CS2 vs. CS:GO – What’s New? What Are The Differences?

Visuals & Engine

CS:GO was built on the Source engine, and was released back in 2012. The game was initially pretty barebones, but has received tons of updates to turn it into the CS:GO we know today. 

CS2 however was built on the Source 2 engine, which allowed Valve to improve the graphical fidelity, physics, and overall performance. This means CS2 looks much better visually, has more realistic lighting and shadow effects, and features higher-resolution textures and environmental details.

Gameplay

Gunplay & Movement

CS:GO is well known for its precise gameplay and its fantastic movement system. This means that when playing CS:GO you truly feel in control of your character and their actions. Everything from firing your gun to moving across the map just feels fantastic.

CS2 didn’t change the movement and shooting mechanics much, but it did introduce various refinements and enhancements such as improved hit reg and improved server performance. The game is still as smooth as ever, and will only get better in that aspect as Valve continues to refine the gunplay and movement.

Match Length

In CS:GO matches the first team to reach 16 rounds wins. This means that you would always play 15 rounds per half, and up to 30 rounds per match (Excluding overtime).

In CS2, matches are first to 13 rounds wins. With this change, each match features halves of 12 rounds per half, and up to 24 rounds in regulation per match. This makes for shorter matches and speeds up the game quite a bit.

Loadouts

In CS:GO, the only real change you could make to your loadout was choosing whether you wanted the R8 or the Desert Eagle equipped, the M4 vs the M4a1, the Five-Seven vs the CZ-75, and the MP5 vs the MP7, etc. 

In CS2 however, players have full access to their loadout and can customize it to a new level. Each weapon fits into a category of weaponry, such as “Pistol”, “Mid-Tier” and “Rifle”, and weapons can be equipped to your loadout as desired, so long as they fulfill the category requirement. There are still side-based restrictions, but with the addition of loadouts in CS2 players can tailor their loadouts to their liking a lot more. This also includes things like equipping both the M4A4 and the M4A1-S at once, which was a much-requested feature from the community.

Smokes

In CS:GO smoke grenades were fairly basic. Smokes bloomed the same way each time they were thrown, and wouldn’t really react to anything in their environment such as space, bullets, or even explosive grenades.With the Source 2 engine introduced in CS2, Valve was able to make huge changes to how smokes worked. For the first time in CS history, they introduced something called “Volumetric Smokes”. These smoke grenades expand to fill the space they are thrown in rather than being a set shape. They are also color-coded to show players which side threw them, CT (gray/blue tint) or T (red/orange tint).

Smokes are also now reactive, meaning they will clear temporarily if bullets are fired through them for example, creating small gaps in the smoke. Explosive grenades can also be used to entirely clear smokes for a short moment, which has proven to be an incredibly powerful new mechanic for both pro players and casual players.

Skyboxes

In CS:GO skyboxes were limited and would stop your grenades from going beyond a certain height.

In CS2 your grenades can go as high as you’d like, as there are no skyboxes any longer. This makes for new lineup opportunities for things like smoke grenades.

Maps

The maps from CS:GO have been upgraded with improved lighting, materials, and textures to take advantage of the new Source 2 engine and its graphical capabilities. A great example is the map Mirage, which now features gorgeous lighting and reflections in the palace position, as showcased in the lead-up to the release of CS2.

User Interface

The user interface in CS2 vs CSGO has had many improvements, and now provides a much more clear and modern look across the board that showcases your available cash, health, armor, ammo, and grenades in a more streamlined way. The new UI also extends to the games menus such as the main menu, buy menu, and much more.

Workshop

The release of CS2 and its Source 2 engine has brought the community a plethora of new tools to use for their map creation and workshop designs. This means that community map creators are now able to truly experiment and push the boundaries of what was previously possible in CSGO to new levels in CS2.

Skins

Skins in CS2 vs CSGO have changed quite a bit, especially for skins with metallic shaders due to the updated lighting and reflective surfaces. Pearlescent skins such as the “Printstream” ones have also changed a lot. The colors of skins generally pop more in CS2, making for some incredible improvements to certain skins in particular, such as “Doppler” knives, the “Hot Rod” and “Blue Phosphor” M4A1-S’, and many more. Most skins have changed in one way or another, so be sure to check out the particular skin you’re interested in to see the difference between their CSGO vs CS2 version.

Anti-Cheat

When it comes to anti-cheat in CS2 vs CSGO, not much has changed yet. The topic of anti-cheat is pretty sensitive as of right now, due to a lot of cheaters appearing in 20k+ elo premier matches. All we know is that Valve is constantly working on new improvements to the anti-cheat system in CS2, and we hope to see some big improvements and changes to combat cheaters soon.

CS2 vs CSGO is a big topic, and while we’ve covered most of it here, there are a ton of changes between the two versions. The best way to learn more about them is to discover them by playing the game, so hop on some CS2 to check some of the biggest changes from CS2 vs CSGO yourself!