As things stand, being hit with a flashbang in CS:GO will rapidly turn your entire screen bright white. That’s not to everyone’s tastes, so one fan shared a few ideas on Reddit on how the tactical item could be easier on the eyes. 

Reddit user Stnd1’s first idea simply replaces the white flash with a black one, whereas their second idea mixes a blurred centre with a black background. The Reddit user also improved upon (opens in new tab) the second idea in a follow-up post with a revised concept while adding a third idea, a grey flash that sits halfway between the current flash and the black one they previously recommended. 

While the CS:GO fan, like many, has grown fond of the flash grenade over the years, they reckon it’d be best for everyone if Valve found a way to dial it back without giving anyone an in-game advantage. 

“I like white flash too [to be honest], but it’s a really annoying and uncomfortable feeling if you play in a dark room,” they say (opens in new tab). “I would like to see an eye-safe alternative which doesn’t give in-game advantage. I mean, you can blur the image even more to the degree that it becomes more or less uniform.”

Valve’s shooter hasn’t proved a high-profile example, but a number of games – including Cyberpunk 2077 – have changed some flashing light effects in an attempt to limit their effect on epilepsy sufferers, which this potential change could also help with.

Here are all the best FPS games you can play right now if you’re looking to change things up

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• You can pre-order your copy of Edge Magazine’s Valve special edition (opens in new tab) for delivery to your door. Hurry, while stocks last.

In Edge 344, we review Half-Life: Alyx (opens in new tab), and tell the fascinating story of the game’s creation. But to focus solely on Half-Life is to ignore everything else Valve represents. Originally merely a brilliant game developer, the Valve of today is also shopkeeper of the industry’s biggest download store, owner of some of the most popular games on the planet, and has moved from software to services into hardware, making the most powerful VR headset available.

As such this isn’t merely an issue about Half-Life: Alyx. It’s also a chance to check in on one of the most secretive companies in the industry, to talk not only about its new VR game but also the headset around which it is built, the platform through which it will be sold, and the games and initiatives whose success have helped fund it. And yes, to get Gabe Newell on tape, because it’s been far too long.

Edge 344 goes on sale in print on Thursday, March 26 through all major newsagents, featuring this beautiful wraparound cover, custom-designed for us by Valve’s artists: 

Subscriber copies will begin arriving in the coming days, and feature an exclusive cover design we’re not revealing yet, in order to preserve the surprise for our subscribers. To guarantee delivery of future issues, check the latest Edge magazine subscription offers (opens in new tab).

• Is Valve making Half-Life 3? Gabe Newell hints at the future of single-player games in Edge magazine (opens in new tab)

We’re mindful that many readers, and potential readers, are stuck at home and unable to head to the shops to get their issue. As such, for the first time – of many, we hope – we’re offering a limited number of pre-orders of our print edition through our online store. 

Get five issues of Edge for only £5 / $5

We’re also launching our digital edition earlier than the planned street date of March 26; it’ll be live at 5pm GMT next Monday, March 23. Our latest subscriber offer gets you your first five digital issues for just £5/ $5 (opens in new tab) – and if you sign up now, your subscription will begin with our Valve special edition.

Here’s a glimpse at what else awaits inside.

Valve Time

With a photographer in tow, we conducted more than 20 interviews with Valve staff in a bid to paint a picture of where the company stands in 2020. We tell the story of how Half-Life: Alyx was made, then look into the past, present, and future of everything else that defines this remarkable studio: from games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota Underlords, and Artifact – yes, it has a future – to its plans for Steam and its hardware business. 

An Audience With… Gabe Newell

What happens when you sit down for an hour with one of the industry’s finest, and most forward-thinking minds? Quite a lot, as it happens, from how we’ll be controlling games with our brains – and vice versa – within the next few years, to how single-player games will soon be powered by virtual people that live in our computers. In rare, wide-ranging conversation, Newell reflects on the milestone moments that have taken Valve to where it is today, and offers some tantalising hints at where it’s headed next.

Half-Life: Alyx reviewed

Valve is one of only a handful of development studios to have multiple Edge 10s under its belt. Can a game built from the ground up around a proprietary VR headset deliver the studio its third? Our review investigates, and in our Post Script we examine whether Alyx is the proof of concept for consumer VR in general.

Subscribe today

For more industry-beating access to the very best that the videogame industry has to offer, why not subscribe to Edge? You’ll save on the cover price and have your copy delivered to your door (or device) each month, complete with exclusive subscriber covers.

You can subscribe to the print edition (opens in new tab), digital version (opens in new tab), or save even more with the print/digital bundle (opens in new tab) – whatever you choose, you can rest easy in the knowledge you’re getting the full story before anyone else. 

The post Edge magazine goes inside Valve Software for an exclusive 34-page feature covering Half-Life: Alyx, Steam and more appeared first on Game News.

The fact that Counter Strike: GO hasn’t become just another “knock off” of the Call of Duty franchise is reason enough for long time CS players to rejoice, but even they will be disappointed in the lack of fresh content. There are only a few new weapons. Plus, of the sixteen maps, half are recycled from previous installments in the franchise, including Dust, Dust 2, Office, Italy and Aztec. So, why migrate to CS:GO?

For one, the visuals from Counter-Strike Source have gotten an upgrade, providing updated visuals to the old maps and more detailed weapon and character models. In addition to the Hostage Rescue and Bomb Defusal matches, CS:GO adds two new gameplay modes. Sort of. Arms Race is Gun Game with a new name. There’s unlimited respawns and you receive a different weapon after each kill. This is a much faster-paced gameplay mode than the other modes, since it allows you to jump right back into the action after a death rather than having to wait for the next round to start. It’s a nice change of pace for CS:GO, especially if you are new to the series and haven’t adjusted to its more conservative playstyle from modern shooters.

Domination is a mix of the Bomb Defusal and Arms Race modes. The terrorists can plant a bomb at the bomb site (to which the Counter-Terrorists have to disarm) or either side can eliminate all opposing players to win the match. There are no respawns in a match, so be prepared to spend a lot of time on the spectator screen if you run around with guns blazing. Domination isn’t nearly the draw as the other modes are, as you’ll more than likely stick to playing either Bomb Defusal or Arms Race. It’s even difficult to find any Domination matches that are fully populated.

Those that loved the slow-paced, deliberate gameplay of Counter-Strike 1.6 or Source won’t be disappointed by any blasphemous changes to the formula. CS:GO keeps the core mechanics intact, but there are a few nit-picky changes that have been made. For instance, you can no longer screw a silencer onto the M4, and some of the old guns have been exchanged for more up-to-date versions (the MP5 is now the MP7). Also, some maps have had small paths added that open up congested choke points. While the lack of changes can be seen as a positive for long-time CS players, at the same time, it is also GO’s greatest weakness.

Counter-Strike has an incredibly high learning curve for anyone new to the series. Besides a short tutorial that walks you through the basic controls, GO doesn’t provide a real way to ease new players into a match. The majority of players online have extensive experience with the unchanged weapons and maps, so if you are a newcomer, you’ll feel like a guppy in a shark tank.

For the experienced CS player, old tactics work just as well as they did before, but you won’t be developing dramatically different, new strategies for your favorite game modes on the new maps. Bomb Defusal and Hostage Rescue make up the classic game modes, with six maps dedicated to Bomb Defusal and two to Hostage Rescue. CS:GO does add eight new maps, but those are dedicated to Arms Race and Domination. If you were hoping to play the traditional modes in some brand new environments, you’re out of luck.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive takes no chances and it’s hard to tell who it was made for. Source and 1.6 players will feel at home with the tried and true CS mechanics and traditional game modes, but GO gives them few reasons to migrate, other than flashy graphics on a few of the old maps. Conversely, newcomers to the series will find Counter-Strike’s steep learning curve rather discouraging. Essentially, you’re getting most of the same content, including maps, weapons, and gameplay modes that gamers have been playing for over a decade, with only minor changes to a few of them. CS:GO, mechanically, holds up as one of the best shooters you can play, but offers few reasons to move over from the previous versions.

This game was reviewed on PC.

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