CS:GO Beta - My Two Cents

As you gamers should be aware the beta for the latest addition to the Counter-Strike franchise went live on the 30th, there have been a large selection of people who have been badmouthing the game already within it's first few days of being live,

CS: GO features new maps, characters, and weapons and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust, etc.). In addition, CS: GO will introduce new gameplay modes, matchmaking, leader boards, and more.

Having had the privilege to play the game myself I can say that I think it's truly beautiful and Valve/Hidden Path Entertainment have done well in my eyes so far; and I've only seen one map and one game-type.

Sadly there is currently only one map available on the beta and this is the old favorite, Dust, the map features the same layout as previous CS however it has a few little extras to make it look fresh and up-to-date. One major edit to the map is that there is now a stairwell/passage which leads around from the ledge to the underpass which really throws you off-guard first time around.

I think the graphics are great for the game it is. CS players have never been raging and demanding super OMGWTFBBQPWN graphics, they love the style of the game, the feel of the mouse and the way it's played, having super high-tech graphics would just slow them down and make the game less wide-spread across the world in requiring shit-hot computers to run it...

The buy menu is beautiful and easy to navigate, obviously first time players will take a round or to to get their buys in sync but after a few games you should be good to buy your gear in a  matter of seconds.

The buy menu shows you what you have already on your person, it then splits into the weapon/equipment categories, you don't have to click specific little buttons just move your mouse in that direction and it'll highlight it. You can also "Auto Buy" which will equip you with the best items you can afford.

The 'Re-Buy Previous' is a nice thing to have at hand and allows you to re-buy everything you had the round previous (if you have the cash).

Two great little pieces of equipment have been added to the new game: rush-blocking molotov cocktails and decoy grenades that emit sounds of gunfire when thrown, both are excellent additions to the game and will in time make teams and players re-think strategies and tactics.

The game is fun, of course it is! The only downer I felt was that there was only one map available and one game type open on beta, other than that I thought it was well made so far and by 2012 when it's due for release it will be one of the best FPS out there.

Another excellent thing about this game is that cross-platform multiplayer has been confirmed between Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and PlayStation 3...This could prove to be very exciting in the future.

I will warn you now though, there is already a few shit-hot snipers about so when the game does go live I really think shit will hit the fan.

Below are a bunch of screen-shots of the buy menu/weapons so far, enjoy.

Here's one "Before & After" image I found on the web, it shows how pretty they've made it.

World Rowing Championships : Bled 2011

If you are not aware already my brother Charles is an athlete and rows professionally for Team Great Britain, however this post is not specifically about him I thought I would drop his name in for good measure,

This week the World  Rowing Championships were held in Bled, northwestern Slovenia. Bled is most famous for it's breathtaking, picturesque surroundings and the magnificent glacial Lake Bled. The lake is 2,120 m long and 1,380 m wide, with a maximum depth of 30.6 metres, I've included some pictures, it really is a beautiful place.

Bled attracts people from all parts of the world, regardless of age or profession (business, arts, science, sports, recreation). Its unique beauty and charm always makes visitors want to return. If you do happen to go to Bled be sure to check out the old castle, museum, art galleries and be sure to take photos!

So that's the location covered, now to get to the Rowing!

Team GB headed out on the 24th (I think) in preperation for the races which started 28th Aug and finished today (4th Sep).

I copied the crew lists off the GB Rowing site, below is the 68 Rowers sent in to represent us in the Championships. (Including links to profiles for athletes/coaches - Check them out!)

GB ROWING TEAM CREW-LISTS
2011 World Rowing Championships, sponsored by Samsung
August 28 - September 4, 2011
(listed bow to stroke plus cox)

OPEN - WOMEN

Pair

Helen Glover (Minerva Bath/Penzance/17.06.86)/
Heather Stanning (Army RC/Lossiemouth/26.01.85)

Coach: Robin Williams

Eight

Alison Knowles (Thames RC/Bournemouth/27.03.82)/
Jo Cook (Leander Club/Sunbury-on-Thames/22.03.84)/
Jessica Eddie (Univ of London BC/Durham/07.10.84)/
Lindsey Maguire (Wallingford RC/Edinburgh/15.01.82)/
Natasha Page (Gloucester RC/Hartpury/30.04.85)/
Louisa Reeve (Leander Club/London/16.05.84)/
Katie Solesbury (Leander Club/Oxford/02.09.82)/
Victoria Thornley (Leander Club/Wrexham/30.11.87)/
Caroline O'Connor (cox) (Oxford Brookes Univ BC/Ealing, London/25.04.83)

Coach: Nick Strange

Single scull

Frances Houghton (Leander/Oxford/19.09.80)

Coach: TBC

Double scull

Anna Watkins (Leander Club/Leek, Staffs/13.02.83)/
Katherine Grainger (St. Andrew BC/Aberdeen/12.11.75)

Coach: Paul Thompson

Quadruple scull

Debbie Flood (Leander Club/Guiseley/27.02.80)/
Beth Rodford (Gloucester RC/Gloucester/28.02.82)/
Annabel Vernon (Leander Club/Wadebridge/01.09.82)/
Melanie Wilson (Imperial College BC/London/25.06.84)/

Coach: Ade Roberts

RESERVES

Ro Bradbury (Leander/Banstead, Surrey/17.12.88)
Emily Taylor (Leander/Lincoln/28.06.87)

OPEN - MEN

Pair

Pete Reed (Leander Club/Nailsworth, Glos/27.07.81)/
Andrew Triggs Hodge (Molesey BC/Hebden, N. Yorks/03.03.79)

Coach: Jürgen Grobler

Four

Matthew Langridge (Leander Club /Northwich/20.05.83)/
Richard Egington (Leander Club/Knutsford/26.02.79)/
Tom James (Molesey BC/Wrexham/11.03.84)/
Alex Gregory (Leander Club /Wormington, Glos/11.03.84)

Coach: John West

Eight

Nathaniel Reilly O'Donnell (Univ of London BC/Durham/13.04.88)/
Cameron Nichol (Molesey BC/Glastonbury/26.06.87)/
James Foad (Molesey BC/Southampton/20.03.87)/
Alex Partridge (Leander Club /Alton, Hants/25.01.81)/
Mohamed Sbihi (Molesey BC/Surbiton/27.03.88)/
Greg Searle (Molesey BC/Marlow/20.03.72)/
Tom Ransley (York City RC/Cambridge/06.09.85)/
Daniel Ritchie (Leander Club/Herne Bay/06.01.87)/
Phelan Hill (cox) (Leander Club/Bedford/21.07.79)

Coach: Christian Felkel

Single scull

Alan Campbell (Tideway Scullers/Coleraine/09.05.83)

Coach: Bill Barry

Double scull

Matthew Wells (Leander Club/Hexham, Northumberland/19.04.79)/
Marcus Bateman (Leander Club/Torquay/16.09.82)

Coach: Mark Earnshaw

Quadruple scull

Tom Solesbury (Leander Club/Petts Wood, Kent/23.09.80)/
Stephen Rowbotham (Leander Club/Winscombe, Somerset/11.11.81)/
Bill Lucas (London RC/Kingswear/13.09.87)/
Sam Townsend (Reading Univ BC/Reading/26.11.85)

Coach: Mark Banks

RESERVES

Tom Broadway (Leander Club/Newport Pagnell/21.08.82)
Constantine Louloudis (Isis BC/London/15.09.91)/
George Nash (Cambridge Uni BC/Guildford/02.10.89)


LIGHTWEIGHT - WOMEN

Single scull

Katherine Copeland (Tees RC/Ingelby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees/01.12.90)

Coach: James Harris

Double scull

Hester Goodsell (Imperial College BC/London/27.06.84)/
Sophie Hosking (London RC/Wimbledon/25.01.86)

Coach: Paul Reedy

Quadruple scull

Steph Cullen (London RC/Bury, Lancs/27.11.80)/
Imogen Walsh (London RC/Inverness/17.01.84)/
Kathryn Twyman (OUWBC/Edmonton, Canada/29.03.87)/
Andrea Dennis (Imperial College BC/Oxford/03.01.82)/

Coach: Ben Reed

LIGHTWEIGHT - MEN

Pair

Peter Chambers (Oxford Brookes Uni BC/Coleraine/14.03.90)/
Kieren Emery (Leander Club/Newcastle-upon-Tyne/01.06.1990)

Coach: Peter Sheppard   

Four

Richard Chambers (Leander Club /Coleraine/10.06.85)/
Chris Bartley (Leander/Wrexham/02.02.84)/
Paul Mattick (Leander Club /Frome, Somerset/25.04.78)/
Rob Williams (London RC/Maidenhead/21.01.85)/

Coach: Rob Morgan

Single scull

Adam Freeman-Pask (Imperial College BC/Windsor/19.06.85)

Coach: Darren Whiter

Double scull
Zac Purchase (Marlow RC/Tewkesbury/02.05.86)/
Mark Hunter  (Leander Club /Romford, Essex/01.07.78)

Coach: Darren Whiter

ADAPTIVES - MEN

Arms & shoulders single scull (ASM1x)

Tom Aggar (Royal Docks RC/London/24.05.84)

Coach: Tom Dyson

Trunk & arms mixed double scull (TAMix2x)

Nick Beighton (Guildford RC/Yateley/29.09.81)/
Sam Scowen (Dorney BC/Wokingham/29.10.87)

Coach: Tom Dyson

Legs, trunk & arms mixed coxed four (LTAMix4+)

Pamela Relph (Birmingham Uni BC/Aylesbury/14.11.89)/
Naomi Riches (Marlow RC/Harrow/15.06.83)/
James Roe (Stratford upon Avon BC/ Stratford upon Avon/28.03.88)/
David Smith (Reading Uni BC/Dunfermline/21.04.78)/
Lily van den Broecke (cox) (Headington School BC/Oxford/08.01.92)Coach: Mary McLachlan

Just looking through this list I see names and crews that look more than promising! I've also had the privilege to meet a fair few of them on different occasions, a great line-up indeed.

So how did our bunch get on this time around?

Some excellent efforts from all athletes involved, GB snapped up a Gold medal on the first day of finals with the  lightweight men's pair, excellent work by Kieren Emery and Peter Chambers.

The woman's pair and men's eight came in with Silver medals in their races, the woman's pair was a close race with them missing out by eight hundredths of a second to the defending world champions, New Zealand. The eight's boat came in after Germany beating Canada for the silver, securing them a spot in the Olympics in 2012.

The woman's quad didn't manage to get through to the finals but they raced in the B finals and won, securing them a spot in the Olympics too.

Tom Aggar (an outstanding athlete) extended his reign in the arms-only single scull for a fourth year on the roll, excellent work there my man!

The woman's eight secured a bronze in the finals, the lightweight men's four sadly lost their title but managed to keep in the medals securing a bronze too.

Illness took it's toll on poor Marcus Batemen of the men's double scull placing sixth in their finals, they landed a silver in 2010, who knows what the lads could of pulled out the bag had Marcus not been ill. Still a great effort by the lads!

Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger of the women's double scull nailed it in their finals securing a second successive gold! Excellent work girls!

We also won gold in the lightweight women's quadruple scull, silver in the men's pair and a bronze from Alan Campbell in the men's single scull.

The closing day of racing (today/4th) saw some excellent results all round with an excellent win for the mixed adaptive coxed four, steaming ahead of those Canadians! (so I am told).

Last year's 4th place had nothing on this years men's four, the team pulled it together and made waves ahead of Greece in silver and Australia in bronze. This is were I give a shout out to Alex Gregory of the fours! Word is he checked out my blog one time, and is a good friend of my brother so yeah, Well done mate! You and the boys have done everyone proud, I've not yet got a picture as you literally only just won the race but I will be sure to do an entry tomorrow with pictures of those I haven't managed to get hold of.

Lightweight men's double scull also pulled in a gold in their finals too as well as the lightweight woman's doubles bringing in a bronze,

All in all a superb year for Team GB, injuries and illnesses wont hold us down! 

Britain won the overall World Championships with a tally of 105 points and topped the medal table. Get In!!

Will do a revamp and edit/addition tomorrow.

If you are into Rowing and wish to follow the sport here's a few places to look,

Twitter:

@GBRowingTeam

@WorldRowing

Websites:

http://www.worldrowing.com/

http://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing