Counter-Strike

It's a bare-bones product that's a missed opportunity, offering no compelling reasons to make it recommendable over the PC version, except to someone with an Xbox Live account and a completely outdated PC.

An official disappointment on Xbox, yet the game's undying popularity defies critical analysis. [Mar 2004, p.78]

Simply put if you do not have Live or do not intend on getting Live there is zero point in wasting money on Counter-Strike. This should have been a Christmas must buy but now it's nothing more than a stocking filler.

A solid effort and enough to keep you interested but only if you're into the multi-player modes.

As an Xbox Live game, Counter-Strike's only real competition is "Rainbow Six 3" -- and it's really a toss-up as to which is better online. "RS3" has a better selection of modes (not to mention a great co-op feature) and the graphics are a fair bit smoother, but CS is much more quickly paced, and this makes online play far more addictive.

Hardly the social phenomenon on Xbox that it was on PC, but not a bad way to waste a few lazy hours on a Saturday, either.

What's missing is any kind of plot-based campaign - what you play solo is the same as multiplayer, only with bots instead of blokes to back you up or blow you up. The one-player ain't fun, basically.

The core gameplay, while striking less of an impact than in its heyday, is still a solid, addicting experience. The instantly accessible gameplay and well-crafted balance between arcade feel and realism make it a recommendable online game.

As it stands right now, the game definitely has a "rushed out the door" feel to it, so let's hope for substantial downloadable content. [Jan 2004, p.66]

Don’t get me wrong, this is still the same addicting CS we all know and love, but why shell out the extra $50 and Xbox Live fees to play a five year old PC game that has been free since its release? The complete lack of extras is pretty noticeable, and the single player modes do nothing for you.

Should have been the next glorious chapter in that game's story. Instead, it's a mildly disappointing epilogue.

It lacks a single-player offering worthy of the name (and simply is not worth buying if you don't have Live), is mystifyingly missing most of the PC maps and has been ported to such a disappointingly low grade standard technically that we can't help but feel like it's a huge missed opportunity and a disservice to hardcore followers of the machine - the very people this game is intended to excite.

Not only does this look nigh-on identical to the PC version, it still feels as though the two analogue sticks used to control your operative are but a placeholder for the mouse/keyboard combo that shot Counter-Strike to fame. One for Live players only. [Jan 2004, p.112]

The relative lack of multiplayer variety, coupled with a disappointing single player mode, make Counter-Strike difficult to recommend to anyone who is not already a rabid fan of the game, and downright impossible to recommend to anyone who doesn’t have a Live account.

Essentially a straight port of the PC mod, only without the PC benefits such as mouse/keyboard play and downloadable maps to extend the gameplay. These lack of additions don't justify the $50 price tag.

It's hard to recommend this incarnation to anyone who has already experienced the PC version, which is probably most of you since the game is so widely played. It's pretty much just the same exact thing. For those who missed out, you could buy Half-Life for half the cost of CS Xbox and download Counter-Strike PC for free.

With a measly two play modes and no real solo campaign, it's hard to believe Microsoft expects anyone to pay $50 for what feels like one-third of a game. [Feb 2004, p.126]