I especially miss this grey, gloomy, washed-out version…
I’ll speak for myself — I don’t know about you all — but where I grew up, Counter-Strike basically meant Assault. Even Dust2 wasn’t popular at all where I lived. We didn’t know any map other than Assault.
Back when “internet cafes” (cybercafes) were a thing, I used to go with friends and people I knew to play Counter-Strike. Sometimes we’d go in big groups and play 4v4 or 5v5… and we only played Assault, or Assault UPC (the best version).
We never cared whether the map was unbalanced, or gave a huge advantage to the Terrorist team, or any of that. For us, it was an unmatched kind of fun… breaking into the warehouse, trying to push in together from different entry points. Very few maps demanded such coordinated plans to breach the enemy’s area. It was Rainbow Six before Rainbow Six even existed.
Thousands of memories.. back when we used to play just for fun.. maybe not everything needs to be balanced or too perfect to enjoy a casual match with friends?
I miss cs_assault.. will always be the most iconic map in my eyes.