Counter-Strike 1.6: Free download one of the best FPS game ever

Don't miss the opportunity to download free Counter-Strike 1.6, one of the best multiplayer FPS of the history.

What is the origin of Counter-Strike?

Counter-Strike was created by Minh " Gooseman" Le, who had previously worked as a character modeler on a mod for Quake II called Action Quake 2. He wanted to create a realistic action game, pitting anti-terrorist squads against terrorists, at a time when action games were dominated by science fiction, and the idea of a realistic game was little exploited (Rainbow Six is one of the few examples). For this, he proposed to create a mod that would allow him to create the game he wanted, and although there were popular games such as Unreal Tournament or Quake with graphics engines to work with, these lacked the level of realism that he was looking for, so finally opted for Half-Life, that, despite its higher learning curve, its graphics engine had the level of realism he needed for Counter-Strike.

Nor should we forget Jess Cliffe, who had met Le before when they both developed Action Quake 2. It was Le who proposed the idea of creating a mod that combined weapons and anti-terrorist objects into a free multiplayer game that would entertain the community, while Jess Cliffe initially supported him as a webmaster, and it was his work behind the mod's website that gained strong support from the online community, who helped not only by sharing their opinions and comments to correct errors and improve elements of the game, but even helped in the creation of maps that Le and his team later reviewed and included in Counter-Strike, a name that was also proposed by Jeff Cliffe

What is the origin of Counter-Strike?

Counter-Strike additionally began to be developed without any budget, using Valve's GoldSource graphics engine. Minh Le was in charge of modeling and programming in his free time, while Jess Cliffe collaborated on 2D, sounds and the installation program, as well as managing the website that not only made Counter-Strike known to the public but also created a community around the mod. The creation of maps for the game counted, in addition to Minh Le's work, with the collaboration of Team Fortress Classic mappers and members of the Counter-Strike community.

On June 19 of 1999, the first beta of Counter-Strike was officially released and quickly became famous among players, to whom Minh Le and Jess Cliffe listened from the beginning to correct bugs and add the features that the community asked them, with versions that sometimes lasted only a week before the next update. The mod was such a success that it surpassed commercial games of its time, such as Quake III or Unreal Tournament, among the most played online.

Counter-Strike's success was such that the editors of Half-Life, Valve, made a proposal to acquire the rights to the game, and have Minh Le and Jess Cliffe recruited as programmers and developers. Finally, the final version of Counter-Strike , version 1.0, was released, which, although maintained as a free mod, required an original version of Half-Life. Currently, the original mod with all updates is popularly known as Counter-Strike 1.6 (for the version number of its latest patch).

What was its impact on the industry?

Counter-Strike's impact on the industry was big and immediate, quickly becoming not only one of the most important online and LAN multiplayer games, but a reference for future games, and there are several reasons for this. First, Counter-Strike's success has much to thank Half-Life, since, being a free mod, everyone who owned Half-Life (which was a sales success) could acquire the Counter-Strike mod at no additional cost. Second, the minimum requirements for playing Counter-Strike were low, even at the time, making the game accessible to many users without powerful computers. Third, the speed of the rounds and the possibility of playing on LAN massified the game in network rooms and cybercafés where fast and intense games between players were a success. And fourth, and perhaps most important, was the massification of ADSL subscribers in the world since 2000, that brought a multitude of new Internet users eager to try online multiplayer games.

But not only this. The greater emphasis in the realism of Counter-Strike, plus its enormous success, is considered by its creator, Minh Le, as a factor that influenced the apparition of games that, later, had a greater emphasis on realism, like Medal of Honor or Call of Duty, as well as in the growing popularity of this type of games.

In addition, the direct mechanics of Counter-Strike, the teamwork that its game modes seek to encourage, the competitiveness and equal opportunities it offers its players, helped to quickly create a community willing to compete with this game, and eventually create professional e-sport competitions that, to this day, continue to compete in Counter-Strike tournaments, where there are prizes that can easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.

#How do you play Counter-Strike?

The premise behind Counter-Strike is simple. The game has two teams, the terrorists (T) and the counter-terrorists (CT) who compete in rounds of a definite duration by whoever creates the match, winning the team that either eliminates the entire opposing team or meets the victory goals. In cases where there is no clear winner, the team that did not meet all its objectives loses by elimination. All players start the games with the same amount of life and armor, being able to receive damages by enemy fire, friendly fire (if activated) or by falls from very high; in addition, shots in different parts of the body cause different levels of damage, being the shots in the head instantaneous death. And, unlike other games in the genre, Counter-Strike doesn't have an automatic resurrection, and you must wait for each eliminated player to start the next round before playing again.

At the start of each match in Counter-Strike, all players are provided with a pistol, a knife and $800 (set by default) and can purchase equipment such as bulletproof vests, grenades, among others at the start of each round. As you eliminate enemies, fulfill mission objectives or your team wins rounds, you get more money that you can use to buy more equipment (you can also lose money if you kill teammates), being able to win up to a maximum of $16,000.

Under these premises, players can play on different maps in different game modes, that in the original Counter-Strike include:

Defusing the bomb:
Terorist team picks up the bomb to the in to the marked place, called A or B. After moving the bomb to its place it needed to be planted and to be protected from defusing. Counter-terorist goal is not let to plant the bomb or if the bomb is planted they need to defuse it, if they dont Terorrist will win.

Hostages rescue:
In this scenario, the terrorist team has kidnapped several hostages, and the counter-terrorist team must rescue them. In the official maps, the number of hostages can vary between 3 and 5. Victory is given to the team that achieves its objectives (rescue or prevent the rescue of the hostages) or by eliminating the enemy team.

Assassination:
In this scenario, a single player from the counterterrorist team takes on the role of the VIP, having to reach the VIP escape zone to give victory to their team. The terrorist team, on the other hand, must eliminate him to achieve victory. Both teams have a restricted arsenal, and as in previous cases, whoever eliminates the enemy team wins.

In addition to these, there is a multitude of game modes that the community has created, and that can be added using mods.