I was reading an article today, here's part of it:


The gameplay is still essentially the same, with no major tweaks made to the maps, although there are numerous tactical adjustments, such as re-organized stacks of crates and slightly altered spawn locations. The new particle effect system adds a lot of tactical possibilities to the smoke grenade, as does 5.1 surround sound--assuming you can get it to work. There have been many reports of 5.1 not working. I can't get it operating on my work rig, but it's flawless at home, even though the only major difference in the setup is the motherboard. Being able to knock things over is so far just for kicks, except perhaps for the Office map, where there are some filing cabinets that offer handy cover for the terrorists.

I think one of CS's greatest advantages is meticulously designed levels. There are precious few spots where you can safely hide or camp a point. There are always multiple routes, with Aztec being a great example. A terrorist can head through the double doors, or across the bridge, or take the canal--with two ways to get to the canal and two ways to get out. The mapmakers also did a great job of avoiding long sight lines so that the snipers wouldn't be too powerful. To top it off, it's apparently been quite difficult so far to hack the game. People have discovered exploits, with two of them patched within a week and a half of CS:S's release--and you can tell that this level of attention means that it wasn't meant to be a bone to throw to the audience while we waited for HL2. And it means that we can take a look at the game now that a few kinks have been worked out.

I hope we get a couple new maps too, although there are a lot of classics that I can't wait to play:D