Counter-Strike just got its biggest update in a while, as Valve added a fresh game mode, ‘Rush,’ to the 25-year-old title.
The game mode comes as part of an update that also adds a new Premier veto system, silent reloading, and crosshairs to the game, as well as changes to bullet hit feedback, Clan Tags, and a new music kit.
How Counter-Strike 2’s Rush mode works
Counter-Strike’s new game mode, Rush, is a 3v3 queued mode, sitting alongside Premier, Competitive, and Wingman in CS2’s ‘Play’ menu.
The mode works by having CTs and Ts face off in a series of randomly selected custom maps for the mode, where each map victory puts you one step closer to winning, and each loss puts you further away, in a sort of tug-of-war.
Each map is centred around a ‘Tower’ which players can take control of by interacting with it.
Players need to control the Tower at the end of the round to win, either by eliminating the opposition and then pressing the Tower button, or by controlling the Tower when the time runs out.
A round is only 40 seconds, so as the name implies, you have to ‘Rush.’
After winning a map, you will move to a new map which is closer to the enemy’s base map. Once you secure a win on that map, you win the match.
Premier Veto Changes in CS2 Update
The system for selecting a map through the Premier veto has changed in Counter-Strike 2, and the aim of the change is pretty transparent.
The previous system emulated professional play, in which options were whittled down until a single map was selected.
The new system results in each team picking two maps, resulting in four map selections between the two teams. At that point, the map of the game is randomly selected.
The aim is clearly to combat the propensity of vetos to end in either Mirage or Dust 2, with very little scope for those players with skills in a wider map pool to benefit from that knowledge.
Valve stated as part of the update, “We think that if you spend a lot of time developing strategies on a map, you should have a chance to benefit from that investment.”
Unlucky, Mirage enjoyers.
Counter-Strike update adds Silent Reloading, New Crosshairs, and Bullet Feedback changes
Undoubtedly, the most impactful element of the update with regard to pro play is the addition of silent reloading to the game.
Players can silently reload by holding R instead of pressing it. By holding R, the player will enter a much slower but completely silent reloading animation.
Pressing R will reload the traditional way, which creates an audible cue that nearby enemies can hear. Therefore, the addition of the silent reload allows players to stay close to where enemies are and reload without giving that cue, at the cost of leaving you more vulnerable to being peeked during the wrong reload.
The update also removed the ‘scoping-in’ sound when players were unscoping, removing that piece of information for opponents.
The update also broke everyone’s crosshairs…
That’s because there’s a new crosshair system that added a variety of new crosshair types, adding more options for players.
The new crosshair types are called Static Circle, Dot Only, Dynamic Cross, Dynamic Circle, and Dynamic Quad. The options also now include a transparency slider for the crosshair color.
The update also sees bullet impact changes that make it easier for players to read where their bullets are hitting, or whether they’re hitting. Both bullet decals in the wall and blood splashes are more exaggerated, allowing players to more easily see where their bullets are going.
The update also added the ability to set a “Clan Tag” for players who are members of Steam Community Groups, as well as support for applying stickers to C4, and the Starjunk 95 music kit.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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