Counter-Strike

The Glock 18C fires in a fully automatic mode; in the mod it only fires a three round burst. February 20, 2003. Also, the M4A1 weapon model's animation features the player charging the weapon by pulling backwards on the forward assist, a feat impossible in real life. ^{g1 g2}. Perhaps the most notable criticism is the fact that weapons firing the same round (for instance, both the MP5 and Glock 18 both fire a 9mm round) do vastly different damages. [24] The insurgents are known by the Coalition military (especially in the United States armed forces) as Anti-Iraqi Forces (AIF). The M249 SAW's rate of fire is much too slow, and many of the game's weapons have artificial sound effects. There is evidence that some guerrilla groups are organized, perhaps by the fedayeen and other Saddam Hussein or Ba'ath loyalists, religious radicals, Iraqis angered by the occupation, and foreign fighters.

The weapons are also notably inaccurate for the ranges they fire at: most engagements in Counter-Strike occur at less than 100 meters. Tactics include mortars, suicide bombers, roadside bombs, small arms fire, and RPGs, as well as sabotage against the oil, water, and electrical infrastructure. While it falls squarely into the tactical shooter category, the mod features some inaccuracies. The militant forces have been described as a type of guerrilla warfare. Counter-Strike has been criticised for its lack of realism. Critics point out that the regions where violence is most common are also the most populated regions. See Metamod, AMX Mod and AMX Mod X for more information. rotary aircraft with SAM-7 missiles bought on the global black market.

There have been many different mods and scripts to:. In November, some of these forces successfully attacked U.S. Even though Counter-Strike is itself a mod, it developed its own community of script writers and modders. These irregular forces favored attacking unarmored Humvee vehicles. The prohibitively expensive cost of an up-to-date gaming PC makes it unlikely that another game will become as popular as Counter-Strike has been. In the fall, the anti-occupation groups, guerrilla units, and other elements (who called themselves "freedom fighters") began using ambush tactics, bombings, kidnappings, and improvised explosive devices, targeting coalition forces, checkpoints, and civilian targets. Server statistics in 2002 showed that Counter-Strike servers outnumbered their Battlefield, Unreal Tournament 2003 or Quake III FPS counterparts at least 3 to 1. The beginning insurgency in Iraq was concentrated in, but not limited to, an area referred to by the Western media and the occupying forces as the Sunni triangle which includes Baghdad ^[23].

There have been a multitude of games claimed by their developers, reviewers and fans to be "Counter-Strike killers", but none have seriously been able to dent its overall popularity. The militants and guerrilla units favored attacking unarmored vehicles and avoiding major battles. Even Counter-Strike: Source has been criticised for not progressing the gameplay enough and failing to take full advantage of the Source engine. These joined the insurgency and their attacks around Mosul, Tikrit and Fallujah. There is a growing frustration that the developers are unwilling to make official changes or add new features, maintaining the same map layouts and weapons to appease longtime CS players. With the Ba'ath party organization disintegrated, elements of the secret police and Republican Guard formed guerrilla units, since some had simply gone home rather than openly fight the multinational forces. Counter-Strike was realistic for its time, but is dated in comparison to more recent first-person tactical shooters. Al-Sadr then declared a national cease fire, and opened negotiations with the American and government forces on disbanding his militia and entering the political process.

But as the the criticisms of Condition Zero showed, many players feel that the GoldSrc engine has reached its limits in its capacity to evolve and to stay updated. Through the months of July and August, a series of skirmishes in and around Najaf culminated with the Imman Ali Mosque itself under siege, only to have a peace deal brokered by al-Sistani in late August. Indeed, one possible reason for Counter-Strike's continued popularity is that almost any PC made since 1997 can play it since the game does not need the powerful CPU and video card required of many current FPS games. Militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr took control of Najaf and, after negotiations broke down, the government asked the United States for help dislodging him. However, the universal shift to the DirectX 7.0 level and beyond has not happened, and the continued popularity of CS has given older video cards such as the 3dfx Voodoo 3, ATI Rage 128, and Nvidia RIVA TNT2 continued usefulness. The new government began the process of moving towards open elections, though the insurgency and the lack of cohesion within the government itself, has lead to delays. Likewise, gamers were expected to abandon the DirectX 5.0 Half-Life and its mods in favour of games utilising the hardware T&L capabilities of DirectX 7.0 graphics cards such as the Nvidia GeForce and ATI Radeon. Fighting continued in the form of an insurgent rebellion against the new sovereignty, with some parts composed of non-Iraqi Muslim militant groups like Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

Half-Life and other contemporary games took full advantage of the advent of hardware graphics acceleration in the late 1990s, replacing earlier software-rendered games such as Quake. Sovereign power handed to the interim government ended the occupation of Iraq. Counter-Strike has had a colorful and dramatic history which reaches far beyond what this document could hope to cover, and still remains extremely popular to this day. Toward the end of June (2004), the Coalition Provisional Authority transferred the "sovereignty" of Iraq to a caretaker government, whose first act was to begin the trial of Saddam Hussein. The success of the game among both casual and competitive players highlights the wide appeal of Counter-Strike's simple game model.
. While Counter-Strike is nowadays perhaps the most professionally played computer game in the world behind StarCraft in South Korea, most players simply ignore the professional side of the game and play for fun. Also, various insurgent leaders entered into negotiations with the provisional government to lay down arms and enter the political process.

Certain professional teams (such as SK, Team 3D and Team NoA) and players (Ksharp and HeatoN, for example) have achieved a measure of fame. Due to various setbacks, the Coalition gradually began admitting that it was facing independent organized rebel forces. Counter-Strike is famous for the culture surrounding it, which includes everything from professional gamers and leagues, to cheating and disruptive behavior. Over the next three months, the multinanational forces took back the southern cities. All (understandably) fictional. In all, April, May and early June saw more fighting. All names are taken from real groups. British forces in Basra were faced with increasing insurgency and became more selective in the areas they patrolled.

Elite Crew is the skinniest and hardest to see model most of the time, and the GIGN model has the smallest head for Counter-Terrorists.". The marines relieved the Poles and Italians, and put down the overt rebellion, but were unable to reestablish control over the centers of the towns. "5 guys popping in and out 1 at a time will look like the 1 guy if you all have the same skin. The marines were then shifted south, because Italian and Polish forces were having increasing difficulties retaining control over Nasiriya and Najaf. And as Counter-Terrorists, the GIGN model. Meanwhile, the fighting continued in the Shiite south. As Terrorists you should choose the Elite Crew model. By the end of the spring uprising, the cities of Fallujah, Samarra, Baquba, and Ramadi had been left under guerrilla control with coalition patrols in the cities at a minimum.

Firstly, all players on one team should choose the same skin. This compromise soon fell apart and insurgent control returned. On the matter of the best model for competitive play in Counter-Strike, Whisper's Wiki recommends that:. While the Marine Division attacking had clear superiority in ground firepower and air support, it decided to accept a truce and a deal which put a former Baathist general in complete charge of the town. Condition Zero also added two additional models; the Midwest Militia for Terrorists and the Spetsnaz for Counter-Terrorists. A compromise was reached in order to ensure security within Fallujah itself by creating the local "Fallujah Brigade". The following eight are the original models which were to be (or are in the process of being) reproduced in Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source. The Marines were ordered to stand-down and cordon off the city, maintaining a perimeter around Fallujah.

Corresponding player models for both Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists have appeared through development. The coalition forces were unable to dislodge the insurgents, and instead suffered repeated attacks on its own rear and flank. In earlier beta versions of the game another official type called "es_" (Terrorist Escape) also existed. In the April battle for Fallujah, Coalition troops killed about 600 insurgents and a number of civilians, while 40 Americans died and hundreds were wounded in a fierce battle. The three official types include "cs_" (Hostage rescue), "de_" (Bomb defusal), and "as_" (Assassination). The city of Fallujah remained under insurgent control despite the Marine's attempt to recapture it in Operation Vigilant Resolve. There are three official types of maps in Counter-Strike, along with many more user-created types. [22].

It is available today for download over Steam, bundled with Half-Life 2, or purchased in a stand-alone retail box along with Day of Defeat: Source, another game converted to the new graphical engine. of white phosphorus as an incendiary weapon against insurgents in Fallujah attracted controversy. Changes include the improvements inherent to the Source engine (such as better graphics and physics) as well as updated models, animations, maps, sounds, and some small gameplay changes. The usage by the U.S. Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) was released to ATI Radeon Voucher holders, in Half-Life 2 bundles available on Steam, and with the boxed retail version of the game. Troops pulled back to the outskirts of the city; local leaders reciprocated the ceasefire, although lower-level intense fighting on both sides continued. Following a period when the game was available to select 'beta' testers, the alpha version of the game was released on October 7th 2004. On April 10, the military declared a unilateral truce to allow for humanitarian supplies to enter Fallujah.

In 2004, original Counter-Strike developers Minh Le and Jess Cliffe, along with members of Valve and the Day of Defeat team, brought Counter-Strike into the Source engine as an obvious choice for the multiplayer component of Half-Life 2. On April 9, the multinational force allowed more than 70,000 women, children and elderly residents to leave the besieged city, reportedly also allowing males of military age to leave. It sold poorly compared to the original. On April 4, the multinational forces began assaults to clear Fallujah of insurgents. However, the game was criticized for not being up to the standards of graphical quality expected of current commercial releases, due to the limitations of 1998's GoldSrc Half-Life engine. After four private military contractors were killed and mutilated, preperation took place for the US Marines to take over responsibility for al-Anbar province in which Fallujah is located. Though still very similar to CS 1.6, Condition Zero contains several graphical, sound, model and map changes, as well as including bots. Just before the attack on Fallujah, four private military contractors, working for Blackwater USA, were ambushed and their corpses mutilated by a large crowd, receiving a great deal of media attention.

It had been plagued by numerous delays, most notably when Valve dropped Gearbox Software (who had developed the highly acclaimed Half-Life: Opposing Force) as developer in favor of Ritual Entertainment, and when Ritual Entertainment in turn lost the project to Turtle Rock Studios partway through development. The coalition and the Coalition Provisional Authority decided to face the growing insurgency with a pair of assaults: one on Fallujah, the center of the "Mohammed's Army of Al-Ansar", and another on Najaf, home of an important mosque, which had become the focal point for the Mahdi Army and its activities. A long-awaited single-player version of the game called Counter-Strike: Condition Zero was released on March 23, 2004.
. For similar reasons, Valve may have made no attempt to have Counter-Strike ported to the PlayStation 2. The southern and central portions of Iraq were beginning to erupt in urban guerrilla combat as multinational forces attempted to keep control and prepared for a counteroffensive. However, the Xbox version of the game (playable on Microsoft's Xbox Live online game service) has proved less successful than its PC counterpart for obvious reasons; the online Counter-Strike audience for Xbox is well outnumbered by the existing Counter-Strike PC community, a subscription cost required to pay online on Live (playing the PC version online is free), and mediocre graphics (only texture upgrades to original CS models) which are below what is expected for the Xbox. The Mahdi Army also began launching attacks on coalition targets and to seize control from Iraqi security forces.

It features basic single-player gameplay against bots, but it focuses on multiplayer online play like the original. An organized Sunni insurgency, with deep roots and both nationalist and Islamist motivations, was becoming clearer. Valve released a version ported to the Xbox game console in November 2003. The bombings indicated that as the relevance of Saddam Hussein and his followers was diminishing, radical Islamists, both foreign and Iraqi. Valve has also been attempting to cash in on the game's popularity by producing more Counter-Strike games. Hundreds of Iraqi civilians and police were killed over this period in a series of massive bombings. Counter Strike:Source was developed using the new Half Life 2 enhanced graphics and physics engine (Source). Terroristic acts increased during the beginning of 2004.

The newest version of CS was labeled Source, released in November 2004 through Valve's new distribution platform called Steam. In all, over 200 top leaders of the former regime were killed or captured, as well as numerous lesser functionaries and military personnel. Later, Counter-Strike was bundled with Half-Life and several other expansions in the Platinum Pack. ^[21] In the summer of 2003, the multinational forces focused on hunting down the remaining leaders of the former regime, culminating in the shooting deaths of Saddam's two sons in July. The retail version was a standalone alternative that does not include or require Half-Life; alternatively, existing Half-Life owners can download the Counter-Strike mod free. On 2 July 2003, President Bush declared that American troops would remain in Iraq in spite of the attacks, challenging the opponents with "My answer is, Bring 'em on," a line the President later expressed misgivings about having used. In November 2000, Counter-Strike 1.0 — the first non-beta, official retail version of the game — was released. The failure to restore basic services to above pre-war levels, where over a decade of sanctions, bombing, corruption, and decaying infrastructure had left major cities functioning at much-reduced levels, also contributed to local anger at the IPA government headed by an executive council.

The Counter-Strike team was acquired by Valve to turn the fan-created mod into an official mod for Half-Life. Several minor coalition members have pulled out of Iraq; this has been widely considered a political success for the anti-occupation forces. CS gained in popularity just as rapidly. The anti-occupation forces are believed to be predominantly, but not exclusively, Iraqi Sunni Muslim Arabs, plus some foreign Arab and Muslim fighters, some of the latter tied to al-Qaeda. Counter-Strike Beta 1.0 was released in June that same year, followed by a relatively quick succession of the beta releases (by the end of 1999, beta 5.0 had been released). During the early occupation, a number of widely-cited humanitarian, tactical, and political errors by United States and United Kingdom planners and forces led to a growing armed resistance, usually called the "Iraqi insurgency" (such as the mainstream media and coalition governments). The Counter-Strike team was formed by Minh Le ("Gooseman") and Jess Cliffe ("Cliffe") in 1999. Guerrilla attacks were less intense.

This mode is not found in Counter-Strike: Source.. Insurgent forces reorganized during which the multinational forces' tactics were studied and a renewed offensive planned. The most popular maps of this type are es_jail, es_riverside, es_frantic, and es_trinity. Early 2004 was marked by a relative lull in violence. While not included in the current Counter-Strike distribution, this mode can still be played.
. Maps of this type are prefixed with es_. The two most turbulent centers were the area around Fallujah and the poor Shia sections of cities from Baghdad to Basra in the south.

Escape was discontinued because such maps gave an edge towards Counter-Terrorists. More insurgents stepped up their activities. The Counter-Terrorists' objective was to prevent the escape of the Terrorists. Most prominent among these was the Shia cleric Ali al-Sistani. Weapons, armour, and grenades were placed in hidden locations near or around the spawn point of the Terrorists; the objective was for the Terrorists to secure weapons at the hidden location and then have all living members of the team reach an escape point before the clock ran out; eliminating all Counter-Terrorists would not complete the mission by itself. Shortly after the capture of Saddam, elements left out of the CPA began to agitate for elections and the formation of a Iraqi Interim Government. The Terrorists started in a position relatively far away from the Counter-Terrorists, armed with only knives and Glocks and unable to purchase additional weaponry/equipment. Oil revenues were also used for rebuilding schools and for work on the electrical and refining infrastructure.

Discontinued in the late-beta releases of Counter-Strike, this gameplay style put Terrorists against Counter-Terrorists in an escape-before-the-clock-expired mission. Of this, less than half a billion dollars had been spent in 10 months after it had been promised. Members of the community who dislike the scenario argue that the Terrorists would just camp at the VIP's escape destination, shooting the VIP dead as he attempted the run to the exit. The provisional government began training a security force intended to defend critical infrastructure, and the United States promised over $20 billion in reconstruction money in the form of credit against Iraq's future oil revenues. Assassination maps are the least played of the three types of Counter-Strike gameplay and they were not ported to Counter-Strike: Source, although a VIP mod is being produced by the community for Counter-Strike Source and surprisingly for some, is being greatly anticipated. With the weather growing cooler, United States forces were able to operate in full armor which reduced their casualty rate. Maps of this type are prefixed with as_. With the capture of Saddam and a drop in the number of insurgent attacks (an average of 18 a day), some concluded the multinational forces were prevailing in the fight against the insurgency.

The lack of ammunition for the pistol means that a VIP should not expect to escape without the team's assistance; however, the pistol in conjunction with the special armour provides adequate protection. Army's 4th Infantry Division and members of Task Force 121. When time expires, Terrorists win. The operation was conducted by the U.S. As usual, if all Terrorists die, the Counter-Terrorists win. In the wave of intelligence information fueling the raids on remaining Ba’ath Party members connected to insurgency, Saddam Hussein himself was captured on December 13, 2003 on a farm near Tikrit. If the VIP dies, the Terrorists win.
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The VIP's objective is to reach an extraction zone (1, normally), in which case the Counter-Terrorists win. 101st Airborne Division and men from Task Force 20, Saddam Hussein's sons (Uday and Qusay) and one of his grandsons were killed. The VIP may not pick up dropped weapons other than the VIP's own pistol. On 22 July 2003, during a raid by the U.S. In this mission, one Counter-Terrorist member chooses to become a VIP, a player with 200 units of Kevlar and nothing more than the Counter-Terrorist standard-issue USP pistol with one extra magazine. In addition, two villages, including Saddam’s birthplace of al-Auja and the small town of Abu Hishma were wrapped in barbed wire and carefully monitored. cs_office). Surveillance of major routes, patrols, and raids on suspected insurgents were stepped up.

Maps of this type are prefixed with cs_ (e.g. Suspected ambush sites and mortar launching positions struck from the air and with artillery fire. There is also a penalty associated with injuring a hostage by gun fire or grenade shrapnel (hostages do not take damage for falling). Coaliton forces brought to bear the use of air power for the first time since the end of the war. Killing a hostage incurs a penalty of $2250. A sharp surge in guerrilla attacks, ushered in an insurgent effort that was termed the “Ramadan Offensive,” as it coincided with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Upon successfully escorting a hostage to a rescue point, $1000 is awarded. Toward the end of 2003, the intensity and pace of insurgent attacks began to increase.

begins to rescue it), the Counter-Terrorist is awarded $150. A series of similar operations were launched throughout the summer in the Sunni Triangle. When a Counter-Terrorist 'uses' a hostage (i.e. Coalition military forces launched several operations around Tigris River peninsula and in the Sunni Triangle. Therefore, the game may effectively become a 'Terrorist hunt' game if enough hostages are killed, although server settings may be such that players are disconnected (kicked) from the server after killing a certain number of hostages (5 is default). efforts to establish a democratic state capable of defending itself ^[20], versus various insurgent demands that the foreign forces leave the country. When round time expires, Terrorists win. It centers around Coalition and U.N.

If all the surviving hostages have been rescued, and that number is at least half of the initial hostage count, then the Counter-Terrorists win, and each Counter-Terrorist is awarded $2400. The post-invasion environment began after the Hussein regime had been overthrown. If all the members of a team have been eliminated, the prevailing team wins. [19] The insurgents are generally known to the Coalition forces as Anti-Iraqi Forces or AIF. The Counter-Terrorists' objective is to escort the hostages to a hostage rescue point on the map. There is evidence that some of the resistance was organized, perhaps by the fedayeen and other Saddam Hussein or Ba'ath loyalists, religious radicals, Iraqis angered by the occupation, and foreign terrorists. The map has hostages (usually four) generally placed near the Terrorist base. Insurgent tactics include mortars, suicide bombers, roadside bombs, small arms fire, and RPGs, as well as sabotage against the oil, water, and electrical infrastructure.

Professional tournaments are normally only played in Bomb Defusal maps. This resistance has been described as a type of guerrilla warfare. de_dust and de_inferno). This may be misleading because Baghdad has a low ratio of attacks per capita. Maps of this type are prefixed with de_ (e.g. Combined they account for 32% of the population. Deaths due to the detonation of the bomb do not increment the player's death count. The three provinces that had the most number of attacks were Baghdad, Anbar, and Salah Ad Din.

When the round time expires, the Counter-Terrorists win. Critics point out that the regions where violence was most common was also the most populated regions, but this was not entirely true. If the bomb has been planted and proceeds to explode, the Terrorists win, but if a Counter-Terrorist defuses the bomb (Counter-Terrorists can purchase an optional kit to speed up defusal times), the Counter-Terrorists win. This location includes Baghdad [18]. If the bomb has not been planted, if all the members of one team have been eliminated, then the surviving team wins. The insurgency in Iraq was concentrated in, but not limited to, an area referred to by Western media and the occupying forces as the Sunni triangle. The Terrorists' objective is to plant the bomb at a bomb site (of which there usually are two in a map, Bombsite-A or Bombsite-B), and ensure its detonation. According to the Pentagon, 250,000 tons (of 650,000 tons total) of ordnance were looted, providing an endless source of ammunition for the insurgents.

One randomly selected Terrorist begins the round carrying a bomb. In May of 2003, after the Iraqi conventional forces had been defeated, the coalition military noticed a gradually increasing flurry of attacks on the multinational troops in various regions, such as the "Sunni Triangle." In the chaos after the war, massive looting of the infrastructure, and most catastrophically, munitions occurred. Each map is of a single game type. In the weeks that followed Bush's dramatic aircraft carrier landing, all types of crime significantly increased in Iraq due to the lack of law enforcement and security after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. There are several game types in Counter-Strike which define the objectives of each team in the game, and rules which determine which team wins. However, one crewmember later stated the banner referred specifically to the aircraft carrier's mission and not the war itself. However, movement is restricted while taking damage from gunfire. Clearly visible in the background was a banner stating "Mission Accomplished." It was criticized by some as premature - especially later as the guerrilla war dragged on.

For example, relatively few shots will kill a player, and shots to different parts of the body deal different amounts of damage, but damage has no bearing on ability to run or jump, allowing a player with just a few hit points remaining to keep fighting. Bush's landing was criticized by opponents as an overly theatrical and expensive stunt. Counter-Strike is meant to be more realistic than futuristic FPSs such as Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament, but is also built to keep the action flowing faster than more realistic tactical shooters such as the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon series. Bush landed on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, in a Lockheed S-3 Viking, where he gave a speech announcing the end of major combat operations in the Iraq war. This technique, known as "ghosting", is considered cheating in many tactical shooters. On 1 May 2003 George W. They are generally able to watch the rest of the round from multiple selectable views, although some servers disable some of these views to prevent dead players from relaying information about living players to their teammates through alternative media (most notably voice in case of Internet cafes and players in the same rooms of their own homes, playing on the same server).
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Players killed become "ghosts" for the duration of the round; they cannot change their names, nor can their chat/voice messages be received by the live players (unless the cvar sv_alltalk is set to 1). The documented number of Iraqi civilians killed by the Coalition military forces since 2003 according to various estimates ranges from 27,295 up to 30,789 (as of December 2005). The scoreboard also shows whether each player is dead, carrying the bomb (in bomb defusal maps), or the VIP (in assassination maps), although the player must be dead during the round to obtain this information of players on the opposing team. By no means did the Coalition invasion force see the entire Iraqi military thrown against it, and it is assumed that most units disintegrated to either join the growing Iraqi insurgency or return to their homes. The scoreboard shows team scores plus data for each player: name, score, deaths, and ping/latency (ms) on the map. Army attacked. Standard bonuses in the game are:. forces, and as a result the units within were both confused and further demoralized when the U.S.

Surviving players retain their equipment in the next round; those who have died begin anew with pistol and knife. Worse, the Iraqi Army had incompetent leadership - reports state that Qusay Hussein, charged with the defense of Baghdad, dramatically shifted the positions of the two main divisions protecting Baghdad several times in the days before the arrival of U.S. Players may buy equipment whenever they are in a buy zone for their team (some of which can be for both teams) and the round has not been in session for longer than a specified time (90 seconds is default). Other Iraqi Army officers were bribed by the CIA or coerced into surrendering to coalition forces. Players are generally given a few seconds before the round begins (known as Freeze Time) to buy equipment but not move. Entire units simply melted away into the crowds upon the approach of Coalition troops. Each player generally starts with $800, two magazines of ammunition, a knife, and a pistol: a Heckler & Koch USP .45 Tactical for CTs or a GLOCK 18c for Ts. The Iraqi Army suffered from poor morale, even amongst the supposedly elite Republican Guard, their strength sapped after weeks of aerial bombardment.

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero added two extra models, bringing the total to ten). The only tank loss sustained by the British Army was a Challenger 2 of the Queen's Royal Lancers that was hit by another Challenger 2, killing two crewmen. Each round starts with the two teams spawning simultaneously, as one of eight different default character models (four to choose from for both Counter-Terrorist and Terrorist. Three British tank crew fatalities happened as result of friendly fire. Server settings may automatically balance when one team has more players than the other. Even with the large number of RPG attacks by irregular Iraqi forces, few Coalition tanks were lost and no tank crewmen were killed by hostile fire. Counter-Strike is a team-based FPS in which players join either the Terrorists (T's) or the Counter-Terrorists (CT's). M1 Abrams and British Challenger 2, proved their worth in the rapid advance across the country.

. The main battle tanks (MBT) of the Coalition forces, the U.S. CS was originally played online through the WON gaming service, but it was shut down in 2004, forcing players to switch to Steam (although some players responded by creating their own WON network, dubbed WON2). Army, Marine Corps and Naval Aviation, and British Royal Air Force operated with impunity throughout the country, pinpointing heavily defended enemy targets and destroying them before ground troops arrived. According to statistics gathered by Valve's content-delivery platform, Steam (1), these players contribute to over 4.5 billion minutes of playing time each month, making it the most popular online FPS in history. Air Force, U.S. In 2004, GameSpy statistics showed over 85,000 players simultaneously playing Counter-Strike at any point in time, accounting for almost 70 percent of the online FPS audience. The U.S.

In 2002 there were over 30,000 Counter-Strike servers on the Internet (second place was Unreal Tournament with about 9,800). The Iraqi T-72 tanks, the heaviest armored vehicles in the Iraqi Army, were both outdated and ill-maintained and were destroyed quickly, in part due to the Coalition's control of the air. CS has been the most widely played online FPS for the past few years and has over 19.5 million legal owners. The Iraqi's artillery proved almost worthless, and Iraq did not mobilize its air force to attempt a defense. Signs of CS's wide influence can be found in mods for Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament, and other standalone shooters such as Global Operations and Soldier of Fortune II. Attacks on Coalition supply routes by Fedayeen militiamen were repulsed. CS is widely acknowledged as the most successful and popular of the tactical shooter genre. anti-air batteries, or missed their targets.

The latest incarnation of the game, Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S), is based on the Source engine developed for Half-Life 2. Missiles launched from Iraq were either interdicted by U.S. Counter-Strike pits a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in rounds of competition won by completing an objective or eliminating the opposing team. The Iraqi army, armed mainly with Soviet equipment, had no weapons that could stand up to invading forces, and managed only to stage a few ambushes that gained a great deal of media attention but in reality did nothing to slow the Coalition advance. The series also includes Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source. This did prove short-sighted, however, due to the requirement for a much larger force to combat the irregular Iraqi forces in the aftermath of the war. Counter-Strike (CS) is the common name given to a series of team-based tactical shooter games which originate with Counter-Strike, a total conversion mod of Valve Software's first-person shooter Half-Life. Utilizing massive precision air strikes along with rapid ground attacks, the invasion seemed a success of the U.S., and did not require the huge army build-up like the 1991 Gulf War, which numbered half a million allied troops.

Features include: varieties of teamkill punishes, auto-kick by certain triggers, rank system, advanced map changing and voting etc. Coalition forces managed to topple the government and capture the key cities of a large nation in 21 days, taking minimal losses while attempting to avoid large civilian deaths and high numbers of dead Iraqi military forces. One of the most successful, if not the only one, "Mani Admin Plugin", is met on nearly every dedicated server nowadays. According to The New Statesman this was "Located at the furthest extreme of the southern no-fly zone, far away from the areas that needed to be patrolled to prevent attacks on the Shias, it was destroyed not because it was a threat to the patrols, but to allow allied special forces operating from Jordan to enter Iraq undetected." ^[17]. "Admin plugins", as they are mostly referred as, have become very popular. The September attacks included a 5 September 100-aircraft attack on the main air defence site in western Iraq. Give server administrators more flexible and efficient control over his/her server. The weight of bombs dropped increased from none in March 2002 and 0.3 in April 2002 to between 8 and 14 tons per month in May-August, reaching a pre-war peak of 54.6 tons in September - prior to Congress' 11 October authorisation of the invasion.

The weapon's attributes remain the same.). A change in enforcement tactics was acknowledged at the time, but it was not made public that this was part of a plan known as Operation Southern Watch. Only the user sees the differences. began to change its response strategy, more carefully selecting targets in the southern part of the country in order to disrupt the military command structure in Iraq. Provide options for weapon improvement (AKA Skinning: Affects the way guns look and sound to the user but remain unchanged to anyone else in the game. In mid-2002, the U.S. Keep track of player statistics and scores. Iraqi air-defense installations were engaged on a fairly regular basis after repeatedly targeting American and British air patrols.

Control players not following set rules. Prior to invasion, the United States and other coalition forces involved in the 1991 Persian Gulf War had been engaged in a low-level conflict with Iraq, enforcing Iraqi no-fly zones. Create different modes of play. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:. Make the game more humorous. Operation Iraqi Freedom — often rumored to have been originally called Operation Iraqi Liberation before being changed due to an unwanted acronym — had the following military objectives, according to U.S. Give players superhuman powers (powers from units in Warcraft III, for example.). (ed., the details of this are cover in this article).

Remove features of the games which players felt were annoying. This conflict resulted in the defeat of the Iraqi regular Army and its supportive divisions. Improve gameplay. The "War of Iraq" refers to the war proper, beginning with the 2003 invasion, continuing in the occupation, and ending at the handover of sovereignty to the new Iraqi government. Add bots to make a LAN game multiplayer although there is only one computer. According to some opinion polls, the war was unpopular from the outset in many Coalition countries. VIP - Used in maps prefixed 'as_' eg: as_oilrig. efforts to establishing a sovereign state.

Hostage - used in maps prefixed 'cs_' eg: cs_italy. In post-invasion Iraq (2003–2005), after the Hussein regime had been overthrown, activity centered around coalition and U.N. Their disgust for American lifestyle was demonstrated in their 1982 bombing of a school bus full of Rock and Roll musicians.". The Iraqi forces presented little resistance to the invasion. Guerilla Warfare - Added in CS beta 6.5 - "A terrorist faction founded in the Middle East, this group has a reputation for ruthlessness. The forces opposing the coalition units were the conscript Iraqi Regular Army reinforced and strengthened by the Republican Guard and Fedayeen Saddam. Infamous for their bombing of the Canadian embassy in 1990.". The US and UK claimed that the invasion was justified because Saddam Hussein had not complied with 19 UN resolutions requiring Iraq to destroy its special weapons and programs after the previous war.^[15][16].

Arctic Avengers - Added in CS beta 6 - "Swedish terrorist faction founded in 1977. The United States and the United Kingdom were the two major components of the US-dubbed "Coalition of the willing" that invaded Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein's regime. Elite Crew(L33t Krew prior to CS 1.6) - Added in CS beta 3 - "Middle Eastern fundamentalist group bent on world domination and various other evil deeds.". The war was between the Iraqi military and a coalition of multinational forces. Formed shortly after the breakup of the USSR.". The War of Iraq (2003) was the war in the Middle East country of Iraq, which resulted from the the Iraq disarmament crisis of late 2002 and began with the invasion of 2003. Phoenix Connexion - First appeared in initial CS beta - "Having established a reputation for killing anyone who gets in their way, the Phoenix Connexion is one of the most feared terrorist groups in eastern Europe. Sa.

Consisting of no more than 100 men, the GIGN has earned its reputation through a history of successful ops.". He also stated, in spite of missing stockpiles, that "the world is far safer with [...] the removal of Saddam Hussein." [http://www.ceip.org/. GIGN - Added in CS beta 3 - "France's elite counter-terrorist group, the GIGN, was designed to be a fast response force that could decisively react to any large-scale terrorist incident. He stated, "the work of the Iraq Survey Group has shown that Saddam Hussein had WMD intentions, had WMD programs that did survive, and did outwit for 12 years the United Nations Security Council and the resolutions [...] in large measure." Kay did "believe that the effort that has been directed to this point has been sufficiently intense that it is highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed militarized chemical and biological weapons there". Their role in WW2 involved intelligence gathering behind enemy lines and executing sabotage strikes and assassinations against key targets.". Kay went on though to say that, "Iraq was in clear violation of the terms of Resolution 1441". SAS (Special Air Service) - Added in CS beta 5 - "World-renowned British SAS was founded in the Second World War by a man named David Stirling. David Kay opened his testimony during the "Kay Report" at a Senate panel by stating "We were almost all wrong" on Iraq (a quote commonly missattributed to the later head of the ISG, Charles Duelfer,[13] [14]).

GSG-9 - Added in CS beta 6 - "GS-9 was formed out of the tragic events that led to the death of several Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, Germany.". The Iraq Survey Group later released the final ISG report which included the following points:. ST-6 was placed on permanent alert to respond to terrorist attacks against American targets worldwide.". Kay testified on January 28, 2004 that "the effort that has been directed to this point has been sufficiently intense that it is highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed, militarized chemical weapons [in Iraq]". SEAL Team 6 - First appeared in initial CS beta - "ST-6 (to be later known as DEVGRU) was founded in 1980 under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Richard Marcinko. In October 2003, the Iraq Survey Group released the report of interim ISG findings which indicated that small amounts of weapons of mass destruction were uncovered, (including a number of vials containing biological agents stored in the home refrigerators of Iraqi scientists, for example) as well as discoveries of non-WMD programs banned by the United Nations and concealed during the IAEA and UNMOVIC inspections that began in 2002. CS: Source - 7 October 2004. The following countries' governments did not support the War of Iraq:.

CS: Condition Zero - 23 March 2004. Concern is growing that corporations with ties to the Bush administration, notably Halliburton, which was provided no-bid contracts that many considered illegal due to their size, to be the primary beneficiaries of the execution of the war. Version 1.6 - 15 September 2003. [9] , with exceptionally poor accounting of how the funds are being spent. Version 1.5 - 12 June 2002. Critics have cited that, economically, the various engagements in Iraq has cost the United States about USD $200,000,000,000, and still costs about USD $6,000,000,000 a month. Version 1.4 - 24 April 2002. among other evidence that they believe connects this war to previous military actions.

Version 1.3 - 19 September 2001. This includes:. Version 1.1 - 10 March 2001. Antiwar activists and opponents of the war draw direct parallels to the earlier actions (especially the Vietnam War) via several debated elements of evidence. Version 1.0 - 8 November 2000. The opponents to the wars' main rationales are, in their opinion, the "fixed intelligence" and "lack of connection to 9/11". Beta 7.1 - 13 September 2000. Since the October 2005 indictment of Lewis Libby, politicians (including some of those who saw the same intelligence that was classified and used by the executive branch in America) and some citizens have begun to question pre-war intelligence and how it may have been misused in order to "sell", in their opinion, a war to the American people.[8] On the Senate floor during speeches, it was stated that,.

Beta 7.0 - 26 August 2000. By the summer of 2005, there was an increase in the number of individuals in the United States who felt the same way. Beta 6.6 - 22 June 2000. Many viewed the war as improper (being a moral and ethical violation) and illegal under international law. Beta 6.5 - 5 June 2000. The Iraq War was widely viewed by many critics as counterproductive. Beta 6.1 and 6.2 were "Server Only" updates, not for client/user machines. The war's unpopularity was reflected in widespread protests, including allegedly the largest worldwide protest in human history on February 15th, 2003 (eg., a day of Global protests against war in Iraq).

Beta 6.0 - 10 March 2000. According to opinion polls, the war was unpopular from its beginning in many Coalition countries. Beta 5.2 - 10 January 2000. [7]. Beta 5.0 - 23 December 1999. Some also posit that since the United States military has not lost a single battle, the multinational forces have removed a dictatorship, and the foundation for a new democracy in the Middle East has been set down. Beta 4.1 - 1 December 1999. Zawahiri’s alleged intercepted letters).

Beta 4.0 - 5 November 1999. Proponents of the war say that "we should fight them over there, so we don't have to fight them over here."^{[citation needed]} Others have pointed out that the insurgents are losing in Iraq (as exposed in Dr. Beta 3.1 - 16 September 1999. Recently revealed US government records raise the issue that the US may have played a role in Saddam's rise to power and provided his government with weapons of mass destruction. Beta 3.0 - 14 September 1999. During the 1980's, the United States was pleased with its relationship with Iraq, despite chemical weapons, war with Iran, and alleged violations of civil liberties [6]. Beta 2.1 - 17 August 1999. Throughout the 1980's the United States supported Saddam Hussein as an ally in the protection of American financial and political interests in the region.

Beta 2.0 - 13 August 1999. No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq following the invasion. Beta 1.2 - 20 July 1999. Bush's 2003 State of the Union Address:. Beta 1.1 - 27 June 1999. Saddam's regime's alleged abuse of Iraqi citizens' human rights and the spread of democracy was cited, as mentioned in US President George W. Beta 1.0 - 19 June 1999. Leaders of the multinational coalition have also pointed to human rights issues to justify the war.

Kill an enemy: $300. These reasons were not those originally given (before the 2003 Iraq invasion) by the Bush administration of the United States before or after the initiation of the war, which instead included:. Lose a round: $1500. The first calls for war on Iraq came from the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), and the American Enterprise Institute, with arguments based largely on the disruption of the emerging modernizing Islamic Middle East, and the project of American influence into the next century. Win a round: $3500. Over time, these have varied. Pretexts of the invasion and occupation as stated by the United States in 2002 before the Iraq invasion are likewise controversial factors.

As stated in public speakings such goals have changed notably since 2002, and views differ as to whether past statements should be considered "failed goals" (or "deceptive premises") for the war. The failure of western intelligence to distinguish between these two possibilities is perceived by some as a failure of intelligence. Both critics and supporters of the war have disagreed about the validity of the rationales, and over whether the ex post facto failure to find weapons "stockpiles" indicates the destruction or transportation of such weapons prior to the war or failure of intelligence (or, by some, deliberate deceit). They hold to concepts defined largely by lessons learned from American involvement in Southeast Asia.

Opponents of the war often hold that the current insurgency conflicts are a direct consequence of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation. To many critics, the Iraq War has numerous parallels with past wars (in particular the Vietnam War). military presence in a foreign country. Being dominantly driven by the United States various critics' eyes, the conflict is characterized by a large and dominant U.S.

In contrast, individuals who believe that the "Iraq war" is a continuing conflict base their concept of "war" and "occupation" on more general concepts, as opposed to the definitions of the United Nations, International law, military laws, or political techniques for using language effectively. Because the United States has made no effort to estimate civilian casualities, the estimates vary considerably. A better metric to determine precisely who the war is being waged upon should compare the number of civilian Iraqi deaths with the number of Iraqi soldiers killed in the first year of the war. the operations delimited to major hostilities against the Saddam Hussein government of Iraq and limited to the 2003 invasion and the succeeding period of military occupation) rest on rationalisations which tend to disagree, in various opinions, with direct or meaningful comparisons with other conflicts, though these are largely found in stated (or perceived) goals by the Coalition for the invasion and occupation.

The more exclusive definitions of the "Iraq War" term (ie. A derivative of this viewpoint sees much of the current violence almost exclusively as expressions of the Iraqi sectarian divisions, and characterize the occupation as democratic, and preventative of a larger civil war. Though Coalition military officials have used the capitalized phrase Iraq War in this relatively narrow sense, they, and those politically in support of the invasion and current military presence (or 'occupation') also consistently use the terms Iraq war and 'war in Iraq. Alternatively, if the term includes the subsequent military occupation of Iraq, the "War" ended with the ceremonial handover of sovereignty to the new Iraqi government in June 2004.

According to this view, the "War" ended with the "cessation of major hostilities" between established military forces. Further definition of the term varies with usage and point of view; hence, depending on the context, the term 'Iraq War' or 'Iraq war' may refer to hostilities in Iraq that fit one of two general contexts: multinational forces"³ invasion of March 2003, and the three-week period of full-scale military hostilities between the multinational forces against the established, uniformed military forces (that is, Saddam Hussein "old" Iraqi Army). The term Iraq war is often left uncapitalized to indicate the legal informality and the lack of clarity in distinguishing among various operations and violent episodes. military forces.

Formal declaration or not, Iraq was nevertheless invaded by U.S. In international law^[1] however, an ultimatum is considered equal to a proper declaration. Constitution could only be done by Congress; the last time that Congress made a formal declaration of war was for World War II). For instance, the United States never formally declared war on Iraq (which under the U.S.

Variance in the use of the 'Iraq war' term can be traced to basic differences in the operative definition for 'war' and 'occupation'; as well as the understanding of 'political authority' and 'sovereignty'. . The Iraq War or War in Iraq^1,2 is both an informal and a formal American term for the military conflict in Iraq including the 2003 Invasion of Iraq by the United States and United Kingdom, overthrow of the governing dictatorship, occupation and subsequent military activities by US, UK and other forces.³. NewsMax.com Wires, Friday, 14 January 2005.

^  "President Regrets 'Bring 'Em On'". 30 April 2004 6:54 AM. USA TODAY. ^  Soriano, Cesar G., and Steven Komarow, "Poll: Iraqis out of patience".

globalsecurity.org. ^  "Operation Iraqi Freedom Maps". Time Magazine, Thursday, 10 April 2003. could soon find itself policing an ugly brawl".

The U.S. ^  Karon, Tony, "Why Turks and Kurds Prize Kirkuk : Kurdish fighters have captured Kirkuk and Turkey is agitated. CNN Washington Bureau, Wednesday, October 29, 2003. ^ , Dana, Bash, "White House pressed on 'mission accomplished' sign; Navy suggested it, White House made it, both sides say".

New Statesman, 30 May 2005. ^  Smith, Michael, "The war before the war". whitehouse.gov, February 5, 2003. Security Council".

Secretary of State Colin Powell Addresses the U.N. ^  "U.S. state.gov (Washington, DC), February 20, 2003. Powell, "Interview On BBC's NewsNight".

^  Secretary Colin L. An Ounce of Prevention- Looting of Munitions- Sept 2005. USAToday, 8 September 2005. speech a 'blot' on his record".

^  "Powell calls pre-Iraq U.N. ^  Hague Convention relative to the Opening of Hostilities, article one. Note 3: The term "multinational" in Multinational forces in Iraq is criticized due to the fact that most participating nations' troop contributions were vestigial when 98% of the invading forces were provided by the United States and the United Kingdom. Note 2: "War" is often written in lowercase, such as in "Iraq war", to indicate informal status or to distinguish its definition from the formal variant (as in "Iraq War").

Saddam Hussein convinced his top military commanders that Iraq did indeed possess WMD that could be used against any U.S. suitable for continuing chemical biological weapons research");. that contained equipment .. Iraq had destroyed its stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons after the Gulf War [10](but discoveries made by the ISG include a "clandestine network of laboratories ..