Counter-Strike, the seminal first person shooter from Valve, has been around for more than 20 years now. Released in 1995, it was originally designed for use with a keyboard and mouse before eventually making its way to controllers and, later, touch screens. On this front, the game’s developers have taken great care in ensuring that CS:GO can still feel fresh and offer an immersive gaming experience even on devices that weren’t originally built for video games. This is due, in part, to the game’s continued development for newer platforms, but mainly because of the work Valve have done in customising the game to work perfectly even on low-powered devices.
While it’s always fun to just run around with a mouse gunning down enemies, the real appeal of Counter-Strike comes from its use of various skins. These are decorative elements that can be applied to the game’s characters and buildings that, when enabled, give the skinned object special rules or behaviours. Much like the way in which skins work in real life, using them in Counter-Strike allows you to personalise your gameplay experience and add a touch of colour and personality to your actions and in-game items. Below, we’ll list the five most popular and most useful skins for Counter-Strike, along with some suggestions on which ones to buy.
Spectator Mode
If there’s one thing that CS:GO is lacking, it’s an option to play as a Spectator. This mode allows you to take a step back and watch the action as you might from the public eye. As a spectator, you can give orders to your own team, watch them run around and gun down enemies, and even join the action yourself by applying a skin to a character. While this feature is certainly fun, it can also be a little bit frustrating. Not being able to directly influence the outcome of a game can make it tense and potentially even more exciting when you’re involved in the action. Unfortunately, for those looking to take a break from the action, Spectator mode doesn’t offer much beyond giving orders and enjoying the carnage from the sidelines.
Demolition Mode
One of the most popular skins for Counter-Strike is Demolition Mode. As its name would suggest, this skin transforms the game’s characters into explosives-laden scientists who want to blow up everything in their path. While the setting for this particular skin might be a little unrealistic (no one really wants to live in a block of flats made of sand), it makes for some really cool gameplay. The game’s primary mode, which allows you to run around and gun down enemies, becomes the equivalent of a real-life demolition derby, with the participants turning into blasters-wielding, rocket-launching badasses. This is made possible by the game’s physics, which sees bullets and other projectiles behave more like real World explosives, leading to the occasional explosion or implosion.
Operator Mode
Another popular skin for Counter-Strike is Operator Mode. Similar to the Demolition Mode skin, Operator Mode transforms the game’s characters into caped crimefighters who work for the law. As the name would suggest, this skin allows you to perform medical interventions and save people’s lives. When using this skin, your character assumes a blue and white costume with a yellow star on his chest. While fun to use, Operators aren’t exactly the most useful of skins, as you aren’t given much in terms of options beyond performing certain actions. Also, because the game tracks your health with an in-game gauge, being given an Operator skin won’t really change how you play the game. The only real difference is that, when you die, you’re no longer revived by your friends like in most other shooters.
Hazard Mode
Hazard Mode, the fifth most popular skin for Counter-Strike, changes the entire game’s terrain into a chaotic mass of bouncing balls of all different sizes and shapes. This is a great option for those who want a change of pace from the usual white-knuckle action of other first person shooters; it makes the game more like an artillery barrage than a series of gunfights. The balls, which are known as grenades in real life, explode upon contact with something solid, causing damage and possibly even more confusion. While not as useful as the other skins listed here, it’s still a versatile option that can be fun to use.
Pistol Packaging
Another great thing about Counter-Strike is that, in addition to giving you various skins to select from, the game also allows you to decorate the weapon you use to shoot enemies. One of the most popular ways of doing this is via the game’s Pistol Packaging skin. Similar to the other skins on this list, this option changes the outfit of the character you’re using the pistol to (in this case, the professional hitman known as John Wick). It really is a shame that, in order to use this option, you need to find a character that already has the default outfit (shirt, jeans, and shoes), as you then have the option of trying on the different packaging. It would be much simpler if there was only one set of clothes for all characters.
There, now you know the basics of what are the most popular skins for Counter-Strike. We’d like to remind you that choosing the right weapon and learning how to use it correctly are both very important. As always, if you found this article valuable, make sure to read our guides on how to aim and fire your weapon correctly. While these articles are definitely not skin-specific, they will help you attain perfection in using the various weapon skins. Good luck out there.