What can I say, Counter Strike has always been an excellent shooter and CS GO is arguably the pinnacle of the series. The addition of ranked competitive matches are essential to the experience in CS GO, with other modes being generally less impressive than straight forward public servers seen in previous titles.

Cheating is more prevalent than ever within ranked matches, leading to many disappointing experiences especially within the higher ranked matches.

The monetisation of skins is purely optional and while a total waste of money it is reasonably unobtrusive if that is not something you are into. The addition of wagering on professional matches in the game probably warrants an ethical discussion, especially for younger players.

The DLC packs are generally not worth a purchase as they are now no longer required to play the maps and only offer additional achievements and vanity items. Having said that the quality of these DLC maps overall can be a mixed bag, but regular content updates are always great to see.

I probably wouldn't suggest this title to younger players as the monetisation options cannot be disabled, the community is generally quite abusive and the amount of cheaters may lead to more frustration than fun for committed but less mature players.

Having said that this is probably one of the best competitive first person shooters ever made, there are quite literally hundreds if not thousands of hours of gameplay here due to the depth offered in both skill and strategy. Unfortunately, much like in many other competitive online games, it is the community that lets the game down the most with rampant cheating and generally unpleasant people being never too hard to run into.

I would recommend this game to any shooter fan, but it's certainly not for the faint hearted, expect to get seriously beat up on if you are coming in cold.

What can I say, Counter Strike has always been an excellent shooter and CS GO is arguably the pinnacle of the series. The addition of ranked competitive matches are essential to the experience in CS GO, with other modes being generally less impressive than straight forward public servers seen in previous titles. Cheating is more prevalent than ever within ranked matches, leading to many disappointing experiences especially within the higher ranked matches. The monetisation of skins is purely optional and while a total waste of money it is reasonably unobtrusive if that is not something you are into. The addition of wagering on professional matches in the game probably warrants an ethical discussion, especially for younger players. The DLC packs are generally not worth a purchase as they are now no longer required to play the maps and only offer additional achievements and vanity items. Having said that the quality of these DLC maps overall can be a mixed bag, but regular content updates are always great to see. I probably wouldn't suggest this title to younger players as the monetisation options cannot be disabled, the community is generally quite abusive and the amount of cheaters may lead to more frustration than fun for committed but less mature players. Having said that this is probably one of the best competitive first person shooters ever made, there are quite literally hundreds if not thousands of hours of gameplay here due to the depth offered in both skill and strategy. Unfortunately, much like in many other competitive online games, it is the community that lets the game down the most with rampant cheating and generally unpleasant people being never too hard to run into. I would recommend this game to any shooter fan, but it's certainly not for the faint hearted, expect to get seriously beat up on if you are coming in cold.