"Where is the Love?"… how about "Where is the fun?", and if I hear those ubiquitous Black Eyed Peas spit out anymore dull drivel I may just have to deploy my own covert mission, a mission to destroy my copy of Counter Strike.

And will I be sad? Hell no! This is by far the worst multiplayer title I've ever played (well, this year anyway), and confusingly… it's not really the fault of the game itself.

Now wipe that perplexed slightly angry look from your face… Yep, what I've just said makes no real sense, well as little sense as the latest Black Eyed Peas incarnation, but nevertheless it's completely true - for the love of God why won't those gangster pop tarts just "shut up, shut-up" - Arghhh… they're at it again!

You see readers, Counter Strike is an almost carbon copy of its legendary PC brother, and that's its downfall. The concept is the same: compete online against up to 16 AI or human foes as either a specialised counter-terrorist.

Sounds great doesn't it? But unfortunately this XBox rendition will probably leave you feeling cold and used, qualifying itself as yet another substandard PC port to reach the XBox - and just in time for Christmas too!

Counter Strike sucks according to Clarkestar.

We've all owned or at least played the original, some of us have even lost girlfriends over it.

After all, the PC's edition of Counter Strike is a fantastic game - combining edge-of-seat adrenaline fueled online action with superb gameplay - so it's of little surprise that it boasts one of the largest online communities despite donning wrinkles a young Cranky Kong would be proud of.

But this is essentially where the problem lies. The XBox version is devoid of any innovation, OK so there are seven new maps "exclusive to XBox" to tinker with, but does this justify its £39.99 price tag?

I think not, especially when one considers the lack of any one-player campaign. Shooting down scores of predictable AI bots will soon present itself as a perpetual chore rather than any real challenge.

Then there are control issues to contend with. (I'm still to be convinced on whether the XBox controller is compatible with fast multi-player FPS blood-fests)

In Counter Strike the controls are a) too sensitive and b) too sluggish. Now if we mix to this rather unorthodox cocktail an extremely fast frame rate then we find ourselves with a concoction perfectly suited to inducing serious bouts of motion sickness - does anyone remember TimeSplitters II?

If, like me, you've spent many a summer's day playing Counter Strike instead of following your Mother's sound advice on getting some fresh air then you will undoubtedly discover that finding fun here is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone.

Overall, Counter Strike isn't a bad game, just not worthy of a re-release, especially one that costs the best part of 40 quid. You'd be better off buying a budget copy of Half-life for the PC (for under a tenner) and then downloading Counter Strike for free.

3/10

Clarkestar