Image: Valve
Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 beta patch notes offer a sneak peek at upcoming content for the sequel.
The limited beta for Counter-Strike 2 continues to receive new updates and changes, as Valve tinkers with various maps and features in anticipation of the sequel’s upcoming launch. The beta’s latest update has added two new-but-old maps in Office and Nuke, along with an unexpected feature: grenade inspections.
The big ticket item of this update is the new Casual playlist. Anyone who isn’t into Competitive Mode can now try out Casual mode for a little leisurely fun. There is another reason to check out Casual mode, which is to check out the newly refurbished Office map added in this update. Office is not playable in Competitive mode, so you’ll have to try Casual and Deathmatch to see all the changes and graphical updates the classic map has received.
Mirage has been removed from the limited beta with this update, but Nuke has been added in its stead for Deathmatch, Casual and Competitive. As one might expect, both Office and Nuke aren’t significantly different from their appearances in CS:GO. The main differences seem purely aesthetic with better lighting all around, aside from a few missing potato chip bags in Nuke. Nobody misses those, right?
An unexpected new feature added in this update is a new animation for players to inspect grenades. Players have always been able to inspect weapons in CS:GO, but never grenades - suggesting that Valve plans to monetise these items with new weapon skins in the sequel. For now, you’ll just have to use the feature to inspect how much of a visual upgrade these grenades have received.
The rest of the patch notes for this update run down standard gameplay polishes, mostly aimed at audio and movement. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we can all experience the product of all these beta tests when Counter-Strike 2 gets a full release.