There are dozens of games that want to emulate or be like Counter-Strike. The iconic first person shooter from Valve is successful because of its simplicity, which opens the door for other games to try to alter that formula. While some have just downright copied Counter-Strike, others have added enough to stand out successfully.
Here are some of the best games like CS out there right now.
Best Games Like Counter-Strike
There are a number of games that can be classified as tactical shooters. However, there are really only two successful and popular games in the genre that are truly like CS.
VALORANT
Riot Games’ first person tactical shooter takes a lot of inspiration from Counter-Strike. Many of the leaders on the VALORANT development team, including former CS:GO map designer Salvatore Garozzo, originally came from Valve. The core gameplay for VALORANT is the same as Counter-Strike, but what sets the games apart are VALORANT’s agents.
VALORANT features over 20 different agents with their own unique ability set, which effectively replaces the traditional grenades used in Counter-Strike. Just like with weapons and armor, players have to purchase charges of their abilities if used in the round prior. Like Counter-Strike, VALORANT has purchasable weapon skins and a thriving esports scene.
Rainbow Six Siege
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege is like a much more advanced and intricate version of Counter-Strike. Like VALORANT, players adopt special characters (called Operators), each with a unique set of gadgets and specific weapon choices. There’s no “purchasing” gear between rounds, but the planting and defusing objectives are still the same.
What makes Rainbow Six Siege special is all the added gameplay elements. The maps feature and encourage environmental destruction, and there’s a robust camera/drone system that lets players map out precise enemy locations.
There’s no shortage of larger-scale, military-sim tactical shooters available to play as well, like Delta Force, Arma 3, and Squad. Additionally, as of December 2014, Fortnite has jumped into the tactical shooter genre with the release of Ballistic Mode, which is very inspired by Counter-Strike.
Do any other games remind you of Counter-Strike? Let us know in the Insider Gaming forum.
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