Mod Ratings: CS:GO’s Custom Game Modes

With over 800 days since the last Operation for Counter Strike: Global Offensive released, now is a great time to drag yourself away from being shouted at on your matchmaking platform of choice and check out some of the community made mods that have been making the rounds on the community server browser over the last few years. Starting with some of the new kids on the block then returning back to the classics, this article will explore all there is to do when you’re not feeling in the mood to flex your aim and showcase your brain in a competitive setting. I have ranked each game mode upon my personal enjoyment of them, and there’s some honourable mentions at the bottom of the article.

Trouble in Terrorist Town

A port of the Garry’s Mod classic has made its way to Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Although available for the last few years on CS:GO, it has gained little to no traction in the face of the much more feature rich, less buggy and all around better designed ‘TTT’ that can still be found populating hundreds of Garry’s Mod servers. Originally created by Bad King Urgrain, the mod pits a small group of hidden ‘Traitors’ amongst a group of terrorists. The goal of the traitors is to eliminate all non-traitors, but the ‘Innocent’ terrorists are always on the lookout. The gameplay is unlike anything I have played before, where deception and stealth pay dividends. However, I would not recommend your first experience of TTT being on CS:GO when a much more polished and better created experience can be had on the original Garry’s Mod servers. Unfortunately the game mode seems limited by Counter Strikes’ more restrictive game design systems, a problem that Garry’s Mod actively tries to reject with ever increasing customisation and ‘modability’. However, if you have half an hour spare, it is a good waste of time with a few friends.

Score: 6/10- A strong gameplay loop but very weak compared to is Garry’s Mod predecessor

Executes/Retakes

Now a few years old, which is still a relative youngster in the timeline of source game modifications, splewis’ Executes/Retakes plugin has found a big audience in CS:GO. Both mods try and simulate late round situations, cutting down the usual (just under) 2 minute round to only half a minute, condensing the experience down and repeating it over and over again. Executes spawns players with grenades already flying to their intended destinations, with the ‘execution’ on the site being the essential part of the gameplay. Retakes, as the name suggests, allows the retaking of the site to be simulated and practiced, where the bomb is already planted and ticking down. The best part of these mods is the repetition of the primary gameplay loop; rinsing and repeating five or six different site takes over and over again cuts away all the unnecessary elements that are found when pugging or scrimming and allows you to focus on actually winning rounds.

Both mods are very similar, retakes focusing more on the tense standoff after the bomb has been planted and executes giving a more comprehensive mid-late game experience of picking and attacking a site. After playing a map a few times, the limitations and repetition of the system will become apparent, but hey, the same can be said about CS:GO in general.

Score: 8/10- Although it can get stale, it does what it says on the tin and is a useful resource for practicing gun dynamics.

Surf

For more experienced players of Counter Strike, surf maps need no introduction. Holding A or D along a series of slightly sloped blocks doesn’t sound enthralling, but the soothing swipes and steady turns needed are the perfect remedy to the stressful and heated gameplay that is often associated with Counter Strike. Even after over a decade, and with iterations spanning the Counter Strike franchise, the surf community is still going strong. Events such as ‘Surf’s Up!’ offer $1,000 prize pools and are streamed live to hundreds of viewers. Gametracker.com still lists over a hundred unique surf servers, all with hundreds of surf maps on rotation. If Trouble in Terrorist Town or playing a Retake server sounds like too much shooting, try catching the surf.

Score: 9/10- Somehow combines difficulty and relaxation, there’s a reason it’s so well regarded.

1v1 Arena

Splewis has been a busy boy. The 1v1 Arena mod places competitors into multiple small 1v1 combat zones. Win your 1v1 and you will go up one arena, lose and you will be put down. Its a simple last-man-standing system but the competition between the players at the top of the server lends itself to some compelling rivalries and duels. It is useful for a quick aim warmup as the 1v1 situation cuts away everything else- the utility, health advantage and map knowledge until only raw aim remains.

Score: 7/10- The small arenas and limited spawns highlight the repetition even more so than Executes/Retakes, but still a great way to warmup.

KZ

KZ, named after its creator ‘Kreedz’, spawns the player in front of a vast parkour assault course and a timer. Utilising all the quirks and anomalies of the Source engine (bunnyhop, long jump, strafing and ladder jumps) and harnessing the almost limitless potential of the communities custom maps provides hundreds of variations to the simple assault course gameplay. Imagine virtual rock climbing, combined with speed running and the floor is lava - that is KZ. Loading up a new map is loading into a the imagination of the mappers mind; restricted only by the limitations of the movement system. Once the adventure has worn off, now the time mechanic comes to the fore. The simple yet effective system tells you your rank instantly upon completing a map, providing the motivation needed to shave seconds and milliseconds of your time with better synced strafes and quicker bunny hops and trying to reach the top spot of the server.

Score: 9/10- Deserving of a place next to it’s brother Surf, KZ leverages the creativity of the community and the quirks within Counter Strike to create some compelling, challenging gameplay.

Zombie Mod

I don’t think I will ever understand the appeal of Zombie Escape mod. It is, for all intents and purposes, a game of tag. However, the person who is selected at first (the infected) must battle against a team of fully equipped Humans with only the ability to slash at them. The formula is as old as time, and the tradition has been handed down through the franchise and can be found in multiple other titles (Mike Myers anyone?), and to be honest, it sucks. It seems that it has caught on with Eastern European and Russian players though, with around 30 servers that can be found populated on the CS:GO server browser at any time. I can’t help but feel that other titles have improved on the formula, for example, the Obscurity mod on Call of Duty 4 innovated with unique and fun infected gameplay, camouflage and fast movement mechanics. Perhaps I am missing something, but Zombie Mod seems the weakest, in terms of gameplay, of the popular CS:GO mods.

Score: 5/10- There must be something I don’t understand about zm, but i guess shooting zombies is, it itself, a good time.

Honourable Mentions

• Aim maps - Seemingly as old as time itself, aim maps are still a great way to warmup before a competitive game.
• Mr. uLLeticaL’s steam workshop maps - Worthy of a mention even though his maps are primarily made for single player and not really within the scope of this article.