New Operation Hydra is set to change some things up for CSGO players, right now until September. This new event contains three totally new play modes, seven new Workshop maps, a COOP campaign mode, a new Hydra Case featuring a lot of community-sourced weapon skins and of course, a new operation coin to display next to your avatar.
The game modes are where the most unique changes have been made here. There are three to check out and each of them really shakes up the standard CS:GO formula.
Wingman – classic 2 vs 2 skirmish fight on single bombsite maps, effectively making it a tug-of-war between offensive and defense.
Weapons Expert – takes the standard 5 vs 5 best-of-30 match formula. Each avaiable weapon can only be purchased once per player. If you die, your weapon is gone, so expect to see players hunting anyone with better gun like an AK47 or an AWP.
War Games – is made up of six different mini-game modes.
- Heavy Assault Suit – gives you a big, defusal suit, making you the centre of attention (tank player) for enemy.
- Headshots Only – headshots only mode.
- Hunter-Gatherers – lets you steal enemy dog tags from fallen players, as well as recover your own lost tags for points.
- Stab Stab Zap – is a close-quarters fight with a knife, a Zeus taser and whatever grenades you can afford.
- The Flying Scoutsman – low gravity mode with nothing but an SSG08 and a knife.
- Trigger Discipline – punishes you for poor marksmanship by dealing damage each time you miss. Victory will rely on being as accurate as possible and baiting enemies into taking risky shots.
In terms of maps, there are four brand new ones and three returning choices, spread across the bomb defusal and hostage rescue modes. These include old favourite ‘Insertion’ mode, a rescue mission set in a Swedish countryside area. It gives the counter terrorists a choice of 4 spawn points meaning the terrorists have to be prepared for an assault from every angle.
The Guardian Campaign is a set of challenges, chosen by you, which enable you to earn ‘Guardian XP’ points. This can be spent on Operation Stars and Operation Weapon Drops.
You can check out all of the new Operation Hydra features at the official Counter-Strike website.
CS:GO Hydra Update Patch Notes – Tuesday May 24th
OPERATION HYDRA
- Operation Hydra Events – unique game modes that are available for a week at a time:
- WAR GAMES: a set of twists on classic gameplay, including a special heavy armor, low-gravity sniping, team deathmatch, and more.
- WINGMAN: 2v2 competitive match on single-bombsite maps, a quick best-of-16 rounds, and a special Wingman skill group.
- WEAPONS EXPERT: Once you buy a weapon, you can’t buy it again for the rest of the match. 5v5 best-of-30 match with a special Weapons Expert skill group.
- Four new and three returning community-created maps, featured in weekly Hydra Events and available in regular matchmaking for casual and competitive play.
- Austria, Shipped, Lite, Thrill, Agency, Insertion, Black Gold.
- Operation Hydra All Access Pass ($5.99) includes:
- Guardian Mission campaign, with 30 missions that can be completed (and replayed) at your own pace.
- Access to Operation weapon drops and the new Operation Hydra Case.
- Operation Hydra Challenge Coin upgradable to the new Diamond level.
- Operation Hydra Journal that tracks your stats and provides friends leaderboards.
SOUND
- Increased fidelity of 3rd person weapon sounds when HRTF is enabled.
- Made minor mix adjustments.
GAMEPLAY
- Reduced the UMP45 damage at range to bring the weapon more in line with the SMG category (rangemodifier reduced from .85 to .75).
- Players no longer respawn when upgrading to a bonus weapon in Deathmatch.
- Added support for hostage maps in Demolition (for local/community servers.)
- Improved radar spotting when mp_teammates_are_enemies is enabled.
- Made Zeus show in pistol holster for players with a Zeus and no pistol.
- Fixed bullets not penetrating “teammates” when mp_teammates_are_enemies is enabled. (Thanks ALH-R!)
SERVER OPERATORS
- Changed sv_disable_motd: default changed to 1.
- Changed convar mp_free_armor settings: 0 = none, 1 = kevlar, 2 = kevlar + helmet.
MAPS
- Tweaked layouts of the following maps to better fit War Games and Wingman: Safehouse, StMarc, Lake, and Bank.
Canals:
- Moved CT spawn forward.
- Added a bench at A for easier T access.
- Fixed clip brushes poking through top flight of tunnel stairs.
- Added clips to some lamp posts where player could get stuck.
- Adjusted fade distances on some props.
- Fixed visible nodraw seen from arch.
Rialto:
- Added new map for Guardian and 2vs2 mode.
Dizzy:
- Added new map for Flying Scoutsman mode.
