Just got the game 3 days ago and here's some of my thoughts:
1. Footsteps are different. First of all, the audio they use for steps are obviously different, so you will need to relearn it. To me, it sounds a lot more subtle than before and makes listening for enemies a bit more difficult. On dust, for example, you have to learn what footsteps in short A sounds like vs the dusty footsteps in ct spawn. But I also think that mechanics of how footsteps are produced also changed. It's harder to time your enemies now.
2. Radar changed. It covers a much smaller area now. You can't just radar watch anymore and get a good sense of map awareness. In source, you can pretty much infer where enemies are and what they are most likely going to try and do and then reposition yourself appropriately to gain an advantage. In CS:GO, I find myself with a lot less awareness and I get caught off guard by enemies in places where I don't think they should have gotten to. Like if you are in mid playing ct, if you see a teammate enter b tunnel and die in the tunnel before the main room, you can infer the t killing him is trying to push into b and is likely closer to the tunnel entrance rather than the stairs leading to lower b. If he's the only guy left, this info gives you the go ahead to either push into lower b and flank or time a flash into b bombsite and kill him there. But the radar is shaped like a circle and covers a much smaller area of the map in csgo so your awareness of many situations similar to this one diminishes dramatically. You wouldn't know what the t is doing in this case because the radar is too ambiguous with its triangles and x's to tell you. So you might go to b while the t was actually running to lower and he goes to a instead. Combined with the changes in footsteps, it's even harder to discriminate what's going on.
3. Models, or at least the size of the head model is a lot smaller now. Take a look at the gameme stats on the top 20 players. On our CSS server, top 20 averages headshot kills around 45%. In CSGO, it's closer to 35%. You get a lot less headshots in this game and this will dramatically change the dynamic of this game. The lucky headshot issue will decrease considerably. But there are many other implications. For example, gun fights will now last, on average, much longer. It takes more bullets to bring down enemies. The relative kill power per clip of ammo decreases. This has the effect of nerfing long distance sharp shooters and more fights will be settled at a closer distance than before. So the relative value of guns will definitely shift. Guns like the AK and m4 may no longer be the default gun of choice anymore. This alone makes csgo a much more different game than css. As this game continues to get "feeled out", we're going to see a whole slew of a new strategies.
4. Recoil/spray pattern. With the way recoil and spray patterns have changed, I think defenders will enjoy a much larger advantage than in css. Establishing a good defensive positions mean a lot more now because you have the advantage of a superior recoil or spray pattern than someone walking into your line of fire. Running and gunning is not as accurate as source, and of course sniping favors the stationary player much more now. The AK has changed the most from my experience. You must use two fire bursts for anything longer than close-mid range. The third bullet flies dramatically higher than the first two.
5. Incendiary and molotovs will change many strategies in this game. People are starting to use these nades more effectively now and old strategies are collapsing because of it. Here are some examples: in CSS on Office, Ts can choose to completely give up the rest of the map and just stack the projector room. This is definitely a winning strategy because Ts can survive the flashing and nading angles. In CSGO, camping in that room repeatedly is a losing strategy even if CT has poor teamwork. You can actually toss an incendiary nade into the room and completely destroy Ts' defensive position. An incend nade clear them out from strafing shots at the door and you can bounce a flash in there to blind their whole team. With teamwork, you can toss incends at the table, and bounce another one off the door towards the TV/paper area and clear the Ts out. Another strategy I tried experimenting with is playing ct on dust 2. You can toss an incend over the double doors in mid toward the long A area. This stops Ts from accessing short a for a rush and it gives you a considerable amount of control over the other team. I truly think that these type of strategies will dramatically improve in the upcoming months/years. We are going to see things like Ts rushing long a where they toss molotovs over the wall like we used to toss flashes. The molotovs will prevent cts from popping shots off from the wall covering the long a dd and prevent cts from rushing into pit. Another incend into pit followed by a flash towards a will make taking long a complete joke compared to before. Ts don't have to worry about the crossfire of taking long a. Also, I believe office will become a heavily ct favorite map in the future. The classic T advantages are completely negated. For example, Ts cannot defend the long hall vending machine area anymore. Cts can just flash and incend the doorway forcing Ts back to the side hostage room. And Ts can't really rush garage anymore because an incend at the garage window will stop them. So Ts will increasingly become trapped in the projector room area and I already talked about what happens in the projector room above. My prediction is that dust 2 will favor cts for a long time until ts learn how to rush long a effectively. Like I said about model sizes and gun sprays above, CSGO is a much closer distance game than CSS so Ts will have much less trouble with long range fire from rushing long. However, rushing b will be pretty much phased out. Incend + defender's advantage means that 3 competent players in b can hold out against most things ts can throw. CS office will become a very ct favored map. Map will still be relatively even the first few rounds but once eco balances out, cts take the map easily.
6. CSGO is much more detailed than CSS. There's more distractions on the map now and the improved graphics makes it much harder to spot players. Turn down all graphics except for shadows and turn up the brightness to help. It's much harder to pop off Ts rushing garage from sniper's nest now. I think this makes sniping in certain situations much more viable.
1. Footsteps are different. First of all, the audio they use for steps are obviously different, so you will need to relearn it. To me, it sounds a lot more subtle than before and makes listening for enemies a bit more difficult. On dust, for example, you have to learn what footsteps in short A sounds like vs the dusty footsteps in ct spawn. But I also think that mechanics of how footsteps are produced also changed. It's harder to time your enemies now.
2. Radar changed. It covers a much smaller area now. You can't just radar watch anymore and get a good sense of map awareness. In source, you can pretty much infer where enemies are and what they are most likely going to try and do and then reposition yourself appropriately to gain an advantage. In CS:GO, I find myself with a lot less awareness and I get caught off guard by enemies in places where I don't think they should have gotten to. Like if you are in mid playing ct, if you see a teammate enter b tunnel and die in the tunnel before the main room, you can infer the t killing him is trying to push into b and is likely closer to the tunnel entrance rather than the stairs leading to lower b. If he's the only guy left, this info gives you the go ahead to either push into lower b and flank or time a flash into b bombsite and kill him there. But the radar is shaped like a circle and covers a much smaller area of the map in csgo so your awareness of many situations similar to this one diminishes dramatically. You wouldn't know what the t is doing in this case because the radar is too ambiguous with its triangles and x's to tell you. So you might go to b while the t was actually running to lower and he goes to a instead. Combined with the changes in footsteps, it's even harder to discriminate what's going on.
3. Models, or at least the size of the head model is a lot smaller now. Take a look at the gameme stats on the top 20 players. On our CSS server, top 20 averages headshot kills around 45%. In CSGO, it's closer to 35%. You get a lot less headshots in this game and this will dramatically change the dynamic of this game. The lucky headshot issue will decrease considerably. But there are many other implications. For example, gun fights will now last, on average, much longer. It takes more bullets to bring down enemies. The relative kill power per clip of ammo decreases. This has the effect of nerfing long distance sharp shooters and more fights will be settled at a closer distance than before. So the relative value of guns will definitely shift. Guns like the AK and m4 may no longer be the default gun of choice anymore. This alone makes csgo a much more different game than css. As this game continues to get "feeled out", we're going to see a whole slew of a new strategies.
4. Recoil/spray pattern. With the way recoil and spray patterns have changed, I think defenders will enjoy a much larger advantage than in css. Establishing a good defensive positions mean a lot more now because you have the advantage of a superior recoil or spray pattern than someone walking into your line of fire. Running and gunning is not as accurate as source, and of course sniping favors the stationary player much more now. The AK has changed the most from my experience. You must use two fire bursts for anything longer than close-mid range. The third bullet flies dramatically higher than the first two.
5. Incendiary and molotovs will change many strategies in this game. People are starting to use these nades more effectively now and old strategies are collapsing because of it. Here are some examples: in CSS on Office, Ts can choose to completely give up the rest of the map and just stack the projector room. This is definitely a winning strategy because Ts can survive the flashing and nading angles. In CSGO, camping in that room repeatedly is a losing strategy even if CT has poor teamwork. You can actually toss an incendiary nade into the room and completely destroy Ts' defensive position. An incend nade clear them out from strafing shots at the door and you can bounce a flash in there to blind their whole team. With teamwork, you can toss incends at the table, and bounce another one off the door towards the TV/paper area and clear the Ts out. Another strategy I tried experimenting with is playing ct on dust 2. You can toss an incend over the double doors in mid toward the long A area. This stops Ts from accessing short a for a rush and it gives you a considerable amount of control over the other team. I truly think that these type of strategies will dramatically improve in the upcoming months/years. We are going to see things like Ts rushing long a where they toss molotovs over the wall like we used to toss flashes. The molotovs will prevent cts from popping shots off from the wall covering the long a dd and prevent cts from rushing into pit. Another incend into pit followed by a flash towards a will make taking long a complete joke compared to before. Ts don't have to worry about the crossfire of taking long a. Also, I believe office will become a heavily ct favorite map in the future. The classic T advantages are completely negated. For example, Ts cannot defend the long hall vending machine area anymore. Cts can just flash and incend the doorway forcing Ts back to the side hostage room. And Ts can't really rush garage anymore because an incend at the garage window will stop them. So Ts will increasingly become trapped in the projector room area and I already talked about what happens in the projector room above. My prediction is that dust 2 will favor cts for a long time until ts learn how to rush long a effectively. Like I said about model sizes and gun sprays above, CSGO is a much closer distance game than CSS so Ts will have much less trouble with long range fire from rushing long. However, rushing b will be pretty much phased out. Incend + defender's advantage means that 3 competent players in b can hold out against most things ts can throw. CS office will become a very ct favored map. Map will still be relatively even the first few rounds but once eco balances out, cts take the map easily.
6. CSGO is much more detailed than CSS. There's more distractions on the map now and the improved graphics makes it much harder to spot players. Turn down all graphics except for shadows and turn up the brightness to help. It's much harder to pop off Ts rushing garage from sniper's nest now. I think this makes sniping in certain situations much more viable.
