Checking out Counter-Strike: GO’s new hostage mode

cs_militia is now in the game and all is right in the world

Despite loving Counter-Strike: Global Offensive upon release, I had concerns that Valve wouldn’t give it the same loving updates that Team Fortress 2 received over the years. Well, they are finally proving my concern wrong with some fan-centric and game-changing updates. The latest adds in classic hostage rescue map cs_militia and drastically changes how hostages function for the first time since Condition Zero.

Let’s get real: Counter-terrorists rarely rescue hostages. It’s riskier and more time consuming than hunting down the remaining enemy, so it’s a tactic you rarely see outside clan matches. With the latest update, released March 21, hostages are now limited to two per map and are given random spawn points. CT players will now need to rescue only one to succeed, but carrying a hostage dramatically slows the player down.

It’s still too early to say how this will effect the community and competitive play, but I found it to be both a massive functional and aesthetic improvement. It’s cool to watch a player run through fire with a hostage on their back, instead of awkwardly running behind, getting stuck on a wall. This is wonderfully displayed on cs_militia which has never looked or played better, thanks to upgrades that go beyond visuals.

I’ve been having a blast with CS:GO this week, thanks to this update and others I must have missed that addressed complaints in my review — servers now offer free look and all the niceties and mods you’d find in previous CS entries. If you’ve been away from CS:GO for some time, now is a great time to go in and check out what’s new.

This update, like those before it, is PC only. Sorry, PS3 and Xbox 360 fans.