There was a time when new operations in CS were few and far between. Now, they drop much more often, and the release is usually unexpected. On September 22, 2021, right before the upcoming Major, the devs brought us yet another huge update. It changed the game’s balance and featured a new operation, Riptide. If you want to read about how the new patch changed CS:GO, check out this post.
Now, the CS.MONEY Blog is going to take a look at what the new operation offers us, how it differs from previous ones, and whether Riptide is worth the money.
New service medals
No changes here. Valve continues to encourage players to complete a number of missions, with stars awarded for their completion. You can spend the stars on various items. Also, the acquisition of stars will allow you to upgrade your medal and show everyone just how successful you are in the operation.
Private matchmaking queues
Now, this is where the fun begins. Valve has finally realized that if users just want to casually play CS:GO with their friends, they previously had to go to other platforms to do so. Of course, there was also the option where one player hosts a queue on their computer, but that was terribly inconvenient. In this case, the host is always at an advantage because of no ping on his PC.
In Operation Riptide, you can create private queues to play with your friends. Just invite them using a special code, and then you can run the game on the official Valve servers with equal conditions for all. Another novelty is matchmaking for members of Steam Groups.
New missions & rewards
In this particular regard, the situation is quite deplorable. The missions aren’t exactly diverse. As usual, players need to farm frags with certain guns, win matches in the Premier mode, visit the Danger Zone, and so on. If you want to achieve the coveted 100 stars and unlock the last platinum medal, you have to really give it a ton of effort.
Nevertheless, the devs stated that there are new types of missions. We get to explore graffiti missions, Guardian missions, Arms Race missions, and more. However, there’s nothing new among the first week’s tasks.
But you can now spend your stars on some pretty interesting skins. We got new operatives (spoiler: there’s a cool reskin of agent Guerilla from CS 1.6). The question around agents in diving suits remains open: those character skins would look pretty out-of-place somewhere on Dust 2, wouldn’t they?
More detailed info on the operation’s rewards will appear on our blog very soon. For now, we can safely state that the new agent skins look much cooler than those from the past operations. With that said, we can probably tolerate a little bit of mission farming. On the whole, even two skins can pay off the money spent on the operation, judging by the previous events.
We also received the opportunity to directly buy a weapon finish for stars. For an M4A4 | The Coalition, you’ll have to fork out all 100 stars. Is it worth it? Hardly. You’ll definitely want to get something else from the collection. By the way, you can buy more stars for $0.79 each. It’s pricey, but if you can afford it, you get to buy some great weapon looks.
New Deathmatch and Short Competitive modes
Dota 2 has long had a Turbo Mode, where matches are almost twice as quick. Now, there’s a similar mode in CS:GO: you need to win in a total of 9 rounds to win the whole match. Not a bad way to warm up, and your performance doesn’t necessarily have to be flawless. Well, except it affects your rank in the game. Who do you think is going to go farming ranks in this mode?
Good old Deathmatch has become more flexible. Now, you can choose between Team Deathmatch (you win if your team gets more points), FFA Deathmatch, and Classic Deathmatch.
Riot Shield
Yeah, yeah, that’s right. CS:GO now features a shield. In CS 1.6, it was a real pain in the neck. It was banned in tournaments, and you couldn’t buy it in some modes as well as on some servers. No need to worry though: the shield is only available in Casual Hostage map groups. In case someone actually plays them, this innovation could entail some amusing in-game situations. The gameplay will become more fun.
Should I purchase Operation Riptide?
The new CS:GO operation is priced at $14.99. For an average player, that’s a pretty serious investment, considering that the game is shareware. But let’s go through the benefits we get if we pick all 100 stars in the operation. We can buy 4 Tier-1 agents. Each costs 25 stars, but that’s certainly money worth spending. Also, they look much cooler than the characters from the previous operations.
The ability to play in private queues is another great bonus. Most likely, it will be preserved after the end of the operation, as was the case with the Premier Mode. Either way, it’s nice to be among the first players to try it. However, let’s not forget that the long-awaited 128 tickrate is still missing from matchmaking.
Operation Riptide offers a bunch of amazing weapon skins and badass stickers. They look much more convincing than those from Operation Broken Fang.
The developers added a few new maps, but if you’re into hardcore gaming, you’re unlikely to dig these non-competitive locations. On the other hand, a break from matchmaking never hurts, right?
Should you buy the operation? Absolutely! It’s worth the money, and it will pay off very quickly if you like doing missions alone and with friends. Not only will you get a good-looking coin for your inventory, but you’ll also be able to enjoy many cool skins. The latter might actually be worth much more than a Riptide battlepass.
Very soon, we’ll post even more interesting and exciting news, as well as share with you a closer look at the contents of the new operation case, sticker capsules, and more.
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