Every Counter-Strike game, ranked
All 5 Counter-Strike games we hold, spanning 2000 to 2012: 4 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 10,309,097 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Counter-Strike (GamingPickz Score 8.8), the highest-rated entry we can score.
The Counter-Strike games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 4 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
4 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 4 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
4 best Counter-Strike games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Counter-Strike
Best for: The safest bet on this list, by weight of evidence
8.8GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceCounter-Strike at a glance Released 2000 Studio Valve Player sentiment 97% positive of 261,499 Critics 88/100 Price $9.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 4 declared features Raw 97% shrinks to 97.0 on 261,499 reviews, then blends with the 88 critic aggregate, giving 8.8.
What the data supports- 97% positive across 261,499 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- Multiplayer only. There is no solo mode to fall back on.
Counter-Strike: Source at a glance Released 2004 Studio Valve Player sentiment 96% positive of 193,040 Critics 88/100 Price $9.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 6 declared features Raw 96% shrinks to 96.0 on 193,040 reviews, then blends with the 88 critic aggregate, giving 8.7.
What the data supports- 96% positive across 193,040 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
- Cloud saves and cross-platform play, so progress follows you between machines.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- Multiplayer only. There is no solo mode to fall back on.
- 3
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Best for: Trying the genre without spending anything
8.4GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceCounter-Strike: Global Offensive at a glance Released 2012 Studio Valve Player sentiment 86% positive of 9,826,211 Critics No aggregate Price Free Steam Deck playable Install size 85 GB Accessibility 6 declared features Raw 86% shrinks to 86.0 on 9,826,211 reviews, giving 8.4. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Free to download, so trying it costs only time.
Worth checking first- Carries in-game purchases. Check what they cost before committing.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- Multiplayer only. There is no solo mode to fall back on.
- 4
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
Best for: Players who trust other players over critics
7.5GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceCounter-Strike: Condition Zero at a glance Released 2004 Studio Valve Player sentiment 91% positive of 28,347 Critics 65/100 Price $9.99 Steam Deck playable Install size Not stated Accessibility 4 declared features Raw 91% shrinks to 90.9 on 28,347 reviews, then blends with the 65 critic aggregate, giving 7.5.
Worth checking first- Players rate it well above critics, 91 against 65. Usually a sign it improved after launch, or that it delivers something reviewers undervalued.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Only the 4 Counter-Strike games with Steam review data can be scored and ranked. The complete series, scored or not, is charted in order below.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Counter-Strike game we can score is Counter-Strike at 8.8. The lowest is Counter-Strike: Condition Zero at 7.5, a 1.3-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2000 to 2012. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at Free. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Counter-Strike, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Counter-Strike entries on Steam:
- Playable: Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Source, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Platforms across the series
Where the 5 Counter-Strike games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 5 of 5 |
The Counter-Strike series, game by game
Every Counter-Strike game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2000
Play the world's number 1 online action game. Engage in an incredibly realistic brand of terrorist warfare in this wildly popular team-based game. Ally with teammates to complete strategic missions. Take out enemy sites. Rescue hostages. Your role affects your team's success. Your team's success affects your role. (Steam)
Reception
Counter-Strike is considered one of the most influential first person shooters in history. The series has a large competitive community and has become synonymous with first person shooters. As of August 2011 , the Counter-Strike franchise has sold over 25 million units. (Wikipedia)
- 2004
Counter-Strike: Source blends Counter-Strike's award-winning teamplay action with the advanced technology of Source™ technology. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Counter-Strike: Source was met with positive reviews from professional critics. Metacritic , a review aggregator website, awarded Source a rating of 88 out of a possible 100 based on 9 critic's reviews. Jeff Haynes of IGN said the game was "much more detailed, featuring many more polygons per model, bump mapping and other graphical enhancements" compared to the original. (Wikipedia)
- 2004
With its extensive Tour of Duty campaign, a near-limitless number of skirmish modes, updates and new content for Counter-Strike's award-winning multiplayer game play, plus over 12 bonus single player missions, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is a tremendous offering of single and multiplayer content. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Condition Zero received "mixed or average reviews". It has a score of 65 out of 100 on Metacritic , based on reviews from 33 critics. The game was praised for its AI and new maps, while it was criticized for being out-of-date following its lengthy development. (Wikipedia)
- 2012
For over two decades, Counter-Strike has offered an elite competitive experience, one shaped by millions of players from across the globe. And now the next chapter in the CS story is about to begin. This is Counter-Strike 2. (Steam)
Reception
Reception Counter-Strike: Global Offensive received generally positive reception from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic . Since the game's release, Global Offensive has remained one of the most played and highest-grossing games on Steam. The game has remained very popular since release, reaching a new record of 1. (Wikipedia)
- —
Counter-Strike Nexon: Studio
not scoredNo sourced description on file.
Reception
Counter-Strike is considered one of the most influential first person shooters in history. The series has a large competitive community and has become synonymous with first person shooters. As of August 2011 , the Counter-Strike franchise has sold over 25 million units. (Wikipedia)
Counter-Strike, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Counter-Strike vs other series
How Counter-Strike stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Counter-Strike vs Plants vs. Zombies, Counter-Strike vs Sniper Ghost Warrior, Counter-Strike vs Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Counter-Strike vs Bloons TD, Counter-Strike vs Brothers in Arms, Counter-Strike vs Call to Arms, Counter-Strike vs Day of Defeat, Counter-Strike vs Frostpunk, Counter-Strike vs Homefront, Counter-Strike vs Insurgency, Counter-Strike vs Killing Floor, Counter-Strike vs Kingdom, Counter-Strike vs Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike vs Outlast, Counter-Strike vs Payday, Counter-Strike vs Red Orchestra, Counter-Strike vs S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Counter-Strike vs Sanctum, Counter-Strike vs Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Counter-Strike vs Town of Salem
Common questions
How many Counter-Strike games are there?
We hold 5 Counter-Strike games in the catalogue, released between 2000 and 2012. 4 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Counter-Strike game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Counter-Strike rates highest at 8.8. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Counter-Strike games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2000 to 2012. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.