You could say that Counter-Strike on the PC spawned an army of online multiplayer shooter fans. You could say that it was originally one of the most popular mods of our generation and one of a few that actually got turned into a full-blown game. You could say we were psyched to play it at PAX Prime the other week. You could say a lot of things actually, but none of them are particularly helpful, so let’s get our helpful on and give you a rundown of what you can expect this October from Valve’s return to their popular franchise.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive will be the latest first-person multiplayer shooter out of Valve, heading to the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN platforms this fall. Looking to offer players a Counter-Strike experience with 7 classic and 8 new maps, Global Offensive will ship with brand new characters and new game modes as well, to not only win over new fans, but punch you in the face with nostalgia for those that grew up on the antics of the infamous twitch shooter. A shooter that I unfortunately wasn’t weaned on, so my knowledge may not be as extensive as those who suckled on the breast of Counter-Strike for many a year.

On the show floor at PAX this year Valve were showing off one solitary map, the Dust map – or de_dust to the PC peeps of yesteryear – and even I could tell – someone who’s not that well versed in Counter-Strike – that this wasn’t the exact Dust map from the original. It’s largely similar for the most part, yes, but it’s not a carbon copy of the original and is more in tune with multiplayer shooter maps of recent years – more access points to and from each area (like from the tunnel on the far side), tighter passageways and so on.

As we stood amongst the crowd of sweaty convention goers, we embroiled in more than a few rounds of Bomb Defuse, which for those not well-versed on Counter-Strike, is essentially a game of attack and defend. Or in our case: defend, defend, defend. Taking up position as one of five Counter-Terrorist operatives, it’s our job to defend two points on the map and stop the Terrorists from rolling through us and planting a bomb there. If they plant it, you have to try and defuse it; it’s that simple.

At the beginning of each round players will have to spend the first few seconds in the “buy zone,” deciding what loadouts and equipment they want to take to the battlefield with. From there it’s a 5-on-5, one death per person battle to the death, so as you can imagine, each game has the potential to only last a few short minutes. Rolling from one round into the next though is seamless and the action is fast-paced, which will no doubt please those who want something quick and easy.

Valve has decided to maintain the integrity of Counter-Strike in every capacity too, opting to not slap iron sights into the game for the sake of it. Sure, scoped weapons do allow you to zoom in and some even allow you to just magnify what’s ahead of you, but for the most part, it’s all off-the-hip action. The key to success though is working as a unit and choosing the opportune time to sprint or crouch – seeing as the guns are a tad unwieldy when shooting whilst stood up or running. Crouch, which can be toggled on and off, is the way forward then. In all though, it feels very much like Counter-Strike did back in the day. Yes, I’m old enough where I can actually say that now!

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s fast-paced, twitch shooter action obviously has a place on consoles and Valve have done a fine job in transferring the predominantly PC title over to the controller, but that’s to be expected. With improved visuals that push Counter-Strike forward into the 21st century, tweaks to the classic Counter-Strike maps and some drop-in/drop-out intense combat, it’s clear that there’s a place for Valve’s beloved franchise on our consoles even amongst the slew of other first-person shooters out there... no matter how old it is!

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is scheduled for an October release on the Xbox Live Arcade.