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The world seems to have moved on enormously since the 2001 announcement of Condition Zero, a stand-alone,
single-player reworking of the multi-player classic Counter-Strike.
The long development time and the fact that the
game has now been recreated, apparently from scratch, by Ritual Entertainment, having taken it off original developers Gearbox
at the end of 2002, leaves question marks hanging. What kind of game will it be? And should we still be interested?
After
E3 the answer would appear to be 'very interested indeed.' CZ will provide a host of new toys and maps for multi-player mode,
but it will also provide a strong single-player game, strung over 19 maps and populated by highly advanced AI bots, coded
by Mike Booth, programmer of the AI on C&C: Generals.
Ritual Entertainment have evidently put a lot of work into
their bot system and while these bots are pre-programmed to 'know' how to play all the levels in the released game, they should,
Ritual claim, be able 'learn' new maps imported from outside by running about a bit. This could be an interesting addition
to the game dynamic - we might even be in the bizarre position of seeing mods of the game of the mod, as people learn how
to use the code supplied by Ritual in their own modifications of CZ.
These bots are really quite impressive and clearly
work together as a team. Of course, they won't be as inventive or imaginative as human players, so it will be interesting
to see whether they will be able to carry much weight against experienced CS players.
The single-player section of
the game won't follow a story, but simply enables you to play through 19 terrorist scenarios from around the world. You won't
be able to play as a terrorist either: you take the role of a key anti-terrorist agent in each scenario, fighting both alone
and alongside law-enforcement types, including traditional SAS and SWAT teams plus groups such as the Kidotai, Japan's riot
police. The Half-Life engine has been heavily enhanced by Ritual, who are duly proud of their impressive in-game character
models and detailed scenery.
The key, however, is maintaining the all important feel of CS's online combat. It seems
as if CZ will be doing just that, only it will also be introducing some new toys, such as a satellite map uplink, a blowtorch,
a 'snake' camera for looking around corners and a remotely controlled bomb.
It all adds up to a very interesting game
indeed. Expect to hear more on CS: CZ, very soon.
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