Valve flew a group of community figures to its headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, to test Counter-Strike 2. Among the testers were Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill, Alex “Machine” Richardson, Hugo “Hugo” Byron, Harry “JustHarry” Russell, Erik “fl0m” Flom, and Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg. During a lull in the ESL Pro League Season 17 broadcast, they shared some of their experiences while testing the game.
One of the defining elements of the game, smokes, underwent significant changes. They are now color-coded and reactive to their surroundings. Maps have also been reworked in three different ways, including Full Overhaul maps that were entirely rebuilt with new Source 2 tools and rendering features.
The new engine also brings changes to movement and character reactions, making player models more detailed. Visuals are seriously upgraded, with improved water dynamics. The sound cues were one of the biggest issues testers faced, with changes making the experience feel unsatisfying. The lack of feedback when a frag was made was particularly problematic.
Weapons sound different depending on where they are fired, which could give additional cues for situational awareness. The tick rate is now unified, meaning smokes and other utilities thrown in matchmaking and in pro games will now be the same. However, players may need to learn every lineup all over again.
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