them.

CS 2 fixes this flaw. Valve has introduced a new sub-tick engine that, as they say, will make CS 2 players know precisely when players move and fire their shots. We’ll see how this turns out.

 

Source 2 Engine

If you haven’t heard, CS 2 was created on the new Source 2 engine. It was a necessary novelty to realize new smoke ideas, as the old engine was incapable of that. But it has also enabled new visuals. With the upcoming changes, watching CS 2 eSports and playing the game yourself will be much more satisfying.

 

Map Rebuilds

If you’ve been up to the eSports, you’re probably tired of the old maps. Everyone is. They’ve been around for 10 years already!

In CS 2, old maps have been rebuilt from scratch. Their textures look much better, and they introduce new visual elements. If you’ve watched CS 2 already, you’ve definitely noticed an improvement. But next time, try to focus on details. You’ll be impressed with how many new features these maps have.

 

New Effects

Another gimmick that will improve your CS 2 eSports viewing experience is effects. The matches will turn into movies. And as the real actors, competitors will throw flashy grenades with new effects. They look slick.

In addition to these, the game introduces new blood splatters. This makes each bullet feel impactful. It will not only damage the enemy’s health pool but will realistically indicate it with the blood splashing out.

 

New Gun Models and Skins

And the final change that will reflect on eSports is upgraded gun models. Valve haven’t made major changes to them. But they’ve added little details like patina marks, scratches and changed their colors a bit.

These changes powerfully resonate with previously mentioned visual updates. Together, they set the course of CS 2 towards a more realistic look. The game’s competitions slowly turn into real spectacles.