I think the games are similar, but it's more refined. They have been changing a lot of it and for a game like Counter Strike, I don't think they want to stray too far from the original design because of how popular it is in competitive play.
I'm surprised there hasn't been anything new about the game in a while. Last I heard it was going to be released in August for $15 and that there would be an open beta so I'm guessing something will come out soon.
They have usually been good with staying in contact with the community, which is why I'm surprised that there hasn't been anything in quite awhile.
EDIT: They last sent out new beta keys on July 12 and since the beginning of July they have been doing more serious testing for big bugs so they haven't changed much with the current version.
it's pretty decent. aside from the fact that playing it reminded me why I dislike the awp so much and how useless the scout is now -- you don't even get the speed bonus with it. agree with above that it feels just like Source but more refined. shotties seem like they got massively nerfed which tilts me hard. overall it's good but right now the beta is pretty dead.
You can preorder the game on steam as of today. A preorder gets you into the "open" beta that starts in one week. Game out in two weeks (Aug 21). I'll be ready to dominate you all by then
Unless you played at an extremely high level in 1.6 competitively (or source), it shouldn't really matter. It's a mix of source and 1.6.
Good players in 1.6 and source seem to be transitioning well. Noobs/pub-stars are the ones that seem to be the ones complaining when in reality, they don't know anything about the game they play (source or 1.6) or anything about GO. In fact, many 1.6 teams and source teams are actually combining rosters. Maximum Effort and Netcode is just one example. I am sure there will be more mixed rosters like this in the coming weeks/months as the first real season of ESEA CSGO is underway next week.
Just like any new game though, it does take a while to get good at GO. What will separate teams initially is things that they can bring over from their respective games such as strategies, communication and to some degree their ability to shoot (pre-aiming for example is a universal skill for all FPS games, but games like CoD and BF don't really require you to do it). The small little details of every map, every angle, every spam spot, every flash etc won't be as useful in GO, so in some ways it's a level playing field for everyone. Some maps are similar to source maps and some are way different (train for example). But that should be easy to overcome with a few days of scrimming because the general layouts have no changed too much, just things like objects and bombsites have been adjusted.
