History VideoGame / CounterStrike

* ArtificialStupidity: Unfortunately, ''Global Offensive's'' bots dip into this in some aspects. Counter-Terrorist bots often refuse to go near one bomb site despite knowing the other site is clear, Terrorist bots will only use one of the two bomb sites on a few of the maps, bots on both teams will step in front of your shots, hit you with a High Explosive grenade despite knowing that there's no enemy nearby, or even '''shoot at a Decoy Grenade'''... but perhaps worst of all is that it's completely arbitrary whether a bot will listen to any of your in-game callouts, to the point where they'll even voice their refusal [[TooDumbToLive even at the expense of their own lives.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: In ''Deleted Scenes'', the Spetznaz commanding officer stays behind to make sure none of the warring terrorists disable the bomb you planted to destroy the nuclear core.

** A poor-man's zombie mode can be done by making it so a massive number of bots (unofficial or not) join the opposing team and are only allowed knives. In fact, this is how Turtle Rock studios got the inspiration to make ''Left4Dead''

Originally a free GameMod, Creator/{{Valve|Software}} (the developers of the original ''Half-Life'' and its sequel, ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'') has since hired on the original developers to create ''Counter-Strike: Source,'' using ''Half-Life 2's'' graphics and physics engine. It is one of the most popular tactical FPS game that rewards thinking more than reflexes. (Though most gamers just run and gun nonetheless.)

Originally a free GameMod, Creator/{{Valve|Software}} (the developers of the original ''Half-Life'' and its sequel, ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'') has since hired on the original developers to create ''Counter-Strike: Source,'' using ''Half-Life 2's'' graphics and physics engine.

** Terrorist weapons are cheap and loud to suit very aggressive play while Counter-Terrorist weapons are expensive and optionally silenced to encourage some really devious stealth tactics. ''Global Offensive'' follows this by changing up the side-specific equipment - for instance, the P90 is the only shared submachine gun now, and terrorists receive Molotov cocktails instead of frag grenades.

It gets a great deal of the world's top gamers with many long standing competitive scene to this day. It also gets a great deal of the idiots, and also MoralGuardians who [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch rail against it]] for "[[MurderSimulators teaching kids to kill]]." Most memorable being the instance of a high school student expelled for basing a Counter-Strike map off of his school. In addition, a judge in Brazil has banned Counter-Strike sales throughout the country, because of a map designed as Rio De Janeiro. (Not that it has helped, as the game is widely pirated in Brazil).

A new version of Counter-Strike, subtitled "Global Offensive" came out in August 2012. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edYCtaNueQY You can watch its Source Filmmaker Trailer here]].

* AKA47 - Though there's an unofficial patch that (mostly) corrects this. Earlier versions of ''Counter Strike'' did use the real names for guns.
** Some details: There was a time (pre-{{Steam}}) where which weapon names you got depended on whether you had the mod version, which required ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' to play (''real names'') or had bought the stand-alone retail version of Counter-Strike (''AKA47 names''). The mod version also is the origin of the aforementioned "unofficial patch" (''titles.txt'').

** Mostly averted in Global Offensive. Most guns are called by their actual names (although without the weapon manufacturers,) with the exceptions of the sawed off Remington 870 and the Taser. The Taser uses this trope (as Taser is a brand-name,) being named the "Zeus x27," while the sawed off Remington 870 is simply called the "Sawed-Off Shotgun."

* ArmorIsUseless: You can buy a helmet, vest, or both. They barely lessen the damage taken - they're the difference between five bullets killing you and four bullets killing you. Realistically, though, the armor is more effective against most of sub-machine guns and pistols (except the Deagle, Five-Seven, and Tek-9) than against heavier arms and also protects well against grenades.

* BoomHeadshot - [[PurePwnage FPS Doug]] said this while playing Counter-Strike, making it ''the'' TropeNamer.
* BoringButPractical - Flashbangs.
* CherryTapping - Knife kills, though it has the advantage of being a one-hit kill when stabbing someone in the back.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides - [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] Although both teams share many items (pistols, submachine guns, grenades and armor) and could end the game by duking it out in a deathmatch, the significant equipment and tactics revolve around objectives that serves as one team's antithesis to the opposing team's war doctrine.
** Terrorist weapons are cheap and loud to suit very aggressive play while Counter-Terrorist weapons are expensive and optionally silenced to encourage some really devious stealth tactics.

* DoNotRunWithAGun - Running while shooting will send your bullets anywhere that isn't the reticule. How much it throws off your aim is proportional to movement speed: for most of the series velocity was lost immediately after you let go of the arrow keys, letting you shoot and run all but simultaneously. In ''Global Offensive'' reaching a stop takes a fraction of a second, but can be done faster by tapping the direction arrow opposite to the direction you were moving in.
* ElaborateUndergroundBase - From all intents and purposes, the raid on a well-armed gang in ''Modesto'' of all places goes awry - you, a SWAT member, falls into a huge ''warehouse under a crime-ridden slum'' filled with crack for shipping and weapons.
* EscortMission - The hostage maps, though most opt to kill the opposing team instead of saving the hostages there.
** Averted in Global Offensive, as the CTs carry the hostages over their shoulder from one set point on the map to the other. Also, only one hostage of two (each in separate locations) needs to be saved. It was originally played straight (see below), but was eventually changed.

* EvilVersusEvil - The two terrorist factions fighting over the radioactive material in Deleted Scenes.
* GameMod - In addition to the fact that this game is the most successful mod ever, custom content is very popular; note that [=GameBanana=] has [[http://www.gamebanana.com/skins more Counter-Strike: Source skins]] than it has skins of ''any other game combined''.
* GunsAkimbo - Dual Beretta Elites. More useful than you think they are. In fact, they're the second most used, right below the Desert Eagle.
* GunPorn - A recent update for ''Global Offensive'' has added weapon skins and crates, but above all, pressing a button while ingame will deploy a special animation of the player inspecting the weapon. Even better, considering there's now a loadout screen where one can view each weapon and skins, complete with a fully three-dimensional render and pan of said weapons. Third-party mods can also give the player a nice set of fancy new weapons, replacing your boring old M4 with [[RareGuns something like an XM8 or tricked-out variant.]]
* HeroicSacrifice - In ''Deleted Scenes'', the Spetznaz commanding officer stays behind to make sure none of the warring terrorists disable the bomb you planted to destroy the nuclear core.

* LeeroyJenkins - Just go on the online games. ''No one'' works together, unless they're in clans.

* LeetLingo - Something of a TropeCodifier for it. In the wee early days of Counter-Strike 1.6, it was a major stereotype that nearly all chat consisted of l33t sp33k1|\|6 asshole children.
* LightningGun - ''Global Offensive'''s Zeus x27 ([[AKA47 A.K.A. Taser]]) is a short range OneHitKill [[ThrowAwayGuns Throw Away Weapon]], regardless of where you hit your target.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe - The Counter Terrorist's buyable equipment in Condition Zero includes a solid metal riot shield that takes up your primary slot and secondary weapon in return for blocking all forms of harm in the front while it's equipped. The first multiplayer game to use this, and it was ''absolutely hated'' by pros.
* ObviousRulePatch: In ''Global Offensive'', players who commit suicide, whether accidentally or not, no longer receive any cash for that round, in an attempt to stop "denying" a la DOTA (a technique in which a player kills themselves or friendly units to prevent the enemy from receiving bonus cash for killing them)
* OneBulletLeft - Invoked. Killing an enemy with the last bullet in your mag nets you a Steam achievement.
* OneHitKill - The [[GameBreaker AWP Sniper Rifle]] is a one shot kill anywhere but the leg. Banned from pubs and the only weapon that can compete with the AK-47, which always has perfect accuracy on its first shot.

* {{Qurac}} - de_dust and de_dust2, and the level ''Recoil'' for ''Deleted Scenes''.
* RightHandedLeftHandedGuns - Completely enforced until Global Offensive, where for the very first time in the series, there are properly modelled weapons for right-handed users.

* RightWingMilitiaFanatic - Presumably the Militia skin for the Terrorist, and the map cs_militia.
* SawedOffShotgun - Comes in three flavors, Double Barrel and the Quadbarrel for ''Counter-Strike Online'', and a sawn-off Remington 870 called as the Sawed-Off in ''Global Offensive''.
* {{Shoutout}} - The manga store in the Japanese Subway level of ''Deleted Scenes'' references ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' amongst other manga, and the after-credits to ''DrStrangelove''.

** The gang leader in "The Turn of the Crank" wears [[{{Scarface}} a white suit, trades in drugs, speaks with a heavy Cuban accent, and is coked up in the final battle, making him hard to kill. He screams at you all the way, and you breach the room he's hiding in with explosives.]]
** "Recoil", being set in Northern Africa and fighting off Jihadi after being shot down in an RPG, being a member of Delta Force and picking up a standard sniper... we'll give you two seconds. TIME'S UP! BlackHawkDown.
* {{Shown Their Work}} - [[http://i.imgur.com/SnQmy.jpg Way too much?]]

* SticksToTheBack - At least one counter-terrorist player model in the ''Global Offensive'' inverts this: rifles sticks to the front when unequipped. For other games the unequipped weapon just don't appear at all.

* SuperSenses - Hearing, specifically. A good player can find a nice little place to hide in, hear some footsteps, and instantly blurt out to his team "3 coming long A."

* TerroristsWithoutACause - The terrorists don't really have a mission in the normal game. Their backgrounds posit them as anti-government, anti-Western fanatics.

* ThrowAwayGuns - A sometimes effective strategy, both offensively (for [[LeeroyJenkins Leeroy Jenkinses]]) and defensively (No time to reload because the enemy is rushing you? Throw away your gun and grab a dead guy's gun!).

* TranslationConvention[=/=]JustaStupidAccent - In ''Deleted Scenes'', all characters speak English [except for the opposing side], however accented.

* WesternTerrorists - Midwest Militia, Arctic Avengers and Phoenix Connexion are from America, Sweden(!) and former Soviet Union states in Eastern Europe respectively. Averted with the Leet Crew and Guerrilla Warfare.

* ZombieApocalypse - Comes in two flavors - Infection (which came before the ''{{Halo}}'' game mode), wherein one guy gets infected and must run around and kill the others or where the humans must escape, and NOTD/Zombie Riot, where survivors fight off an army of CPU-controlled zombies. The former usually has nigh-invulnerable zombies and forces players to hole up in buildings and last as long as possible (or escape an area), and the latter is the standard "needs a headshot" kill.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides - [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] Although both teams share many items (pistols, submachine guns, grenades and armor) and could end the game through by a by duking it out in a deathmatch, the significant equipment and tactics revolve around objectives that serves as one team's antithesis to the opposing team's war doctrine.

* BankRobbery: The setting of the 'Bank' and 'Downtown' maps in Global Offensive. Also, 'Miami' from the Xbox version of Counter-Strike.

** The gang leader in "The Turn of the Screw" wears [[{{Scarface}} a white suit, trades in drugs, speaks with a heavy Cuban accent, and is coked up in the final battle, making him hard to kill. He screams at you all the way, and you breach the room he's hiding in with explosives.]]

* WesternTerrorists - Midwest Militia, Arctic Avengers and Phoenix Connexion are from America, Sweden(!) and former Soviet Union states in Eastern Europe respectively.

** The {{metagame}} in Classic game rules dictates that one team, the aggressors, initiate the match and attempt to win it early while the other, the retaliators, would attempt to react to an attack or, if pressed, hope to hold the aggressors off until the timer expires. In "defuse" scenarios, Terrorists plant bombs on targets and Counter-Terrorists defuse them. In "hostage" scenarios, Counter-Terrorists rescue hostages and Terrorists resist them.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides - [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] Although both teams share many items (pistols, submachine guns, grenades and armor) and could end the game through by a by duking it out in a deathmatch, the significant equipment and tactics revolve around objectives that serves as one team's antithesis to the opposing team's war doctrine, particularly in Classic game rules, where one team is assigned to initiate the match and attempt to win early while the other would attempt to react and, if pressed, hope to hold the initiators until the timer expires. For instance, while it's a Terrorist's objective to bomb a target and resist a hostage rescue, it's a Counter-Terrorist's objective to halt a bombing and rescue hostages.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides - [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] Although both teams share many items (pistols, submachine guns, grenades and armor) and could end the game through by a by duking it out in a deathmatch, the significant equipment and tactics revolve around objectives that serves as one team's antithesis to the opposing team's war doctrine, especially in Classic game rules.

* AnnouncerChatter - an ''extremely'' common server-side mod will make the game announce a "KILLING SPREE!!!", a "M-m-m-m-monster kill!!!", a "Headshot!", or a "HUMILIATION!!!" (knife kill), taken from Quake and VideoGame/UnrealTournament.

* ArmorIsUseless - You can buy a helmet, vest, or both. They barely lessen the damage taken - they're the difference between five bullets killing you and four bullets killing you. Realistically, though, the armor is more effective against most of sub-machine guns and pistols (except the Deagle, Five-Seven, and Tek-9) than against heavier arms and also protects well against grenades.

** Averted in Global Offensive, as the CTs carry the hostages over their shoulder from one set point on the map to the other. Also, only one hostage of two (each in separate locations) needs to be saved.

* GunsAkimbo - Dual Beretta Elites. More useful than you think they are.
** In fact, they're the second most used, right below the Desert Eagle.
* GunPorn - A recent update for ''Global Offensive'' has added weapon skins and crates, but above all, pressing a button while ingame will deploy a special animation of the player inspecting the weapon.
** Even better, considering there's now a loadout screen where one can view each weapon and skins, complete with a fully three-dimensional render and pan of said weapons

* LeetLingo - Actually something of a trope popularizer for this.
** Gotten to the point that it makes one's brain hurt.

It's a terrorists versus counter-terrorists modification for ''VideoGame/HalfLife.''

** Some details: There was a time (pre-{{Steam}}) where which weapon names you got depended on whether you had the mod version, which required HalfLife to play (''real names'') or had bought the stand-alone retail version of Counter-Strike (''AKA47 names''). The mod version also is the origin of the aforementioned "unofficial patch" (''titles.txt'').

* OneHitKill - The [[GameBreaker AWP Sniper Rifle]] is a one shot kill anywhere but the leg. Banned from pubs and the only weapon that can compete with the AK-47 (which can spray and one shot you in the head). Until ''Global Offensive'' nerfed it's payout per kill.

* SticksToTheBack - At least one counter-terrorist player model in the upcoming Counter-Strike Global Offensive invert this: rifles sticks to the front when unequipped. For other games the unequipped weapon just don't appear at all.

* DoNotRunWithAGun - Applies to players, as running while shooting will send your bullets anywhere that isn't the reticule.
** Slightly averted, as you can fire accurately whenever you aren't pushing a movement key. This allows players moving back and forth to fire in between direction changes.

** Averted in Global Offensive, as the CTs carry the hostages over their shoulder from one set point on the map to the other. Also, only one hostage needs to be saved.

* OneHitKill - The [[GameBreaker AWP Sniper Rifle]] is a one shot kill anywhere but the leg. Banned from pubs and the only weapon that can compete with the AK-47 (which can spray and one shot you in the head).

* OneHitKill - The AWP Sniper Rifle is a one shot kill anywhere but the leg. Banned from pubs and the only weapon that can compete with the AK-47 (which can spray and one shot you in the head).

It gets a great deal of the world's top gamers. It also gets a great deal of the idiots, and also MoralGuardians who [[ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch rail against it]] for "[[MurderSimulators teaching kids to kill]]." Most memorable being the instance of a high school student expelled for basing a Counter-Strike map off of his school. In addition, a judge in Brazil has banned Counter-Strike sales throughout the country, because of a map designed as Rio De Janeiro. (Not that it has helped, as the game is widely pirated in Brazil).

->'''Gordon Frohman''': Huh. Looks like the teleporter worked. But where the heck am I? Better have a look around. Let's see...a SWAT team [[ViolationOfCommonSense hopping around like complete morons]]... bunch of terrorists hiding, all armed with {{sniper rifle}}s... [[OhCrap oh, crap.]] I'm in ''Counter-Strike''.
->'''Terrorist''': [[LeetLingo OMG! ROFL FAG!]]
-->-- ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}''