Counter Strike is one of the first multiplayer first-person shooter (fps) games to be released and is still one of the most popular games available. It originated from the critically acclaimed game,’ Half Life’, and has seen much iteration since its initial release. The game pits players in a tactical team based environment, where one team wins by successfully completing the objectives for the game type or by completely eliminating the opposing team. Popular game types include Team Death Match, Assassination, and Plant/Defuse the bomb.

Although the skill required in order to play the game is minimal, however to master it one must put in a lot of effort and hone their skills to perfection. There are a lot of variables affecting a player’s skills. For instance a new player will not know anything about the map or game type he/she is playing and will have absolutely no knowledge of player and weapon mechanics. To address these basic problems, one must find the correct control scheme and mouse sensitivity.

Also one must be completely aware of his/her surroundings in order to effectively learn the map. Players must also use all the weapons available in order to get a ‘feel’ of their recoil and damage, and then choose what they like to play with on a regular basis. A few important Counter Strike 1.6 tips include learning how to strafe fire, which means strafe in one direction, fire and then strafe in the other direction.

Also players must learn to walk, not run in certain areas of the map and in some situations. This enables the player to make less noise and hear the enemy better. Players must also remember to always aim at the head, not the chest. These results in more headshots, meaning one will almost certainly kill opponents instead of getting killed by them.

Once the player has acquainted himself with the game mechanics, he/she should try to go for those skills which are hard to develop and master. For instance, a very popular weapon, the Ak-47, has devastating damage and a huge amount of recoil. New players have difficulty using it, but a seasoned professional will absolutely destroy the competition with it. Therefore, players need to learn how to use the most effective weapons in the game.

During the learning process the players will have to face difficulty, but will be rewarded when they know how to use these specialty weapons. Also, the players should look for hidden spots on the map which may offer a good vantage point for sniping, or prove to be a shortcut when rushing. Players should also acquaint themselves with advanced game mechanics such as fall damage and under water survival duration. Many maps have no freeze time; therefore players with keyboard shortcuts for buying equipment will have an edge over the competition.

Other more advance ways of improving game play include tinkering with the options and the command console. Players should enable quick weapon switching to quickly switch to their side arms or knife in heated combat situations. This is also useful while zooming out when using sniper rifles because switching to the next weapon eliminates the need for cycling through various Zoom options.

Players may also change the color of their cross hairs to better suit their preference. In addition, they can consider upgrading their gaming peripherals e.g. their keyboards, mice and headsets in order to achieve higher accuracy and have an advantage over the competition. All in all, there are nearly countless ways of improving skills in counter strike 1.6, but the most important tip is that if one wants to learn how to win, he/she must know that they have to lose a bit too!