If you ask PC gamers about the top online shooters of all time, you're likely to here about Quake, Unreal Tournament, and even a little Half-Life mod called Counter-Strike. With a focus on team-based action, it became an epidemic, inspiring players to form detailed strategies through numerous hours of constant gameplay. It garnered respect, won a list of awards, and perhaps best of all, got the developers a job with Valve, the makers of Half-Life. With such success, it's no surprise that Microsoft sought to add it to the lineup on Xbox Live, and that day is soon approaching.

In this offering, you take on the role of either a Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist, working with a team to accomplish a goal. Every man in the squad must serve a purpose for the group to be successful, be it defending a position, penetrating an area, or laying down covering fire. Killing off the opposing squad isn't the only objective though, as this build contained the Hostage Rescue and Demolition game modes, where you can win by detonating a bomb at a specific site, or by escorting a number of civilians to safety. However, if you get fragged, you won't be able to assist your team for the rest of the match, and considering how quickly you can find yourself on the business end of a sniper rifle, you can't afford to be careless. Luckily, it typically doesn’t take too long for a match to be resolved, as the high-powered, realistic weaponry ensures a fast-growing body count which keeps everyone in the action for much of the time. This format also necessitates multiple matches to determine a true victor, making for a continuous series of dangerous raids and long nights of vigorous firefights.

As a Counter-Terrorist you need to protect the peace, guarding against Terrorist attacks, and rescuing innocent hostages. In the Demolition mode, you take on a defensive role, guarding two weapons stockpiles. This makes for a waiting game where a high-powered sniper rifle can come in handy to take out interlopers as soon as they pop their head out. If a Terrorist manages to infiltrate your base and plant a bomb, you still have time to race back and attempt to defuse it before it explodes. The Hostage Rescue mode puts you on the offensive, racing to find and lead as many people to safety as you can. The Terrorists won't make it easy for you, however, and will block your progress whenever possible.

As a Terrorist, your primary goal is to spread fear and make life as unpleasant as possible for the Counter-Terrorists. The Demolition mode necessitates you strap on your running shoes so you can enter an enemy base and incinerate their weapons before they can stop you. It is often a one way trip for the Terrorists, as having planted the explosives, you must remain nearby to ensure they go off before someone can diffuse them, right up to the bitter, if not sudden end. In Hostage Rescue, you need to block off access to your captives, lest you lose a valuable commodity in ensuring your demands are met. Don't bother threatening the lives of innocents though, as killing them defeats the purpose of taking hostages in the first place, costing you money that could have otherwise been spent on bullets.

You compete on a realistic map with various tunnels, barricades, and sniping nests, giving players a number of options when advancing through an area. You have to play a careful game of cat-and-mouse, as you never know just where the enemy might be hiding or coming from. The build we received only featured the maps Dust, Italy, and Vostok, but with a grand total of over sixteen maps promised, there stands to be a great variety of challenges to master. For those who have seen it all, this release is slated to bring seven new maps as an incentive for fans to check out the Xbox version.