Spiritual Successor to Counter-Strike Moves to Open Beta

New details have emerged for Tactical Intervention, an upcoming free-to-play first person shooter created by Minh Le, one of the co-creators of the original Counter-Strike. The game, which is based on a variant of the Source engine used in the Left 4 Dead series, is being hailed as the spiritual successor to Counter-Strike that Le has wanted for several years. After Valve put an immediate hiatus on all work for Counter-Strike 2, Le moved to Korea where he has been working on Tactical Intervention for several years. Currently in beta, the game draws many favorite features from the original game, as well as adding many new touches that promise to intensify gameplay.

Like Counter-Strike, each match will consist of two teams, and equipment can be purchased with in-game currency from a loadout screen before each round. Le has learned from other free-to-play first person shooters, which have a tendency to be reduced to simply “pay $X, win every match.” You can apparently “rent” weapons using money earned in the game for a few days to a few weeks, or purchase weapons indefinitely using real money. Another preventive measure to stop well over half of each team from camping for the entirety of the map is to limit the amount of snipers per team. There will be an option to add yourself to a list to be randomly chosen as a sniper in each round, meaning anyone who doesn't like sitting still for too long doesn't get stuck with it.



Other new additions include the ability to perform tactical rolls to dodge gunfire, blind firing to provide support, weapon attachments and melee options, and attack dogs. Unlike Call of Duty: Black Ops, the attack dogs in Tactical Intervention simply don't wander and kill as they see fit. Individual commands can be given to the dogs, such as guard an area, or search for specific players. VIP mode has returned as well, where one team is given the task of protecting a player in a limo, while the other team tries their best to assassinate the VIP. Protectors will ride in a special limo with the VIP, being able to shoot out of the windows while someone else drives. The assassins will also have vehicles of their own, as well as grenades and RPGs at their disposal.

All in all, it sounds rather promising, but Korean free-to-play games have a history of falling a bit flat after their release. One key difference, however, is that the main driving force behind this game has a good deal of knowledge of what makes a team based first person shooter fun. Should the game stay free-to-play and properly balanced, this could indeed find a solid following and redefine free-to-play shooters henceforth. While we wait for a proper release, you can check out several screenshots below, as well as sign up for the beta on their website.