This is meat of the game. Turtle Rock's single-player campaign has you facing off against computer opponents (bots) in your favorite Counter-Strike maps, all touched up and retextured. There are also a few new maps that play a bit awkwardly for multiplayer levels, but should nevertheless breathe a bit of life into the aging pile of maps we have all played a million times.

When you start a campaign you first pick a difficulty setting (easy, normal, hard, expert), and are then presented with a roster of computer-controlled teammates that you can select from to fill your squad. You start out with eight "points" to spend on your team. Considering that the really good bots are four points and up, your initial team will be composed of low-point bots that suck. This probably isn't a problem if you play on an easy difficulty setting, but if you choose expert you will be doing most of the work yourself until you can upgrade your teammates, which thankfully shouldn't take you too long.

After you have your squad selected, you can pick a map you wish to play. By "pick" I mean you must start on de_dust, and then unlock the maps in order by completing all of the listed objectives. Many of the objectives are fairly straightforward: kill 10 terrorists, rescue the hostages, or rush to complete a round in a mere 45 seconds. There are quite a few objectives that deviate from this approach however. For example in one round I had to achieve two kills using only the MP5. I managed to pull it off, but just barely. The further you get in the game, the more interesting the objectives seem to become, but I won't spoil it for you.

The computer opponents in the game are the most advanced bots I have ever seen. Their movements are very lifelike, and most impressively, they don't see or hear you unless they actually see or hear you. You can sneak up on these guys just as you could a normal player—just don't forget your walk key.

Your teammates are, of course, just as smart as the enemy; the only problem is their aim and reaction time is less than stellar. The good news is they listen well and communicate valuable information over in-game voice comm. If your comrades notice the terrorists are headed to B through the double doors, they'll let you and each other know. This communication seems effective—overall they work as a team to complete the main map objectives, and will follow your orders directed over radio commands.

The bots also have a variety of tricks up their sleeves to further increase their tactical ability. They will pick different routes frequently, camp, shoot through boxes, guard the bomb/hostages, etc. Their actions don't simply follow a single rule, which leads to less predictable behavior and a much more rewarding game.

Overall the campaign is a nice little mode to freshen up your skills by offering lots of cool little challenges and objectives you might typically opt to avoid in multiplayer. After you've beaten a level you can always go back and play it again as many times as you want, on whatever difficulty setting you prefer.

Game 2: Deleted Scenes

Ritual's original vision of a single-player Counter-Strike game didn't quite do it for VALVe, but it would seem their efforts were not totally in vain. A generous helping of the Ritual game has found its way into Condition Zero under the alias of Deleted Scenes.

Ritual's Deleted Scenes is a linear single-player campaign that has you fighting terrorism throughout the world. You'll have access to a broad range of new tools, ranging from a fiber-optic camera to remotely-detonated bombs. There are also health packs and health mounts. If you've ever played any of the Half-Life expansions, or even Half-Life itself, you'll definitely notice the resemblance in play style.

The opening sequence has you and your squad mates aboard a helicopter over a hostile urban environment. For you Opposing Force fans, the next few minutes are all but identical. The helicopter gets shot down by an RPG, and you're left stranded in a middle-eastern town pitted against dozens of terrorist around every corner. Sound a bit bland? Well that's how it plays.

Speaking of opponents, the Ritual people could learn a thing or two from Turtle-Rock about AI. The enemies you face in the Deleted Scenes don't seem too far off from your standard Half-Life character monsters, and they just kind of stand around the map serving a single purpose, which is to attack you on sight.

The "teammates" you get aren't much more advanced than the Barney security officers in Half-Life. They follow you around and help out with support fire, but usually die pretty quickly.

There are some cool moments however. A lot of time went into the level-design, and there are dozens of cool scripted events that really spice things up. What it comes down to, though, is mostly a puzzle-solving level-crawler, and I'm sure we have all been there and done that.

Game 3: Custom Game

The Custom Game is a fun little mode that pits you against bots on any map for instant action that reproduces an online server. You just choose a map, choose the number of bots, set the difficulty, and go.

I chose de_aztec_cz with 9 expert bots. I set sv_maxrounds to 12, joined T, and my make-believe CAL match was off! First round my team mostly opted for armor and stuck with the Glock. A sound decision! Arnold suggested rushing A-site (the bombsite furthest from CT spawn in this version of the map), and off we went. Once we breached the double doors Cliffe yelled "stairs!" excitedly as the first CTs were spotted. I casually picked them off with my superb aim and our boisterous team stomped the opposition easily.

The bots' play-style, while tactically oriented, focuses more on recreating the public server environment than match play. Thus the next round the CTs mostly chose not to save, and I even spotted several players on my team wielding shotguns. I'm definitely going to cut Moe.

Another downside is they will often choose a shield. The problem isn't that they aren't good with the shield, it's that it's basically useless. They will run around with it and the other bots won't shoot at the shield user until he exposes himself. Thus you get stare-downs that last until someone finally gives in. This happens to always be the shield user, and he always loses. They really shouldn't buy shields.

In the end, the custom mode is a nice touch to round off the whole game. What's more, the bots can even learn your favorite custom maps, though some of the tougher obstacles are not always "bot-friendly." Fun and playable nevertheless!

Wrapping Up
We hope that by now, with all the previews out there, you finally have an idea about what makes this game worth buying. In my opinion, this game has found its place in a nice little nook between the multiplayer experience we have come to know and love from Counter-Strike, and the single player approach inspired by Half-Life that lets you play on your terms. The wait is over, and the jury has decided: there really is something fun in this package for everyone, provided you want single-player Counter-Strike. Whether it was worth the wait is a decision I leave to you.