Counter-Strike Online, of course, is the newest incarnation of the highly popular mod to Valve’s Half-Life franchise. The MMOFPS first saw the light of day in South Korea and, thanks to Nexon, has since expanded its reach to Japan and China.

Recently, Tian City, operator of the online shooter in China, announced a breakthrough, which online games portal 17173 was able to pick up:

Tian City announced that the PCU (Peak Concurrent Users) of CS Online has reached 150,000 during the traditional Chinese New Year.

CS Online is an MMOFPS based on the widely popular FPS series Counter-Strike. The online version brings in a brand new gameplay—human versus corpse—which attract more players to the game world.

Here’s the trailer for Counter-Strike Online’s Korean launch:

Post from: MMOtaku

There’s a new first-person shooter in town, and it’s not Counter-Strike, Gunz Online, or WarRock. It’s called Special Force, and the game is all about taking names.

“We invite those who loved and played Counter-Strike years ago to try this game as it gives the same feel and pulse-racing action as Counter-Strike, but online. It’s free-to-play, and players can customize everything about the way their avatars look from gear to weapons,” Paul Buencamino, marketing associate of Microgaming Technologies, told Hackenslash.

Well, I just have to ask: What makes Special Force special or different from Counter-Strike and the two other established and existing online shooters?

Mike Leaño, blogger of fpsrantings and editor of b5media’s video game channel, has a different perspective:

At first glance, Special Force seems to be a Counter-Strike wannabe, but MicroGaming’s marketing representative insists that the game has more oomph to it. Special Force has a ranking system like an RPG where players get experience points. As players increase their rank, physical prowess is also improved.

Knowing that marketing people would stake their lives to the supposed quality of their game even if it’s named Daikatana, I’ve decided to download the game’s beta client for a look. Expect more on Special Force when I get my hands on it.

We’ll be waiting for your fabulous review, Mike.

Post from: MMOtaku

Better late than never, I always say. Counter-Strike Online, the latest incarnation of the highly popular mod to the Half-Life franchise, has just enjoyed a successful three-day closed beta test, developers Nexon of South Korea and Valve of North America recently told Game Watch.

At least 170,000 South Korean Counter-Strike players, most of whom have already made the big leap from the first-person shooter to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre, participated in the closed beta of the upcoming, heavily localized and Steam-free version of the game.

Counter-Strike Online is touted as the Asian edition of Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. It’s aimed at pleasing the Asian market with modifications to gameplay such as new weapons, maps and player models.

Here’s a list of the new weapons: USAS-12 automatic shotgun, K1A sub-machine gun, MP7A1 sub-machine gun, FN Scar rifle, XM-8 rifle, VSK-94 sniper rifle, SVD semi-automatic sniper rifle, and QBB-95 machine gun.

There are eight new player models available in Counter-Strike Online. For the terrorists, we have the Red Beret Condittiere, the Asia Red Army, the National Liberation Campaign, and the Vigilante Corps. For the counter-terrorists, on the other hand, we have the South Korean 707, the Taiwanese Police Special Forces, the Chinese Devil Squad, and the Japanese SAT.

Counter-Strike Online is scheduled for release in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan.

Post from: MMOtaku