I was rather close to falling down a deep, dark Counter-Strike hole just after the Counter-Strike:Global Offensive launched in November, but a broken PC released me from a frightening future of constant de_dust2 battles and crying about how unfair it is. I’d actually forgotten I had it until Valve and Hidden Path updated it this week, switching from a stress test to a big-assed closed beta, with over 80 tweaks. The big changes are the addition of three reworked classic maps, de_inferno, de_train, and de_nuke, and new guns, the Nova shotgun, the Bizon and the MP7 SMGs. But there’s more.

Any changes made to Counter-Strike brings more eyes, more opinions, than any other game I can think of, and Valve are using this as a real beta, not a marketing exercise. Aside from adding extra content, they’ve already altered the recoil twice: first according to CS pro Salvatore “Volcano” Garozzo’s tip that the recoil was too much and too difficult to control, and then shortly after when it was clear their tweak wasn’t nearly enough to help out player. CS: GO is an actual work-in-progress.

This pre-fiddle video shows the recoil’s original state, and it’s also a good demonstration of just how seriously people take the game and how difficult it is to balance: recoil is very tactile, the player works against it, pulling down and controlling the spread. It’s not just about changing numbers.

I have vague memories of caring about that, but they were brief and I was a pub player. But I do love that there are people around keeping track of it. Sure, it’ll never be quite the same game engine to engine, but I can leap from one version to another and not feel like I’ve been left behind. Anyway, there’s every chance of that hole opening up again and swallowing me feet first. I’ll knock together some short impressions if that does happen.

When’s it out? Not even Valve know, but the beta is expanding over the weeks. Good luck getting in.