Valve blessed all CS:GO fans and players on March 22 by officially announcing CS2 and launching the beta.
On the day of release, the developers dropped three different videos, each one taking another aspect of the game under the scope. With them and a new blog post, we finally received an in-depth look at CS2.
As explained in the video released by Valve, the developers had three different approaches to maps in CS2: Touchstone, Upgrades, and Overhauls.
How did Valve improve CS2 maps?
The first category will see classic maps like Dust II and Mirage get a new look, mostly to “lighting and character read,” but won’t have any major changes itself, so it will be easy to shift strategies from CS:GO to CS2 on them.
Related: All differences between CS2 and CS:GO
The Upgrades category will see maps use new “Source 2 lighting, including a physically based rendering system that produces realistic materials, lighting and reflections.” And judging by the video, they look much better than their CS:GO counterparts.
The last category of maps improvements in CS2 is Overhauls. With this approach, Valve devs fully rebuilt the oldest maps in the Counter-Strike franchise, with the help of all Source Two tools and rendering features.
All CS2 maps revealed so far
Currently, Valve didn’t officially confirm the list of maps featured in CS2.
So far, the only two maps that have been available in the CS2 beta are Dust II, Mirage, Nuke, and Office. Other maps like Overpass have been featured in promotional videos and the rest was revealed by popular CS2 data miners like Gabe Follower and Aquarius. Here are all the maps we have spotted so far, and the approach Valve took when upgrading them.
Related: CS2: All leaks, and details on Counter-Strike 2
- Dust 2 (Touchstone)
- Mirage (Touchstone)
- Train (Touchstone)
- Nuke (Upgrades)
- Ancient (Upgrades)
- Italy (Overhauls)
- Overpass (Overhauls)
- Inferno (Unknown)
- Baggage (Unknown)
- Shoots (Unknown)
- Office (Upgrades)
- Canals (Unknown)
- Lake (Unknown)
- Shortdust (Unknown)
Based on all the info we had on CS2 thus far, the game is pretty much undone still. Valve is slowly revealing the maps and fixing them based on the community’s feedback while also addressing core gameplay aspects like movement mechanics.
Related: When is CS2 coming out?
The players hope that CS2 will release worldwide soon, but Valve has been as quiet as it can to maintain the mystery.
