Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike 2

Welcome to my TedTalk.

The acrid smell of ashtrays mixed with secularized sweat envelops me as I enter the club. About thirty stations. A trivial price in rubles, something like 0.50 cents an hour. There are those who play it seriously and play Warcraft II or Diablo. Then there are the truly desperate: the noisy majority, drunk on adrenaline, self-destructive and reckless, who play a recently released shooter.

The year is 2001, the towers still standing. A mod of Half-Life: Counter-Strike is starting to popularize. We are still in the early stages, but the video game is rapidly surpassing arenas. Many people consider titles like Quake and the fresh Unreal Tournament to be unbreakable. The gameplay style is still based more on speed and movement than on reflexes. CS (Counter-Strike for short) is on everyone's lips, though.

At first glance, we are talking about a video game with simple mechanics. Ten players (5vs5), two factions: terrorists and counter-terrorists. The former must plant the bomb and can choose between two points on the map, the latter must prevent this from happening. There is also a second mode, very popular at the time, where counter-terrorists must rescue civilians held hostage by terrorists. The round lasts two minutes, and the teams switch roles after 15 rounds, marking the halfway point of the map; whoever reaches the 16th round (half plus one) wins. For example, a map can end 16-5 or, in extreme cases, draw 15-15 (in which case it goes to overtime).

It is said that the anticipation of pleasure is in itself its pleasure. The real revolution of CS (at least for me) is given by two main factors. The first is economic management, the second is the absence of respawn. If you die, you rely on your teammates and watch them as a spectator until the end of the round. It may seem counterintuitive, but that anticipation I was talking about and the resulting suspense is the soul that holds the game together. Nothing up to that moment in the world of competitive gaming created such a strong bond between the individual and the teammates. As for economic management, we enter the realm of team and even individual choices. For example, I can decide to sacrifice myself for a round without buying anything and drop an expensive sniper rifle to a better-performing teammate the next round. Team choices involve not buying (eco round) and sacrificing together to have all the necessary equipment for the next round to maximize winning opportunities (full buy).

From these last lines, one can infer another fundamental aspect of CS: the tactical one. But let's start from the beginning: the game evolved over the years and currently, each of the five team members plays a key role around which they base their own playing style.

1. I'll start with the IGL (in-game leader). The captain, if you will, is the one who makes the "calls," i.e., initially tells if and what to buy and where to go. Not just that, he is a motivator and makes calls on the fly, i.e., with rapidly changing events in the round, he assumes the fundamental responsibility of advising, sometimes imposing decisions on others. The IGL is not the strongest player, in fact, he often sacrifices for others and making a football comparison, he would be the one with slightly awkward feet.
2. Lurker: an extremely delicate role that few well-structured teams have. He is the one who usually has more neurons than others, can read situations in fractions of a second, and intervenes with decisions that go beyond the obvious and appear mysterious but are often effective. He is somewhat rational and somewhat crazy, and he must take responsibility for making daring moves like a flank (trying to go around the enemies). He is the stealthiest of the team. The only one who has the right to act on his own.
3. The entry fragger, here the title is clear: he is the one who usually has fewer neurons but compensates with brute skill. He can flop and die in the first ten seconds or carry the team on his shoulders and perform massacres. Essentially, he is the first to show up, start things off, put himself out there to try and make an entry kill or gain more control of the map. He represents the player who must never be afraid, the most cocky and reckless.
4. The support: again, the term is clear, the one who has to support others. Not only does he economically sacrifice himself, but he backs others up and has a tendency to resolve adverse situations or pull off a clutch (when he is alone against two or more enemies). He is the most cautious of the team, does not have monstrous reflexes but compensates with a good amount of neurons and infinite altruism.
5. AWP: a role (which I have never played, by the way) that can be compared to high craftsmanship. In other words, the one delegated to have the sniper. It is an extremely dedicated role mainly to that weapon. For brevity, I will not describe the difficulties hiding behind this role. I will just say that a good awper can decide the fate of a match or decree its failure. More so than other roles because it is the most expensive weapon in the game. To make a comparison, they are an experienced driver traveling at 300/kph in a Ferrari on a curvy road trying not to lose control.

It is important to note that these roles apply to the terrorists' faction, while counter-terrorists' roles flatten out, and each maintains positions they prefer in defending the map. It should also be noted that the mentioned roles are used in the professional circuit, whereas at amateur levels these dynamics become watered down and improvised.

Regarding the tactical aspect, another major innovation introduced by CS, I will just say that over the years different continents of the globe have roughly formed a particular style. In former Soviet bloc countries, a seemingly calmer style prevails, tending to use all two minutes of the round, trying to wear out opponents with anticipation. In South America (especially Brazil), an aggressive style of play is adopted. In North America, reliance is placed on brutal skill (the prowess of individuals) rather than emphasizing tactics. In Europe (as in Oceania), tactics are focused on versatility; Europe is historically the strongest continent, where new ideas are born to raise the competitiveness bar. In Asia, where the game is less popular, the top representatives are the Chinese teams, characterized by flair and unpredictability. The African continent is not present (except for South Africa) for historical-infrastructural reasons.

We are talking about the most historically played FPS in the world, a continuously expanding video game. As of August 2023, the unique number of players, meaning the individual game accounts that have launched CS at least once, was 27 million. To give you a measure of the figures. About 5/6 years ago, a professional player part of the world's top 20 teams earned a net salary of around 10k euros, not counting sponsors, the coach, the psychologist who follows the team on the road, and numerous other benefits. For some time now, "teams" have become true organizations. The peak age for a player is 20 years old; one can draw a football analogy by saying that after 30 years, due to motivation, declining reflexes, or inability to adapt to new developments, one declines more or less rapidly.

In some countries, I think of the Scandinavian ones, CS not only represents a sport but is considered a noble occupation on par, if not better, than university studies, through which to teach young people self-control, stress management, team spirit, and the development of intellectual faculties. Yes, because I could go at length making many analogies with chess, but I will just say that to play CS well it is not enough to "know how to shoot." The first-person shooter born back in 1999 has become a true legacy in various countries, a tradition now passed down to the next generation, with fathers introducing game mechanics to their children.

And Italy in all of this? It does not exist and never has. I knew the scene and kept away from it years ago; the players were, to use an understatement, few and practically all with a terrible attitude. There would be a cultural discussion to be had but I could not care less, and for brevity's sake, I will say that we are not even the laughingstock of the CS scene, we are simply not considered, and rightly so I would say.

The summers spent at the club, getting angry, laughing, and joking are an indelible memory. The thousands of hours spent seemingly alone are an experience I am proud of. The few hours I can dedicate today, among friends, relationships, commitments, and work, I consider precious like the air that allows me to pump blood into my heart. Counter-Strike has never been a hobby for me but a deep passion that has kept me alive, as much and not less important than music.

A final appeal: buy whatever your children want (if you have them, if you will), let them play as and when they want, but if you get the chance, let them experience this. A new chapter of the game is about to be released, many changes, but the soul remains the same. Do not make the mistake of thinking that a video game is a waste of time or worse, educationally detrimental. Anyone who thinks so is a fool.