Though NiKo only started playing CS2 after the game’s global release on Sept. 27, he already has a strong opinion on Vertigo, one of the seven maps that is a part of the Active Duty pool.
“Vertigo was fucking shit in CS:GO and somehow got way worse in CS2,” the G2 superstar complained on Twitter on Oct. 6. Curiously, Vertigo was one of the maps that was the least modified upon the release of CS2, so fans were wondering what Valve has done that made NiKo dislike it so much.
Although we won’t know unless NiKo himself elaborates further, there’s one theory in particular that made sense to me as I’ve played quite a bit of Vertigo matches in CS2 already—how awful it is to distinguish sounds on Vertigo.
“I feel like Vertigo and Nuke sounds are just so muffled from everything due to elevation,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “You can’t tell an A ramp rush is happening until they are already up scaffolding. The sounds are already so quiet and with utility raining down it makes it even harder, which I’d guess Niko is referencing for why it is even worse.”
I have a good headset but I always struggled whenever I played Vertigo or Nuke because I couldn’t tell where the sound cues were coming from. Somehow, this got worse in CS2 and I feel like I have to play more aggressive positions or else I’ll just get caught by surprise.
We don’t know yet if Valve wanted the sounds to work like this or if the developer is still figuring out how to balance it in CS2. As the fan pointed out on Reddit, Nuke and Vertigo are different from the rest of the maps because of the way they’re designed. In Vertigo, the areas where the Terrorists naturally have control are on the first floor, but they must attack the upper floor as the bombsites are located there.
Maybe if Valve enhances the sounds of Vertigo and Nuke a little, it’ll make these maps a lot more pleasant to play as you’d be able to tell where your enemy is coming from.
