Grenades and bullets might expose a player sitting in the newly crafted volumetric smokes, but Counter-Strike 2’s new lighting effects may actually be its biggest counter.
Today, CS2 players discovered that they can stand within a smoke, being covered entirely, but still exposed by their shadow. The discovery, shared on Sept. 28, is quite clear: a long CS2 model shadow will protrude from the smoke, exposing the gamer within. This means enclosed areas are the worst place to throw smokes in the Source 2 Update.
While this glitch remains, CT players in certain positions and T-players holding a bombsite have significant advantages.
Players have already figured out that maps like Ancient are particularly bad, with enemies about to spot shadows in completely separate rooms. While this would create an interesting meta is allowed to stay, Valve is likely on the case.
However, Valve has a long list of chores to tick off before tackling this issue.
The CS2 devs recently addressed server issues plaguing almost every region. Players have reported waiting hours to join matches, and purely due to the lack of servers in their area. To compensate, Valve swiftly removed CSTV and demo recording today to free up servers for players wanting to find a match. This update was released only minutes ago, as of publication, so we’re yet to see if this improves the situation.
Cheaters have also made their presence known in CS2 already. The long-standing cheating epidemic hasn’t ended in the CS:GO sequel, with professional players even encountering them in their matchmaking lobbies.
Players were vying for VAC-Live to make a dent, but with Counter-Strike possessing a notoriously large cheating population, VAC-Live hasn’t made an impact yet.
This, paired with several missing gameplay elements, has sent the early CS2 community into a headspin. Players also called for Valve to introduce modes like Wingman and Danger Zone and suggested CS2’s “full release” has fallen short already.
