This game is simply underrated and feels like a hidden gem within the Counterstrike series. This game is not to be mistaken with the original Condition Zero. This entry was an interactive, single-player game that had a variety of missions to complete around the world, with different scenarios, environments and objectives to be met. Missions are not related to each other in any way, so there is no storyline that is carried on through missions. In my opinion, some moments genuinely felt tense and dramatic! Scripted sequences in some areas of levels definitely added to this. Level design was nice. Overall, fun and I will replay it at some point again.

Pros
- A great game if you enjoy counter strike but it's a single player
- Has some cool Utility equipments that is not present in the CS PvP installments like Blow torch, Fiber optic camera, Radio controlled bomb and Briefcase
- Each stage design is unique and the theme usually represents a country
- Uses a scripted sequence to portray events

Cons
- It has no story that is if you're expecting one

A Very Sub-par, Single-player Focused Counter-Strike

Counter Strike: Condition Zero sounded somewhat appealing to me on paper - a single-player focused story that could weave a tale within the CS universe. What I encountered instead was a boring, repetitive story mode with predictable mission structure and brainless enemy AI.

The campaign, from what I played, is very disappointing. There doesn't seem to be any coherent plot, so you're just running around doing single-player missions for no reason at all. The diversity of tactics that fuel CS gameplay is so watered down that it frankly doesn't even exist. It plays like a poor version of an original "Call of Duty" title, but at least in those games you have some sort of consistent mission and theme. Here, its essentially a mission pack that proves itself to be fairly basic, boring, and asinine.

There is very little character design, and the levels are appear muddy and washed out. There are cliche hostage rescue missions, escort mission, and "sneak in unnoticed and take everyone out" type missions. The game is flavorless - it functions, but there is no soul behind it.

The audio is at least pretty good, even despite the other technical limitations. With more polish and work put into this title, it really could have served as a stand-out, smash-hit for Ritual, Turtle Rock, and Valve, but alas it was squandered and remains as a very forgettable CS experience. In the end, I would Not Recommend playing Counter-Strike: Condition Zero unless you are a very big CS fan and are desperate for some old-school content.

Final Verdict: 4/10 (Below Average)

A stark reminder of classic, and quite racist, views of terrorism. Bad people doing bad things because they're bad. Every single faction had the classic machete guy who just runs at you, shotgun guys who run at you, smg guys, rifle guys, sniper guys. You name it, really.

The level design is functional, however it can be unclear where to go at times, and the limitations of the goldsrc engine don't allow for the various environments to shine quite as brightly as the devs most likely wished. Also, shoutout to Belfast skyscrapers. I'm sure you can guess what sort of faction inhabit that area.

Complex CS Lore (It's just a cookie cutter selection of missions).

Not bad but you'll forget about it a week after being done with it.

Actually you know what the game is also racist as fuck now that I have looked back into it, even worse that the Call of Duty games, this game is shit.

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero - Deleted Scenes is a strange footnote in the Counter-Strike series. A collection of scenarios that feel simultaneously like a tech demo for goldsrc and a series of fanmade minicampaigns that they bundled together into a single package.
Deleted Scenes has no real narrative to speak of and the counter-terrorism ops the game sends you on have varying degrees of production value and length. Some have opening scenes setting up your helicopter crashing or simple debriefing before a mission, while others spawn you straight into the combat zone with a simplistic objective displayed on the HUD. Level design is haphazard. At times it feels like I'm making progress in unintended ways, except it's the only way forward. The level designers have a habit of placing terrorists behind walls or doors that you're bound to go past to try and catch you off guard which gets predictable and somewhat dull through the short runtime.
Enemies themselves fall into a few different categories you're probably used to, with different tactics they employ in combat and are decent, if a bit stupid. The satisfying gunplay propping up most of the titles enjoyment.
Graphically the game is on par with later goldsrc releases and at times looks quite pleasant. Voice acting is hit or miss and the soundtrack is fine when it's there.

Condition Zero - Deleted Scenes is a fine enough title to play through in an afternoon if you're bored and feeling up for some solid but simple first person shooting action. It feels good to play, but the overall package lacks the cohesive quality that Valve's other singleplayer offerings have.

By the time this game came out, it was already outdated. The engine was several years old, and it hadn't been upgraded in any noticeable way. But Counter-Strike was still beloved by many, so it had a potential to appeal to the fans.

Deleted Scenes does manage to bring over the physics of Counter-Strike, but with this clearly inferior AI and the difficulty level adapted for a single-player campaign (you wouldn't get far with the multiplayer CS's difficulty), it just feels nothing like the original.

The game tries to bypass the limitations of the engine by inserting a lot of scripted scenes. And it kinda succeeds at that. Every couple of minutes something happens to keep your attention. In many cases it's something emulating physics, like a guy falling out of a window (this particular trope is used ad nauseam). The locations are also diverse and vibrant enough to keep you wanting to see more. And the environments are very thoroughly developed, with many secrets and easter eggs, some of which are only accessible by using the noclip cheat. The two highlights for me were the poster of The End of Evangelion and the fish from the Simpsons' Mr. Sparkle commercial (Matsumura Fishworks). You can tell the devs put a lot of love into creating these levels. There are many unused rooms just beyond the boundaries. And the level design in general, although mostly linear, is very creative and often rewards your exploration.

But, ultimately, the core gameplay eventually does get tedious. You can't really do much with the almost complete lack of environmental physics and the dumb AI. No matter how much you stack on top of it, it's still gonna feel like an underwhelming experience. I'd say about the last 30% of the game I kinda forced myself to push through. It's also not helped by the occasional escort missions and bullshit enemies and their placement. Often you'll walk into a room and immediately get hit by a sniper or a rocket launcher (which will one-hit kill you), and the only way to combat them is to save-scum. And the last mission was insane in terms of difficulty.

Though as a complete experience the game was generally enjoyable, most of the time I kept asking myself: why am I not playing Soldier of Fortune 2 instead?