CS 1.6 vs CS:GO | Distinctive and Unique Features

There are a lot of questions connected with the issue how CS:GO differs from CS 1.6. Of course, we must discuss this topic without mentioning some obvious things.

Today’s article is going to answer all the existed questions in as much detail as possible. To tell the truth, the differences are connected not only with some graphic characteristics. In fact, there are much more difference than you could even imagine, so we are ready to inform the reader about it.

Significance of the Games

Let’s start with the fact that CS 1.6 is not a full version of the game. To tell the truth, it didn’t immediately become it. Its story started when Valve released Half-Life, which became extremely popular among players. After that, two enthusiasts Min Le and Jess Cliff created a mod for the game, which became the first version of Counter-Strike. Subsequently, the game still became independent. Its development continued until the CS 1.6 version, which was recognized as the best in the series and was acute for 10 years. Moreover, some players are playing it even now.

CS:GO, unlike its “younger brother”, was immediately developed as an independent and full version. However, it was easier for Valve, because the 1.6 and Source had already gained some popularity. Many players switched to CS:GO immediately. There were some problems with 1.6, because the gamers didn’t want to switch to the unfinished CS:GO. The lack of tournaments played a decisive role, and the players were simply forced to switch to a new version of the game.

General Possibilities and Characteristics

CS 1.6 was incredibly popular because players could easily make their own changes to the game. Sights for sniper rifles, modified appearance of character models, modified weapon skins have become frequent. The older people probably remember that it was possible to run around the map with a banana instead of a knife or throw some fruit instead of grenades. Moreover, all this could be done for free. You just needed to download these models from the Internet and copy them into the root folder with the game. It worked even with the Steam versions.

In CS:GO the things have changed. Instead of giving the players the opportunity to improve the game themselves, Valve blocked all free modifications and decided to make money on them. That was the reason why different skins and inventory, which hadn’t existed before, appeared in the game. Moreover, if you told CS 1.6 players that you would have to pay for a weapon model, they would laugh with tears in their eyes. Unfortunately, in CS:GO, it is a sad reality.

Gameplay Features

As a matter of fact, nothing has changed. Both games belong to a first-person 3D-multiplayer shooter. The rules and maps remained unchanged. The only thing that has changed is the economic system, weapons, maps balance and shooting mechanics. Let’s speak about everything in detail.

Weapons

There are new types of weapons in CS:GO. They include the following ones:

• Molotov cocktail
• Decoy
• Tec-9
• CZ75-AUTO
• MAG-7
• P250 instead of SIG-Sauer P228
• MP7 instead of MP5
• Nova instead of Benelli M3 Super 90
• Sawed-off
• PP-19 Bison
• MP9 instead of Steyr TMP
• Zeus x27
• Revolver R8
• SG 553 instead of SG552
• CT players can choose the initial pistol: P2000 or USP. In 1.6 there was only USP
• They can also choose whether to take m4a1 or m4a1-s. In 1.5, you could just add the silencer
• Scout vs SSG 08
• Updating the machine guns

As you can see, the weapon changes were fundamental, but in fact, it had a positive effect on the gameplay. If CS 1.6 was played only with M4 or AK-47, then in CS:GO almost all types of weapons are playable.

Shooting Mechanics

Now, few people remember, but initially CS:GO was boycotted precisely because the shooting in it was terrible and so unbalanced that it was almost impossible to play. Valve made the smart move. They used the shooting system from 1.6, and then were balancing it a little in each patch. In fact, the innovations were introduced gradually. Unfortunately, we all remember what the revolver was like at the time of release, but still the shooting became excellent and balanced.

We must also mention that Valve balanced a little bit the power of weapons, shot grouping, and recoil. The players were very grateful, because they could play not only with a colt or AK, but also with some other guns. Both in pro and amateur games, shotguns and MP often appear. It made possible to identify a new type of shooting called “one-tap”. Of course, now you can choose a suitable mode of shooting.

Economic System

We won’t go into details – let’s go through the topic briefly. We don’t want to give you a lot of information and different numbers. Initially, the economic system was taken from 1.6. The changes concerned the cost of new devices and rewards for killing from them. However, in recent years, Valve has slightly changed the reward for losing and winning the round. If earlier it was possible to play a full device round only after 2 eco-rounds, now it is quite realistic to buy weapons for 3 of them, even if you lost the first 2.

Balancing the Maps

The balance is the average, according to the statistics, score with which the halve on the maps ends. Ideally, it must be the score 8-7. In CS:GO, the maps balance has been really improved. In fact, it was the issue that was paid attention immediately. We must say that in CS 1.6, only Dust2, Mirage and Inferno were balanced. They had its pros and cons, but at least the scores were often 9-6 and 8-7. Tuscan is also suitable for playing, but it hasn’t appeared in CS:GO yet.

There were also Train, Cbble, and Nuke. It was impossible to play for terrorists here at all. It was believed that 12-3 was a usual score. In Cbble, it has generally reached the point of absurdity in 1.6. If you won 1 round for terrorists, it was really cool, because you had all the chances for your comeback. In general, Valve has balanced the maps: unfair shots were blocked; some textures were removed or added; new aisles and windows appeared; it also became possible to throw grenades over the top, etc.

Game Modes

In CS 1.6, there were only 2 main modes: hostage rescue and bomb defusal. Subsequently, the VIP rescue maps were added, but they weren’t so popular. Moreover, there were also some user modes (the special servers with various mods, but they are also available in CS:GO, so there is no point even mentioning them).

CS:GO originally had a much greater variety of modes. The developers didn’t add the VIP player mode at all, but, in addition to the standard ones, there were: competitive, arms races, a deathmatch, and danger zone.

We also want to highlight the competitive mode, because it is the coolest thing Valve could add to the game. In CS 1.6, everyone played on regular and sometimes DM-servers. It was impossible to test your skill or show it off. Sometimes, they collected some statistics on the user servers, but this practice was rare. In CS:GO, the rank has become a really cool skill indicator. Let us not to talk about a 64 tickrate and cheaters, we don’t need to discuss it anyway.

Graphics

The difference in the graphics of these games is too obvious. CS 1.6 was developed on the GoldSrc engine (1998), while CS:GO was already being developed on a newer Source. We won’t describe all the graphic changes either, so we’ll just say that CS:GO has become more realistic than its pixel junior version.

We hope you enjoyed our review of the games. It’s a great moment to say goodbye and wish you good luck.

See you soon.