Counter-Strike 2 has done it again with its glorious-looking water

Counter-Strike 2 Ancient water
(Image credit: Valve / YouTube via Virre CSGO)

Counter-Strike 2 is being praised once again for its gorgeous-looking water, and I can see why. 

Just last month we were surprised to learn that Counter-Strike 2 has some of the best water ever seen in a game, and now, almost three weeks later, I can confirm that this is still the case and that it isn't limited to just sewer water. Let me explain. Twitter user skilful has shared a video of what looks like Counter-Strike 2's Ancientmap, specifically an area where players need to walk through fairly deep swamp water. 

Despite probably lying stagnant for a long time now, developer Valve has once again made the water on this map look absolutely stunning. We're not the only ones that think so, either. Just check the replies to Twitter user ParametricPalta, who quote retweeted the original video, saying: "Valve devs casually dropping the most insane graphics tech every 5+ years without even making it the main thing about their games."

Other Counter-Strike 2 players have seen this as a potential problem, like Twitter user kenyou_digit, who replied to the above tweet with: "My CPU seeing this," along with a clip of Kiryu from Yakuza 2 slamming his fist on a desk and storming out the room, which feels appropriate. If your PC is up for the task though, you're in for a treat when playing the Ancient map in Counter-Strike 2. And besides, you can probably always crank the settings down if your CPU is actually struggling. 

The version of the game you're seeing above comes from the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test, which has been ongoing since March. Valve has promised players that the full game is set to release in "summer 2023," and since we're already in August, it's got to be right around the corner. At the time of writing, there's no firm release date yet. 

While we wait to hear more about Counter-Strike 2, find out what else you should be playing with our best shooter games list. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at 12DOVE before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

Read more
A thumnail crop of Splitgate 2 key art showing orange and blue portals and teams of shooters running between them
Splitgate 2 improves on the FPS' intoxicating blend of Halo and Portal: "You no longer have to get hung up on which button you meant to press"
Two Splitgate 2 players shooting each other in a new map
Splitgate 2 gets new gameplay trailer at The Game Awards, and the 4v4 portal shooter has never looked so ridiculously fun
Best games like Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 has some of the most accurate rivers in video games, according to the video game geographer who charted Skyrim and Zelda's waterways
Best free Steam games - Doom Eternal image showing a large armored enemy with a gun for an arm
25 Best free Steam games you can play right now
One of the new Vault Hunters in Borderlands 4
Borderlands 4 will add swimming, and fans don't seem impressed: "You could also swim in Turok on the N64, big whoop"
A collection of Splitgate 2 screenshots as part of GamesRadar+'s Big in 2025 roundup
"We don't want to just be the 'Halo meets Portal' team": Splitgate 2 wants to to evolve beyond its inspirations
Latest in Games
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Death Stranding 2 Collector's Edition
Hideo Kojima reveals Death Stranding 2: On the Beach release date, and the Collector's Edition includes exactly what I predicted it would
Kingmakers
Kingmakers is a strategy game about taking on medieval armies with a gun, but its devs thought the giant mech was too much
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
A misty, forested mountainside in Prologue: Go Wayback!
PUBG creator's wilderness survival game actually draws inspiration from an unexpected place - a whole raft of zombie games like DayZ, Project Zomboid, and Left 4 Dead
Latest in News
Balatro
Balatro creator started "properly playing the game myself about a week before launch" and had "a pretty emotional moment" where he realized it's "actually fun"
Death Stranding 2 Collector's Edition
Hideo Kojima reveals Death Stranding 2: On the Beach release date, and the Collector's Edition includes exactly what I predicted it would
Kingmakers
Kingmakers is a strategy game about taking on medieval armies with a gun, but its devs thought the giant mech was too much
The Witcher 3 lead says "not many games" were trying to match the RPG back in 2015, and that meant "there was a risk" to making it in the first place
The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Witcher 3 dev says his new vampire RPG Blood of Dawnwalker wants to challenge genre conventions, but only if "we're changing them to actually achieve some goal"
Daredevil recap: The Defenders
Marvel fans are discussing which of the Netflix series characters would have survived the Blip