Counter-Strike Neo

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Counter-Strike Neo

Developer(s)	Valve Software
Publisher(s)	Namco (arcade)
Engine	GoldSrc
Release date(s)	2001
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Platform(s)	Arcade only

Counter-Strike Neo is a Japanese arcade adaptation of Counter-Strike, the original Half-Life multiplayer modification. It is published by Namco, and runs on a Linux system [1].

According to a recent article, significant changes in this version localised for the Japanese market include moving away from the traditional Terrorist versus Counter-Terrorist scenario, using more culturally-compatible player models (i.e anime), and incorporating a "karma system", which rewards players when they confront enemies head-on, and punishes players who snipe, hide, and camp - typical tactics of traditional Counter-Strike players. Some traditional Counter-Strike players in the West have scorned this version, merely deeming this as being specifically designed for "non-skilled" players, or suggesting the game is designed by a poor player himself.

In this sense, it is closer to other Heroic Bloodshed-based mods, such as The Specialists, Action Half-Life, Chitan: Hardboiled Killers, and The Opera.

The official website made available White Memories Flash novels, Flash videos made by developer Romancework that have a continuing storyline and even some portions of gameplay that loosely resemble Counter-Strike itself. Unfortunately for curious foreigners, they are only available in Japanese, and the website itself can be hard to navigate without a translation tool such as AltaVista's Babel Fish.

The weapon models used in CS:Neo are the same as those used in Counter Strike: Source, but the prices for some of the weapons have been altered. For example, the Galil and the Benelli XM1014 have had their prices increased by $500 and $200 respectively, while the FN M249 now costs only $4750.