The CS2 beta has been out since March 2023, and although players are mostly happy with what Valve has done thus far, many players feel that the devs exaggerated CS2‘s colors, especially in terms of brightness, and prefer what’s currently in place in CS:GO.
Valve has made major brightness adjustments in all CS2 maps—from touchstone to overhaul upgrades. Personally, I think they look beautiful, but players have been making complaints that the maps look cartoonish and too similar to what Riot Games has done in VALORANT.
One player said that they feel more dizzy playing CS2 than playing CS:GO, and that his eye gets strained due to the brightness. Another player commented that he gets headaches after playing CS2 “for a while”.
This change is affecting gameplay, as players feel that the bright spots in CS:GO got exaggeratedly brighter in CS2 and that the dark areas got even darker, which allows some players to nearly camouflage depending on the agent skin they’re using.
Gameplay aside, players also think that skins look worse than they do in CS:GO after the brightness adjustments.
“I think the guns look extremely washed out and all skins have basically lost all their appeal and personality,” one player wrote. “Skins also appear to have wax applied on them, I hope they allow creators to update their skins because it’s ugly right now,” another player said.
CS2 is coming out sometime this summer, so Valve still has some time to listen to feedback and try to make adjustments where possible ahead of the worldwide release.
