The Maps

Good maps

Aside from the variety of weapons, the number of quality maps in Counter-Strike contributes greatly to its popularity. Some of the maps have very unique features - Aztec temple has random lightning strikes in certain parts of the map that can actually kill you if you're standing in the wrong place. Forest has usable cannon turrets that the terrorists can use to guard key walkways. Railroad features working, moveable train cars to get around the map, and Italy has a wonderful radio in the hostage room that plays opera music. (We hate it when people shoot the radio, so don't do it on the Gamers.com server or you may get kicked!) Aside from the gimmicks, most of the levels are very well modeled and feature a lot of great fighting areas as well as camping/sniping points. In fact, our favorite maps are ones without any real gimmicks.

Dust

Dust is one of our real favorites. Set in a desolate, Mediterranean looking town, Dust is a terrorist demolition map. The counter terrorists spawn near two different bombing targets and have to guard two major entry points. One is inside of a centrally located building that we call the "H." The other is a long corridor that runs underneath and to the side of the H. Both these areas are natural fighting spots, and there's a lot of tension as both sides usually exchange grenades back and forth until one is brave enough to flood into the other area. Snipers usually guard both ends of the corridor so there isn't as much fighting that goes on there, but if one team is careless and leaves that entryway unguarded, it's easy to flank the other team.

Terrorists in control of secondary bomb target area	Smart CT covers one side of the H
A good look at secondary target area	Standoff in the H

Cobble

Cobble is another favorite of ours. It's actually made by the same mapper that created Dust, and it too is a demolitions map. This map is actually a lot more complex than Dust, with many different ways to get from one side to the other. If one team is careless it's easy to get shot in the back by flanking opponents. With lots of winding hallways and changes in elevation Cobble never seems to get old.

Central fighting area

Planting the bomb at primary

It's also worth noting that there's one room that overlooks a large courtyard - it's a great place for a CT sniper to hide out. Terrorists who run in that direction at the start of a round have to be wary of the windows and lay down some suppression fire.

Assault

Assault is a hostage rescue map. The terrorists have barricaded a large, multilevel warehouse with several hostages trapped inside. The counter terrorists must break in, and kill all the terrorists (rarely is this map won by rescuing all the hostages w/o killing all the terrorists). There are several entrances into this map which makes it fun for both sides. A large roll up garage door in the front of the warehouse can be guarded easily from elevated positions. There's also a back door to the warehouse where a lot of grenades are exchanged. Finally there is a long, branching ventilation shaft overhead that empties into two different places - one branch leads to the ceiling of the room next to where the hostages are being held and another leads out in the middle of the second floor.

With so many different choices of strategy for both teams, the Assault map is easily one of my favorites.