The Counter-Strike community has been playing the Inferno map since 2001. Until the release of Counter-Strike 2, it was one of the most popular maps in the competitive pool. However, after the release of Counter-Strike 2, professional players almost stopped playing the Inferno map, despite it previously being one of their best maps in CS:GO.
Inferno Statistics
The first tournament in Counter-Strike 2 was the Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023. What do we see here? The Inferno map was played only 7 times and was banned as many as 20 times. This had never happened in CS:GO, with only Mirage and Vertigo being played less, 7 and 5 times respectively.
If you think there might be some randomness at the first tournament, let's look at the next championship. The next championship was the Thunderpick World Championship 2023, where teams played Inferno only 6 times and banned the map 21 times. Only Mirage was played less, 5 times.
We can confidently say that the community has not received the map very well. Even though at the recent major, PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, the Inferno map became the most popular among teams, being played 15 times and banned 24 times.
Why did Valve, with the transition to Counter-Strike 2, destroy the much-loved Inferno?
In fact, if we ask everyone in Counter-Strike 2 this question, there is a 99.9% chance we'll get different answers. After all, we are all different and each of us should have our own personal opinion. But what can definitely be said is that 99% of players no longer feel the same emotions about the Inferno map or anything similar.
But what are the players complaining about? It's simple. The Inferno map has been significantly simplified. This is evident from two major changes. Namely, Valve decided to remove the fountain from point B, as well as the jail from point A. In CS:GO, it was extremely difficult to engage in shootouts at these positions. If we move to the second mid, there they removed a spot through which one could watch the boiler from the kitchen side. Essentially, Valve wanted to attract a new audience to the game by creating a new map, which now truly looks much better and resembles a game from 2024.
In this respect, Valve did not miscalculate at all. Now, Inferno appears to be an ideal target for a new player. Firstly, the colors on the map have become extremely bright, which is pleasing to the eye of younger players. But the old-timers understand that the era of solitude from Valve's games has gone. So, let's not dwell on that, let's move on, a moment of nostalgia has caught my eye.
New players will find it very quick and easy to get used to the new game on the new map. Because just by playing on the map 5 times, they will already roughly understand how to pick positions, and also know a few grenades and be able to give them just by feel. But why did we touch on the topic of grenades?
We've all had that moment when we missed a smoke in CT, resulting in losing a round. Because there was a huge gap in which anyone could kill you. Sometimes, even professional players would throw that smoke from hand and miss.
But now with the new grenade mechanics in Counter-Strike 2, a novice just needs to aim approximately at the CT area and there lies the perfect smoke, which took 0 minutes to learn. The same situation applies to the Molotov cocktail. Because its effect radius has been increased, it has become much easier for players to block areas with just one cocktail.
Now, we can move on to the "Claustrophobia" section. For most players, the word "claustrophobia" has become a second name for the Inferno map. Have you ever felt yourself in a small enclosed space on this map?
Although the map itself has not changed much in size, Valve decided to significantly raise the scenes of the buildings, so that now you hardly ever see the sky, which is very important for a Counter-Strike player. We need free personal space where we can feel at ease.
By adding high ceilings and the fact that the radius of grenade effects has become much larger than in CS:GO, we get a "cage with limited free space" in the guise of the reworked Inferno.
The last point will concern only players with weak computers, of which there are still very many. So they should not be forgotten. Many players experience a significant drop in FPS on the Inferno map. All because of the huge number of destructible objects. Especially noticeable at the beginning of the second mid, where there are carts with fruits. Each fruit can be broken by a shot. And throughout the map, there are destructible objects scattered, which collectively significantly affect the FPS.
What does Valve need to do to give the map new life?
Actually, Valve has a huge task ahead, namely to make Inferno playable. And it's not even certain that this goal stands. But what do they need to do?
Here, it's quite simple, remove the "claustrophobia" from the map. This can be achieved in various ways. For example, by reducing the height of the walls, or simply expanding the map. The second option, of course, could completely change the gameplay on the map, but with the devil not joking?
Moreover, Valve needs to work on items that have destructibility. Not for this do we love the Counter-Strike series so much. All this is certainly beautiful, but sometimes it just interferes with the gameplay. We all understand perfectly well that Counter-Strike is hardly similar to real life — it's just a game.
So make this game the way players want it. After all, a whole generation of players grew up on this series of games. It's no coincidence that there are pictures on social media showing a person spending 100 hours in CS:GO in two weeks, but only 10 in CS2.
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