Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Critic Reviews

Half Life fans would love to know that there is also a Half Life 2 CD with exclusive footage. Let me say, *drool*.

The game we were expecting eight months ago, with bots so intelligent they make your average online player look like a baboon who's been dropped at birth. It's like playing CS in the good old days.

Once you swap AI team-mates (and enemies) for the real thing, there is no turning back, as you find yourself diligently looking out for your team-mates, with whom you will need to co-operate to sweep scenes clean of troublemakers.

If you’re not a hard-core Counter-Strike player, Condition Zero is definitely worth a look. Veterans will probably want to stick with what they've already got.

An essential purchase for the new Counter Strike player who wants to get a spring into the action, rather than the veteran Counter Strike player looking forward to the future of the Counter Strike family.

The problem is that neither the physics nor the graphics have aged particularly well; if you're looking for a next-gen FPS, this is not it. It is, however, a decent update to one of the best titles of yesterday.

The real crux of Condition Zero is simply that it provides a great way to enjoy Counter-Strike offline, old graphics or not. If you're perfectly happy playing the free Counter-Strike mod online, don't bother with Condition Zero.

Underlying all the advances made in bot technology and the updated maps, Condition Zero is still fundamentally a five-year-old game...but this standalone package should satisfy both the Counter-Strike-curious and the broadband impaired.

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero only gets its score because of the multiplayer, and if you’re after this for anything other than a visual tweak and a disc filled with Half-Life 2 videos, you’d be best off not bothering at all.

For what it is and on its own merits, it's the ultimate version of the world's best online game, period. However, we can't escape the fact that this is little more than Counter-Strike 1.6 with decent bots - a game we've been playing for years and for free.

The A.I. on both sides of the conflict is awesome; as the leader of the counter-terrorists, your A.I. pals will follow you and, in some cases, "take the point:" You can give them orders via the chat feature and they'll do things like camp on a bomb site or guard the bomb.

It certainly doesn't do enough to compete with today's shooters and the fact that much of the game is already available in another format makes this version seem a bit redundant.

Condition Zero still carries the Counter Strike magic. However, given its age, how much it costs and the quality of the current competition, CZ cannot honestly and should not be at the top of any FPS gamer’s list.

It’s fun, but it’s basically the same game from five or so years ago which was basically free with Half-Life – that is to say, innovation isn’t exactly seeping out of the sides of this game.

Still very solid, but there is nothing new to add to your gameplay. The bots are simply players that don't really exist, but boy are they skilled!

The game retails for $40, for what is essentially a rehash of the most popular maps, coupled with a few new arenas, with bots capable of making the game fun for lone wolves and LAN parties.

Condition Zero is a product that will appeal most to those players who haven't tried CS yet (and how many of them are there?), those who don't want to deal with the hassles of playing the game online, and those who just want to have some offline practice.

A slight update to an already classic game that doesn’t make you forget about the original.

Simply put, the price tag is too high for what amounts to little more than a patch for a four-year-old game.

Achingly average in all respects, save the addition of classic multiplayer Counter-Strike.