CS-Nation

Covering the future of Counter-Strike
looking at assault
article: looking at assault
Valve has been very busy these days. With Day of Defeat: Source, the Half-Life 2 follow-up episode Aftermath, and the Half-Life 2 Xbox port all being worked on, it's surprising Valve even made time for a lowly Internet journalist such as myself. Alas, the Bellevue offices of Valve Software invited me on this day — our day after Independence Day!

Assault
Why the invite? Valve is keen to show off their port of Assault. Well, "port" may not be the best word. Valve's marketing wizards were happier with the word "remix." Doug Lombardi explained that Valve has kicked up the drums and upped the tempo for this version of Assault. Sometimes, change is good.

The legendary warehouse map has been in the original Counter-Strike since June 27th, 1999, with the map only sustaining minor modifications since then. Not without its issues, Assault doesn't receive much play in the 1.6 community nowadays due to some major balance problems. Valve's "remix" of Assault is similar enough to the 1.6 version that it's familiar, but different enough that it's truly a new experience.


An outrageous shot!
For Jess Cliffe, it's all come full circle. After co-creating Counter-Strike six years ago (and so desperately seeking community mappers at the time), Cliffe is now the mapper behind the Assault remake.

Cliffe explained that with his version of Assault he was given more freedom than the company usually allows with map ports — or even remixes. Inferno and Dust II, for example, had to maintain certain lines of sight and unit distance with their earlier versions because of their competitive use. Assault wasn't forced to adhere to these criteria, Cliffe explained, because it's a map played on public servers and at LAN parties with friends.


The new terrorist model should ship with Assault.
With his years of experience with Counter-Strike and its finest details, Jess Cliffe has a keen eye when it comes to gameplay. It shows in the Assault remake. While Assault is still Assault — and terrorists still have somewhat of an advantage — there are various changes that give the gameplay more flavor and stand to give the CTs a fighting chance.

The biggest change comes with the set of stairs that have been added on the backside of the warehouse, which lead to a second back door entrance for CTs. This change will definitely keep the terrorists on their toes. To make games more exciting, the new door's position significantly cuts down the amount of good camping spots for the terrorist team.


Another close-up of the new terrorist model.
While I playtested the map for only a short time at Valve, I did have a good time and am looking forward to playing Assault on public servers. I don't think the map has the deep balance we'd expect from a competitive map, but the Source version of Assault is a much better experience for each team this time around.

Some more cover for CTs to prevent T rushes from being so effective would be a solid improvement over the version I played, but even without that change I suspect that the pub community will be happy to see one of its favorite maps back in action.

As for visuals, the map is on par — or exceeding — everything we've seen in CS: Source so far. The map's ambience and details were based on industrial Chicago. Known for its meat-packing district, the city perfectly communicates the setting of a run-down warehouse, according to Cliffe.

Instead of a meaningless highway to nowhere, an elevated train borders the streets of the map — a reference to Chicago's famous 'L' Train. Speaking of the streets, one small detail is that the street lights across the map are synchronized as if they were real. Small details like this are getting more and more commonplace in CS: Source maps, and it's an exciting change from the boring 1.6 offerings.

The map is scheduled to be released this week, possibly tomorrow (Wednesday), so stay tuned and enjoy the shots kindly provided by Valve!