CS2 Ruined the AWP

Counter-Strike 2’s release has felt… kinda bad, for many reasons.

But among all of CS2’s issues, compared to CS:GO, the AWP in particular just feels off. In fact, it's been so bad that even the best player in the world has considered a role swap.

But is the iconic sniper rifle actually worse in CS2 -- or is there something going on behind the scenes that’s affecting the game’s gunplay as a whole?

Written by: Niall McCrossan @Niallmccrossan)
Produced by: Niall McCrossan @Niallmccrossan) and Danielle Rosen (@_daniellerosen)
Thumbnail by: Emmanuel Adarkwah

Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).

[joshiemah]

i love watching an entire recap of the awp's lifecycle every time theres a change to the awp

[OKCMTB]

Simple’s double kill on nuke is insane. Even watching it at .25 I can’t figure out how he snapped to the second guy.

[gyrozeppeli]

The thing that made the AWP feels weaker is that peeker's advantage is significantly worse in CS2, you get destroyed by wide swinging much more than it was in CS2, so holding an angle with an AWP is harder and thus feels weaker

[jimflask]

The spinbot exploits a game mechanic that anyone could reproduce manually. You could do a 180 flick by shooting first, then flicking. CS2 got rid of that for good reason. It wasn't only an AWP problem. It was all the guns. That is why everything feels different because it is different.

[pythonx]

I can tolerate all the changes except for the inaccuracy when getting damage. Just why? Why it was needed? It is probably the most annoying thing I've ever experienced since I started playing CS back in 2015. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but even the OP from that Valorant game feels better. The OP, which was the biggest reason why I quit that game. I dunno man... feels awful.

[yar]

4:18 i love how niko clearly misses and then complains about the awp being bad

[Senault_]

I find its just a different style now, in go I found with 64 tick you could click then flick and the bullet would register where your crosshair was when the tick updated meaning you could click off someone but flick to them in time for it to hit, now however it shoots where you clicked it making flicks harder as you need to wait until the crosshair is lined onto the enemy before you click, reg is also off quite consistently

[Liasos]

0:47 Niko was about to say something really bad but realised Gaben was standing behind him

[rasputin]

People really need to get it through their heads. CS2 is not CSGO, its a new version of the game. As with new iterations, there are tweaking periods, and adjustment periods. You younger come ups are just experiencing what every CS to CS: Source to CS:GO player experienced. Growing pains.

[Bolt]

Summary sub tick has made bullets register more accurately therefore it feels off compared to the small delay you could capitalise on in 64 tick

[TheBlindGovernator]

starting at 0:32 first shots a miss (go frame by frame), second shot you can see Flom start to move even though the shots right on (which likely caused movement inaccuracy, even despite so little movement) EDIT: watching back the second shot it is entirely possible his teammate got the kill first from a server-side perspective. Then the next is Niko's clip, he's not even aiming at anybody when he fires. Then next clip Monesy flicks upwards above his target as he shoots which makes him miss.

[muntmunt]

I used to flick with AWP and be up close and usually entry with Awp, even in CS:GO. I didn't like the change from 10 to 5 in the mag, but i got used to it and relied more on my secondary afterwards for quick aggresive awping.
But CS2 has just completely sucked the fun out of AWPing.
It just feel so stiff to play, doesn't feel sleek at

[TheItalianoAssassino]

I still don't understand why they gave the AWP the California treatment with the magazine size.

[darkside]

Okay. How it’s explained with each frame and where the shot lands, I think Halo Infinite does the same with their sniper. Cause that sniper feels more off than any other in the franchise.

[danieldavis]

Friendly reminder that Valve basically* has infinite money, and that 128 Tick servers would have been a better solution to the problem that sub-tick was supposed to solve, it just would have costed more money.

[ZenosMind]

I can say, I got really good in CS2 but sometimes I feel like I can't hit anything with the AWP. I would hit the person first, the end up dying because I was confused whether I hit him or not. Turns out it either misses or tags, which shouldn't happen. It's a fucking AWP.

[richardcagle]

I wanna know why i can plant my feet, aim at someones mouth and tap fire an miss the first 4 shots an hit the fifth without moving at all. Where did the first 4 shots go? Its fuckin maddening and never happens in valorant. Its not me, its the fuckin game

[TheNoobMaster_]

I'd like to add my input as a 4k hour player.

In my opinion it all comes down to the shift in meta of the subtick. It isn't the awp that got worse, but other weapons got better. The way I see it is 64 tick headshots were hard and risky to land as models would appear out of sync, and counter strafes also appeared delayed. You needed more time and lesser distance to land a lethal shot. In contrast, awp always boasted of high accuracy at range and the ability to 1tap in the body (no need for inaccurate headshot attempts)
In addition, peeker's advantage was less heavy and awp didn't have damage inaccuracy. This made a stationary weapon such as awp quite more advantageous than in csgo than it is in cs2.
In cs2 the awp simply appears to be overkill for something other weapons can already do, and it is also pushed aback by its slow movement speed as well as impactful pricetag.
And last but not least, there was slight shock at launch as flicking has indeed become different. You now need to position your crosshair right in the body before shooting, whilst in csgo you would anticipate where the body would be in the next tick

[felipenachmanowicz]

I think the AWP is right in CS2, what is not right is still the peek advantage. Holding angles with AWPs are now a lot riskier. Remember in CS GO when you could shoot the awp and then retreat to another peek position? Now if you miss the shot, you dead. If you get the shot and there's another dude swingin', you also dead. Rarely you get the chance to retreat =/

[drk]

im really disappointed that the answer to this is "we will have to get used to it" or "a new generation of awpers will emerge". You can't flick consistently, you cant hold angles, movement with the awp is terrible so combat awping is gone, what is the AWP used for? to shoot walking opponents? and surprise off angles? that is EXTREMELY BORING. One of the beauties of CS was that it was the top of the food chain for FPS games, in the sense that if you were good at CS, you were basically good/decent at all FPS games and this whole rendering the previous frame, is taking that away cuz other games render the next frame. Even effin Overwatch renders the next frame. its like Valve hired someone whose never played CS to work on CS2