History VideoGame / CounterStrike

* '''''Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies''''' (2014): The Steam version of Counter-Strike Online.

* AscendedFanfic:
** Arms Race and Demolition mode from CS:GO are based from the "Gun Game" custom scripted gameplay mode where you are given different weapons after each kill.
** Flying Scoutsman is based on the custom map scoutzknivez, which gives every player a free Scout, removes their pistol, and sets the gravity low.

* AscendedFanfic: Arms Race and Demolition mode from CS:GO are based from the "Gun Game" custom scripted gameplay mode where you are given different weapons after each kill.

* {{Plunder}}: A valid tactic is to kill a better-equipped opponent and steal his weapon, especially [=AWPs=]. Provided that you survive the round, you don't have to spend $2500+ on a good weapon even if your team loses. The loading screen hints for ''Global Offensive'' bring this up.

[[caption-width-right:350:''OK, Let's Go!'']]

* '''''Counter-Strike: Condition Zero''''' (2004): A stand-alone expansion pack with remade models, textures, visuals, and maps (in vein of Half-Life: Blue Shift) while running on the same engine and also adds few new weapons and tools, along with a simple single-player mode and bot support. Later added was ''Deleted Scenes'' which is an actual single-player campaign that was cut from the original release. All of the gameplay additions such as bots, Galil, Famas, and the riot shield were backported to the vanilla Counter-Strike in 2004 as of the 1.6 release. As of 2009 onwards, both ''CS 1.6'' and ''Condition Zero'', including ''Deleted Scenes'', are only available as a bundle purchase in Steam.

[[folder: Specific To Global Offensive]]

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Despite being released in 2012, this game has Basque separatists still being a major threat (the Basque insurgency ended in 2011 and hadn't been notable since the early 2000s). All of the terrorist group descriptions also ''only'' mention attacks in the 1980s and 1990s, which would be odd if the missions you're undertaking against them in-game are happening in the 2010s and they've been active in the intervening decades. Maps frequently have devices that would have been outdated by the time of the game's release, such as CRT-based computer monitors and televisions (Most of which are recycled from previous Valve Source Engine games). Further muddling things is a number [[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Counter-Strike:_Global_Offensive weapons and gadgets]] that did not exist until the mid-to-late 2000's, and the "Danger Zone" mode features drones and portable computer tablets - staple technology of TheNewTens.
* ArmorIsUseless: Averted; besides the damage reduction provided in the original game, armor in ''Global Offensive'' drastically reduces how much the player's aim thrown off when hit (AKA "aimpunch"). This makes such a huge difference that many players consider a pistol plus armor a better loadout than an SMG or even an assault rifle without armor.

* MolotovCocktail: A terrorist-specific grenade, which starts a fire that lasts seven seconds once it hits the the ground (and only the ground; it just bounces off walls), damaging and slowing down whoever walks through it. It's used mostly for the sake of area denial, but can be put out by a smoke grenade. The weapon is exclusive to the Terrorist side, but Counter-Terrorists have incendiary grenades that function identically. Astoundingly, despite just being the traditional glass bottle full of gasoline, rum, and a rag, '''it costs $400''' (and used to be more than twice that!).

[[folder: A - Z]]

** Nobody is quite sure why the terrorists always field fixed amounts of men to openly plant bombs on what appears to be an empty, evacuated area, or take hostages and yet not execute them when the CT goes openly loud. Even stranger is why special forces organizations only deploy the same fixed amount of operatives to stop them, rather than severely outnumbering the terrorists or calling in any drones or helicopters to assist. The answer is two-fold, and eloquently simple - A: it wouldn't be the ''Counter-Strike'' that everyone knows and loves if it was realistic, and B: It [[RuleOfFun wouldn't be as fun otherwise]].

** 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 ''VideoGame/{{Quake}} and ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament''. Some servers take this to a fascinating extreme, downloading dozens of sound clips to your computer when you first enter them.
** ''Counter-Strike Online'' have their own Announcer Chatter, from the standard multiple kill announcements to UT-like voice clips. Special mention goes to the nearly-haunting 10-second countdown in zombie mode.

** You can buy a vest, or a vest and a helmet. 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 P250) than against heavier arms and also protects well against grenades.

** Before CS:GO, the bots in Condition Zero and Counter Strike 1.6 will do a few tactics considered by real players, such as trying to camp strategic spots on the map.

** The early versions of Counter-Strike shipped with no bot functionality until the infamous third-party POD Bots were created, and since then, both Condition Zero and Source have shipped with bots of their own. Counter-Strike 1.6's Steam release still lacks bots, however.

** Among the pistols, the [[GunsAkimbo Dual Berretas]], due to being two handguns, they offer the largest magazine capacity at 30 rounds (or more accurately, two times 15 rounds) and shoot faster than most other pistols, but they have an excruciatingly long reloading time and makes the player move slower while holding them. More seasoned players will privilege the Tec-9/Five-seveN or the Desert Eagle.

** [[WebVideo/PurePwnage FPS Doug]] said this while playing ''Counter-Strike'', making it ''the'' TropeNamer.[[note]]Although he actually first appeared on the show talking about America's Army not Counter-Strike, the phrase only started to be popularised in his second appearance, one in which he was playing Counter-Strike.[[/note]]

** Armor. While the slightly increased durability is nice, the main reason that armor is worth the money in CS:GO is because it reduces how much your aim is thrown off when hit. Some pro players even value having a pistol and armor over having an SMG (or an SMG and armor over having a rifle) since one extra hit before dying and the ability to keep aiming for an opponent is often the difference between life and death.

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Played With. Certain obstacles such as thin walls, doors, crates, etc. will not entirely protect people from bullets, though they do reduce the damage of bullets that have to pass through it. This is referred to as "Wall Banging". Hiding behind a stone wall will still protect you, however.

** Prior to ''Source'', players would have to buy ammo. This was removed in future games, where ammo was automatically given at the beginning of each round and along with the gun you purchase. In Source, you can still "buy" ammo, but only inside the first 45 seconds of a round and only to replenish up to the amount you start with, making it something rarely needed unless you've been spamming your gun for no reason at spawn or you caught a very early rush on a map where the two sides start near each other.

** The Escort / Assassination mode that was a feature of pre-1.6 versions of the first Counter-Strike but was never very popular and since 1.6 retails the only way to play such gamemodes is by downloading custom maps.

* GaidenGame: To ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', originally; the first game was actually given the ''Half-Life'' title when sold at retail while its Source remake was initially only sold bundled with copies of ''Half-Life 2''. Though it has arguably become more popular than the series that spawned it.

** Prior to CS:GO (which limits freely shareable usermade content into maps only), third-party mods can also give the player a nice set of fancy new weapons, replacing your boring old M4 with something like an XM8 or tricked-out variant.
* HandCannon: The Desert Eagle (nicknamed "Deagle"), as per tradition. Expensive, heavy, loud, heavy recoil... but it kills in two body-shots from full health at any range, even against armored opponents. For these reasons, using one falls more under DifficultButAwesome if you learn how to make those few shots count.
* HoldTheLine:

** Hostage rescue matches also won by the CT if all the hostage are rescued regardless of the terrorists remaining. Time out will result in T winning.

** Also known on terrorist side as 'Going for picks'. Players split all over the map and drop the bomb in an easily accessible place behind. Then they wait until one of [=CT's=] makes a mistake and gets killed so they can attack the weakened site. Or wait until rest of the CT team rotates there and plant on the other site.

* OneHitKill: The [[GameBreaker AWP Sniper Rifle]] is a one shot kill anywhere but the leg. Banned from pubs[[note]] public games [[/note]] and the only weapon that can compete with the AK-47, which always has perfect accuracy on its first shot. The Taser is a close range, single-use version.

** Constant quick-switching between players' current weapon and a knife, partly because the knife affords a speed bonus and partly because the back-to-back animations [[RuleOfCool look like awesome sleight-of-hand tricks]]. Players using sniper rifles almost always fire, switch to another weapon, then back to the rifle to cancel the reload time and to avoid sitting still when a surviving opponent is certain to retaliate. Though in CS:GO, switching the sniper rifle is at best useless (it won't let you fire until the time that the animation for operating the bolt would have taken elapsed, so you can't fire any quicker) and at worst can get you killed (since the draw animation can add time in which the rifle can't be fired).

* {{Qurac}}: de_dust and de_dust2, the fictional countries of [[UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}} Ataq]] and Boshistan in ''Condition Zero'', and the unspecified country where the level ''Recoil'' in ''Deleted Scenes'' is set (the map actually shows it being in the Congo, but the mission briefing says it's "somewhere in North Africa", which the architecture, geography, clothing, and phenotypes support). de_dust2 itself went from taking place in a desert fortress at a nondescript location in ''HLCS'', to taking place in an Arab palace in ''Source'', to taking place in ''Global Offensive'' in a war-torn city somewhere in Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia (judging from a few street signs in French). In CS:GO, the country of origin for the Leet Crew terrorists is left ambiguous, though their opponents on these maps are always the [[BadassIsraeli Israeli Defense Force]], which combined with [[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/muammar-qaddafi-and-libyas-legacy-of-terrorism/ Libyan support for their group]] suggests that they're Palestinian.
* RaceAgainstTheClock: Once the terrorists have planted a bomb, the CT's have a fixed number of seconds to either eliminate their opponents or defuse the bomb, usually less than a minute.

** The [=SUVs=] in cs_militia and de_piranesi have Black mesa logos on them. Notably, the same SUV ''without'' the logo appears in cs_siege, so it wasn't like they just got lazy.

** Some maps in ''Global Offensive'' recycle assets and layouts from past Valve games, especially ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', which leads to the theory that ''Global Offensive'' is actually a prequel to ''Left 4 Dead''. Though this was debunked in ''Left 4 Dead 2'', where Louis acknowledges ''Counter-Strike'' as an in-universe video game.
** Then again the classic Counter-Strike up to version 1.6 reuses assets from Half-Life (including Black Mesa containers, scientist, and cars), which also led to the theory that Counter-Strike is actually a prequel to ''Half-Life''.
** In CS:GO, the Operation Hydra guardian mission "Continental Etiquette" can be seen as a shout-out to Film/JohnWickChapter2; You have access to armored suits, you're required to get pistol headshots, and the mission takes place on a map with scenery very reminiscent of Rome, where the second act of that film takes place.

** If you pay for the ticket to play some of the events in CS:GO, you'll also got interesting story tidbits about both the Phoenix (the terrorists) and the counter terrorists.

** Killing teammates, in games prior to ''Global Offensive'', will cause you to be killed the next round, or kicked sometimes. In ''Global Offensive'', killing too many teammates or doing too much team damage, in Competitive modes only, will cause you to be kicked from the match, leaving you to eat a temporary ban from playing Competitive that could last for up to a week. Additionally, doing this enough might cause you to get investigated by the Overwatch system[[note]]''Global Offensive''[='=]s player-reviewed anti-cheat system[[/note]], which could potentially end up in a '''permanent competitive ban'''!

** The sharply-dressed Professionals in CS:GO, the rebellious young adult (probably?) Anarchists in CS:GO, and even Phoenix Connexion high ranking members as appeared in the Operations comics and map.

** 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 ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''.

* '''''Counter-Strike: Condition Zero''''' (2004): A stand-alone expansion pack with remade models, textures, visuals, and maps (in vein of Half-Life: Blue Shift) while running on the same engine and also adds few new weapons and tools, along with a simple single-player mode and bot support. Later added was ''Deleted Scenes'' which is an actual single-player campaign that was cut from the original release. All of the gameplay additions such as Galil, Famas, and the riot shield were backported to the vanilla Counter-Strike in 2004.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/counter-strike_logo_9708.png]]

** Prior to CS:GO (which limits freely shareable usermade content into maps only), 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.]]

* CallingYourAttacks: The player voices over their team's radio whenever they throw one of the various types of grenades, planting or defusing the bomb.

* AKA47: Most of the guns in ''Global Offensive'' use their actual names, just without the weapon manufacturers, with the exceptions being the Sawed off Remington 870 just being shortened to "Sawed-Off", while the Taser is renamed to the "Zeus x27 (the name "Taser" is a brand-name). Some weapons, particularly those with entirely new models, use [[DistinctionWithoutADifference names that are close to, but not quite, their real names;]] such as the Mk 18 Mod 0 becoming the "[=M4A4=]", the Sig SG 556 is now the "SG 553", the FN SSR Mark 20/FN SCAR-H TPR combines the two names and shortens it to "SCAR-20", and the AI Arctic Warfare Magnum is called by its community nickname [="AWP"=] (which in real life is a slightly different model, the Arctic Warfare Police). The latter is also true of the Cross-promotional "AWP-er Hand" weapon in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''.

* CherryTapping: The Zeus, which usually gets used as a humiliation weapon rather than for tactical purposes due to its pitiful range, its single use nature and the fact that it rewards the player ''$0'' for killing someone.

* GameMod: CS:GO has a Steam Workshop support where players can subscribe user-made maps. Some of the best ones are added to regular map rotation, either temporary or permanent.

* IllKillYou: Two of the IDF's "in combat" lines are this trope:
-->'''IDF''': I will '''kill''' you!
-->'''IDF''': I will ''kill'' you!

* PermanentlyMissableContent: After an "Operation" event ended the exclusive maps will be removed. You can still search for the map in Workshop or wait until the maps are re-added, either on the next Operation event or by popular demand.

* RightHandedLeftHandedGuns: Averted in this game, where for the very first time in the series, there are models for right-handed users. They're a little rough around the edges though. All the models are merely mirrored on the other, non-visible side, which is most noticeable on the Desert Eagle in Inspect mode, where all of the text will be flipped horizontally.

** A sometimes effective strategy, both offensively (for {{Leeroy Jenkins}}es) and defensively. No time to reload because the enemy is rushing you? Throw away your gun and grab a dead guy's gun! The in-game hints in encourage scavenging for better weapons at the very end of rounds.

** Nobody is quite sure why the terrorists always field fixed amounts of men to openly plant bombs on what appears to be an empty, evacuated area, or take hostages and yet not executing them when the CT goes openly loud. Even stranger is why special forces organizations only deploy fixed amount of operatives to stop them, rather than severely outnumber the terrorists or call in any drones or helicopters to assist. The answer is two-fold, an eloquently simple - A: it wouldn't be the ''Counter-Strike'' that everyone knows and loves if it was realistic, and B: It wouldn't be as fun otherwise.
** Every gun always follows its spray pattern to the tee. Realistic? No. Could be fixed? Yes. Would it ruin thriving (and profitable) pro scene (where spray control is used by everyone)? Yes.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: There's no reason to think that the original game is set any later or earlier than the late 90s, when it was developed. Ditto for ''Counter-Strike: Source'', which is just the original with updated graphics and physics. Subsequent games, however, introduce some ambiguity. This may or may not be due to the implied SharedUniverse with ''VideoGame/HalfLife'', which features an ApocalypseHow event in 200X.
** ''Condition Zero'' and ''Deleted Scenes'', released in 2004, add more scant flavor text in the form of the mission briefings. The Midwest Militia RightWingMilitiaFanatic group is reacting to the Waco siege of 1993. The "Recoil" mission is based on the Battle of Mogadishu, 1993. "Truth in Chaos" puts you in the role of Japanese law enforcement trying to stop "a homicidal cult stockpiling supplies of a deadly nerve gas to release on a populated area", an obvious reference to Aum Shinrikyo's 1994 and 1995 terrorist attacks, which used their stockpiles of sarin and VX. "Pipe Dream" has you as Spetsnaz fighting vaguely Muslim bad guys in Turkmenistan (given the border setting as shown on the map, likely were meant to be a spin-off of one of the many Tajik Islamist groups active in the 90s, as Russian Spetsnaz WERE involved in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistani_Civil_War Tajikistani Civil War]] of 1993 to 1997). More explicitly, "Rise Hard" has you as the British fighting Irish terrorists in Belfast (UsefulNotes/TheTroubles ended in 1998). Also, the Guerrilla Warfare, with an estimated 2,000 fighters, is stated to be "the largest terrorist group in the world", which wouldn't be the case in the mid-2000s as various Al-Qaeda franchises had tens of thousands of members by then. On the other hand, "Thin Ice" features fictional high-tech automated turrets. The exact same ones as in [[VideoGame/HalfLife Black Mesa]], in fact.

** 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. Some servers take this to a fascinating extreme, downloading dozens of sound clips to your computer when you first enter them.

* AnonymousRinger: The terrorist groups in ''Condition Zero'' and to a lesser extent in ''Global Offensive'' are closely based on real world groups active in the 1980's and 1990's, though in-game they either go unnamed or are slotted under a [[GenericanEmpire generic title]] (e.g. "Guerrilla Warfare"), as detailed [[AmbiguousTimePeriod above.]]

* GunsAkimbo: Dual Beretta Elites. They used to be totally useless back in ''HLCS'' for anything more than looking cool during the pistol round, but ''CS:GO'' later made them actually viable for competitive play by making them function like a semiautomatic submachinegun with a very long reload. However, they are still less popular than Desert Eagle (due to its stopping power), Tec (see DoNotRunWithAGun) and [=P250=] (cheapest gun in the game).

* RightHandedLeftHandedGuns: Averted in this game, where for the very first time in the series, there are properly-modeled weapons for right-handed users.
** All the models are merely mirrored on the other, non-visible side, which is most noticeable on the Desert Eagle in Inspect mode, where all of the text will be flipped horizontally.

** Some of the less-expensive guns. Several of these are SMG's, which (aside from the P90), are generally weak. They do, however, have TONS of bullets, meaning you'll never have to worry about running out. As for the expensive buys, there's a very good reason that the majority of players go for the M4/AK-47 if they don't want/need an AWP.

** The idea of "saving" or going "eco" (economic mode). When your team loses all their weapons and has no cash left, it seems sensible to buy whatever crummy SMG's you can afford and hope for the best. Most people just buy nothing for a few rounds (and likely die) so that they can save up enough money for proper weapons and equipment, since spending money on bad weapons will probably result in a CurbStompBattle anyways.

** The AWP also has the unintended side-effect in being a [[MemeticBadass memetic]] gun, some newer players will often flock to the gun citing it's one hit kill potential. While this is certainly true and it easily can be worth the price tag having a team full of [=AWPer=]'s is counterproductive and can easily see the team that stacked AWPs punished for their mistake by a more balanced team composition.

* {{Plunder}}: A valid tactic is to kill a better-equipped opponent and steal his weapon, especially AWP's. Provided that you survive the round, you don't have to spend $2500+ on a good weapon even if your team loses. The loading screen hints for ''Global Offensive'' bring this up.

* SniperDuel: Very possible between two players wielding AWP's or Scout rifles. These tend to be very quick, since the AWP kills in one hit and other players will usually interfere if they're alive.

** The "Thin Ice" mission in ''Deleted Scenes'' has the building being guarded by several ceiling-mounted turrets identical to the ones found in Black Mesa.

** Italy and a few other maps feature chickens you can shoot for the fun of it. They run away if you shoot near them, and will make a beeline for th eopposite direction, which can make it (when an enemy is nearby) give away your position, since, [[ForegoneConclusion well y'know, they can hear the gunshot.]]. In ''Global Offensive'''s Deathmatch mode, killing a chicken nets you one point.

** The VIP mission mode that was a feature of 1.6 but was never very popular.

* ArtisticLicenseEconomics: The short-lived attempt by Valve to dynamically price the guns - basically, trying to balance the game by having popular weapons get more and more expensive while making bad guns cheaper than dirt. At one point, a gun somehow cost ''negative'' money.

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The inevitable result of attempting to spray more than a few shots at someone's head- only one (if any) shot ends up where it's supposed to. Firing fully automatic on recoil-heavy weapons like the AK-47 is a great way to empty the magazine and accomplish basically nothing, [[RealityEnsues similar to real life]].

** Many automatic weapons reach very high rates of fire ([[RealityEnsues depleting their magazines quickly]]), especially the P90 SMG, which has a reputation for being a bullet hose.

* '''''Counter-Strike: Condition Zero''''' (2004): A stand-alone expansion pack with remade models, textures, visuals, and maps (in vein of Half-Life Blue Shift) while running on the same engine and also adds few new weapons and tools, along with a simple single-player mode and bot support. Later added was ''Deleted Scenes'' which is an actual single-player campaign that was cut from the original release. All of the gameplay additions such as Galil, Famas, and the riot shield were backported to the vanilla Counter-Strike in 2004.

** The sharply-dressed Professionals in CS:GO, The rebellious young adults (probably?) Anarchists in CS:GO, and even Phoenix Connexion high ranking members as appeared in the Operations comics and map.

** The first version of Counter-Strike shipped with no bots until the infamous POD Bots is available as separate release, and then Counter-Strike Condition Zero is released with bots feature build in, and the final version of 'Classic' Counter-Strike, dubbed 1.6, has bot support integrated in the game.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Rush B!'']]

-->''OK, Let's Go!''

-->''Roger That.''

* RevenueEnhancingDevices: In form of LootBox, where the "crate can be only opened with a key that is bought in a market" feature that was passed down from ''Videogame/TeamFortress2'''s Mann-Conomy update. There are also special missions that require you to buy a ticket to participate, although almost all content (barring the exclusive "Co-Op Strike") is open for the common gameplay mode. None of these give a player more advantage over the others though in regular games.