Global Operations Preview

There's no doubt that Counter-Strike is one of the most popular games of 2000. By perfectly blending team-based tactical action with fast-paced gameplay, the game's designers seem to have struck a chord with first-person shooter fans, as the Counter-Strike user base has steadily grown to staggering numbers from the days of the first beta's release in early 1999. Now, at any time during the day or night, you can choose to join one of literally thousands of Counter-Strike servers, a majority of which are up 24 hours a day. What's even more impressive is that the game was largely developed by two amateur designers in their spare time. But while most fans of the game are familiar with the story of its development, few people are aware that a professional team of designers did in fact help shape Counter-Strike. Early on in its development, the game caught the eye of Valve team members, who contracted Barking Dog Studios to add new content, implement some gameplay changes, and polish it up for the release of beta five. Barking Dog, which was also responsible for Homeworld: Cataclysm, is now working on a multiplayer team-oriented shooter of its own. Called Global Operations, this game has been in development for over nine months, using the latest version of Monolith's LithTech engine, and it is being touted by the company as a professional version of Counter-Strike.

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"Counter-Strike is a great game," says Jeff Barnhart, Global Operations producer, "but our game is going to be 100 times better." Admittedly, the two games do have a lot in common, and comparisons can't help but be drawn. Like in Counter-Strike, in Global Operations you will be split up into two teams, and you'll have to carry out a set of goals within a certain time limit while making sure that the opposing force doesn't get a chance to accomplish its tasks. While some goals can include the now-standard hostage-rescue scenario, wherein the counterterrorist team has to penetrate enemy defenses and extract a group of hostages unharmed within a certain amount of time, Global Operations will be composed mostly of interesting twists on the tried-and-true team-based gameplay modes.

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"One of our favorite scenarios is the South China Sea map," describes Barnhart. In this level, terrorists playing the role of an Indonesian paramilitary force will board and attack a giant oil tanker while the counterterrorists - Australian Special Forces - have to drive the attackers off and save the ship. There are 32 such real-world terrorist groups and counterterrorist organizations that you can choose to play as. But what makes Global Operations unique is that each of these groups is specific to its respective map. That is, if you're playing in the Spain level, the counterterrorist team will always be Ertzaintza, and the terrorists will always be Basque separatists. According to Barnhart, this adds a certain element of realism to the game, however minor, and serves as a tribute to more die-hard tactical simulators like Rainbow Six and Swat 3. Global Operations will have a total of 16 maps that are derived from actual hotspots from around the world.