Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Developer(s)	Valve Software, Gearbox Software, Ritual Entertainment, Turtle Rock Studios
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal
Engine	Half-Life engine (GoldSrc)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	March 21, 2004
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (abbreviated CS: CZ or just CZ) is the Single player version of the Multiplayer game, Counter-Strike. The game was released in 2004 using the aging GoldSrc Half-Life engine. CS: CZ also features a multiplayer mode, which mostly features updated character models, textures, maps and other graphical tweaks.

Development

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero has gone through many incarnations in its development. In April 2001, the game was announced as being developed by Rogue Entertainment, first mistaken as Counter-Strike 2 but soon revealed as Condition-Zero. However, Valve Software soon took over development. Due to time constraints and content issues, the project was soon given to Gearbox Software, developer of several Half Life expansions. Gearbox's version had an optimistic release date, but soon went into a downward spiral of delays. After several pushbacks of the release, Gearbox themselves finally dropped from the project.

In December 2002, Shacknews announced that Ritual Entertainment had picked up development of the game, however the game was leaked twice and before it was even released, the community made negative feedbacks of the game which made Valve pull the plug on the project for Ritual. Valve took on development of the game and paired up with Turtle Rock Studios to create the official Counter-Strike bot, first beta-tested on Counter-Strike 1.6, then added into CZ, then later added and improved inCounter-Strike: Source.

The final released version of the game included a combination of the original Counter-Strike maps (from CS 1.6), new maps and weapons content from the Gearbox version (many of which were modified by Ritual), along with a few new maps by Turtle Rock. 13 of the 19 Ritual single-player maps were also included on the original disc as "deleted scenes" - eventually all 19 were available as downloadable maps over Steam.

The "lost contents"

File:Cscz screen003.jpg

Thin Ice was originally de_vessel with a helicopter instead of a jump jet.

Gearbox's own version of Condition Zero was anticipated highly by fans. However, since that version was later dropped, fans began to demand that this content would be reinstated in another version.

The missions from Ritual's content were mostly from the lost content multiplayer maps such as de_vessel(now Thin Ice) and some of Ritual's player models resembles the ones from the lost contents itself. For example, the idea of the GIGN having a visor, moreover the M60s, LAWs, and the shield gun (not to be confused with the shield in the multiplayer version) were from Gearbox's contents, only screenshots of it now remain for players to view and hope that one day Valve would release it to them.

The leaked contents

Condition-Zero was leaked twice before it was released, giving many players the hands-on preview of the unreleased game. The first leak contains the source code of Half-Life 2 and Ritual's content along with some unreleased maps such as as_destown_cz and cs_penal_cz, this leak started the negative feedback of the community against Ritual's work. The second leak contains Turtle Rock's content, it is unknown whether the leak contained the CZ bots or not.

Gameplay

The game is very similar to Counter-Strike 1.6, featuring nearly identical gameplay, weapons, equipment, and maps popular in the multiplayer version. The textures are all different, as are the guns and maps. Nightvision makes a whirring, whining noise and in some servers casts an eerie glow around the player when in use. Also, players drop their grenades when they die, allowing other players to take them. CZ offers a new bot system in which the player can "create" computer players of varying skill levels and control the weapons they use to practice. In the single-player campaign, the player leads a hand-picked squad of counter-terrorists through missions around the world thwarting terrorists. The single-player mode is often praised for the highly intelligent AI, which are made to emulate actual players. Some items introduced in Counter-Strike 1.6 were to be originally introduced to Condition Zero, such as the FAMAS, IMI Galil and the Tactical Shield. New player models were introduced, one for each side. Spetsnaz, the Russian security force for Counter-Terrorists, and Midwest Militia, a supposedly U.S. based group of dissidents for the terrorists.

List of official Counter-Strike: Condition Zero maps

cs_downed_cz cs_havana_cz cs_italy_cz cs_militia_cz cs_office_cz de_airstrip_cz de_aztec_cz

de_cbble_cz de_chateau_cz de_corruption_cz de_dust_cz de_dust2_cz de_fastline_cz de_inferno_cz

de_piranesi_cz de_prodigy_cz de_sienna_cz de_stadium_cz de_tides_cz de_torn_cz de_truth_cz

de_vostok_cz

List of Official Counter-Strike maps for Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

as_oilrig cs_747 cs assault cs backalley cs estate cs_havana cs italy cs militia

cs office cs_siege de_airstrip de aztec de_cbble de_chateau de dust de dust2

de inferno de_nuke de_piranesi de_prodigy de_storm de survivor de_torn de_train

de vertigo

Player models

Counter-Terrorist (CT): All take names from real groups SEAL Team 6 GSG 9 SAS (Special Air Service) GIGN Spetsnaz (CS:CZ only)

Terrorist (T): All (understandably) fictional Phoenix Connexion Elite Crew (translated from leet: 1337 Kr3w) Arctic Avengers Guerilla Warfare Midwest Militia (CS:CZ only)

Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes

Condition Zero: Deleted Scenes were what was left over from Ritual Entertainment's dropped share of development. A series of unconnected single-player missions, Deleted Scenes were originally the focus on the game with standard multiplayer thrown in too. However, after declaring the game gold and handing out review copies of Ritual's work, Valve saw an average review score of around just 60%. The companies retracted the gold status and work on CZ was essentially begun again. The final game contained Ritual's portion, called Deleted Scenes, alongside Turtle Rock Studios's version of the game.

Deleted Scenes missions are single-player and the mission locations are worldwide from the cold Russian missile silo to the warm busy Japanese streets. In Deleted Scenes, players are prohibited from buying weapons like normal Counter-Strike gameplay; instead players collect weapons, ammo and armor along the way. Players always play as the Counter-Terrorist, while the enemies are AI bots. The missions are highly similar to James Bond or Metal Gear Solid. Where the player is on his own and must find out how to proceed to the next level, unlike the multiplayer component of CZ where players have to eliminate all members of the opposing team or complete certain map objectives.

Several weapons from the "lost contents" have made an appearance in Deleted Scenes, including the M72 Light Anti-Armor Weapon, the Shield and FN Fiveseven and the M60 machine gun. Some are unfortunately limited to the AI terrorists, such as the machete and Rouge Entertainment's controversial suicide belt. Some reconaissance weapons including the blowtorch, radio, Fiber optic Camera, and remote control bombs. Players can also carry up to three grenades instead of the usual one. Moreover, the power of players' Kevlar Armor is boosted, better protecting players from many projectiles and bullets.

Some weapons were completely reanimated. This includes the Colt M4A1, FAMAS and Galil with the exception of the SIG SG552 which uses its "beta animations." Weapon textures are also slightly modified. The weapons are colored a bit differently from their Counter-Strike counterparts, such as the Arctic Warfare Magnum which is now brown instead of green, the Steyr AUG and the Colt M4 Carbine are now two-tone police black instead of the usual colors. It initially came with twelve missions, but later Steam updates added six additional missions that were cut from the initial release. A former mapper of Ritual named Thearell McKinney or Kiltron made several custom Deleted Scenes mission, one of them featuring the unused GIGN faction in-game.

Trivia

• The Blackhawk being shot down in Recoil is a reference to the de_dahab, a map developed by Gearbox for CZ(although unreleased, it can be seen on the trailer).

• At the ending credits, a soldier of Delta Force rides a Scud missile, clearly spoofing Dr. Strangelove.

• In deleted scenes they once added some characters based on Mexicans and Hindus, but they needed to remove it because of racial issues. They also made maps based on the American and Mexican border but no one ever saw what happened with the map.

• In Fastline, the player may notice some mangas in the bookstore which resembles some famous animes like Please Teacher!, Chobits and a spoof of R.O.D, named R.O.B.

• Almost all DS missions were converted from Gearbox's maps, some are the following:

Recoil - de_dahab
Secret War - de_silo
Druglab - cs_junglecamp
Thin Ice - de_vessel
Motorcade Assault - de_bridge
Hankagai - de_hankagai
Alamo - cs_desertbunker
Rise Hard(originally titled High Rise) - de_genoserv
Truth in Chaos(originally titled Supreme Truth) - de_toruko
PipeDream - de_pipeline
Run! - de_otaku

External links

• Gaming News and Reviews: MadGamers.net. Gaming News, Reviews; an active community forum and gaming giveaway's.
• Official CS:CZ site
• Official CZ:DS site
• Counter-Strike.com — Provides Counter-Strike Condition Zero server related forums, FAQ's and guides.