Counter-Strike: Global Offensive bring back the past with de_cbble

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive bring back the past with de_cbble



A post on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive blog has revealed the challenges and changes the team over at Valve have endured with an upcoming update, which is bringing back an refresh of the imbalanced classic de_cbble. Originally favoured by the masochistic for its insanely CT-favoured design — it was common in tournament matches, for instance, for most teams to win 12 rounds or more on the CT half — Valve have been trying to make the map “more interesting and viable for more intimate 5v5 play”.

“For one, its paths to bomb sites were long and disconnected from each other, ending in tight choke points. This meant that teams were unable to react and change strategy mid-round. The same choke points that made it difficult to plant bombs made it near-impossible to re-take a site and defuse a bomb in time. The lack of strategic options made de_cbble’s gameplay feel limited and monotonous,” the blog post argues.

Comparing against versions of de_cbble from Counter-Strike: Source, the devs outline both bomb sites and the middle of the map, explaining how and why certain decisions are made. Cobble’s not the only map included: the dev team have also taken pains to outline the upcoming release of Overpass, a brand new map that, at this stage, looks to be favouring the quick and dirty gameplay similar to the Seaside matchmaking map.

It’s always interesting to see devs talk at length about map design, especially since it’s a topic where discussions remain relatively infantile. I always loved the challenge of charging through the B doors on de_cbble, trying to get that one bullet headshot on the awper. It’ll be a lot easier now, but I’m just happy the map’s coming back. There, however, is no official word on when Cobble and Overpass will be officially released.