The same is easily true of your average Counter-Strike player. Since June 14, 1999, Counter-Strike has dominated the first person shooter genre, along with the lives of its players. So popular is the game, that hundreds of “clans” of die-hard PC players all across the country pay from $50 to $450 a month to feed the monkey on their backs. Tournaments have grown in size and funding until real money is at stake for the winners.

No doubt those dollar signs were what drove Microsoft to bring the PC title to the Xbox. Sadly, the transfer doesn’t really work for me. I consider myself an avid Counter-Strike fan from the PC side, and I regret to inform you that this version of Counter-Strike is flat-out terrible. The reasons to not buy this game are in amazing surplus. Even if you love Counter-Strike as if it were family, you are going to want to stay away from this version, and hope for better news when it comes out again.

First, the good news. The game works the same on Xbox as it does on the PC. You and your team equip yourselves with guns, grenades and the like, and march out onto the battlefield to complete your objective or eliminate the opposing team. That’s the good news – you’re still playing Counter-Strike.

And like the PC game, Counter-Strike on the Xbox still depends on cunning and flawless strategy. Any player who doesn't have great reflexes or aim will be ruthlessly crushed (and most likely mocked).

If, that is, they are playing via Xbox Live. If you play the game offline, mindless ‘bots are your only friends. They have an AI as plain as a white tee-shirt, and quickly grow boring with their repetitive tactics and uninspired play.

The maps in Counter-Strike have been tweaked to look... well, neater. When running around levels, you'll notice an added crate in an irrelevant area, or different tile layouts on the ground, which is a refreshing change if you've poured 500+ hours into the same maps in the PC version. All it does for me, though, is say "Wait! Before you hate me, look at the new graphics! Aren't they great?"

Yes, they're great. The graphics are both detailed and rich, smooth like a baby’s bottom. But in a bad game such as this, good graphics just make you wonder why the developers didn't focus their time on improving the crappy parts. Was it that important to be able to list "New improved levels!" on the back of the box and maybe sell a few extra copies to some chumps who don’t read ESCMAG reviews?

Something else that'll get the goat of serious players is the fact that you can’t do split-screen play. Only one Counter-Strike player per Xbox! If you want to have a big ol' Xbox Counter-Strike party, you're going to need one TV, one Xbox and one copy of Counter-Strike per player. Why? I don’t know. This may be a case where corporate greed is not the answer and corporate stupidity is. All I know is that it’s really irritating buying a multiplayer-based game and so much hardware to play with your friends in the same room.

After all, this is one of the premier team-based games of all time. When Counter-Strike first came out in 1999, it introduced a feature where if you died, you would remain dead until the round was over. This caused game play to be extremely intense. Well, some of that intensity is captured in the Xbox version, especially when teamed up with other players online. Without endless re-spawns, staying alive for the team takes on more importance. Using your different weapons and tools, each team can create an infinite amount of varying strategies. As mentioned before, a key aspect of the competition in Counter-Strike is the player’s reflexes and aim. When using the Xbox controller, you are effectively deprived of both until you master the controller. Without the ability to look around quickly, or carefully line up a shot at an opponent’s head, you're going to feel a bit frustrated and helpless every time you die. These are not good feelings when it comes to what’s supposed to be an entertaining product. You will be mocked and shamed.

If you've ever played a game of Counter-Strike, the players can be summed up in one word: competitive. The whole game of Counter-Strike is about the competition, about being alive when your opponents have been laid to waste. It’s about the rush of being relied on by your slain teammates to take out three terrorists and defuse a bomb, and succeeding.

When going head-to-head, if two players have equally powerful tactics, then the winner is going to be sharper-thinking of the two. This has caused 'cyber-athletes' to emerge, players with incredible hand-eye coordination, keen perception and fast reflexes. These game gods are in a category way above the majority of players, and they compete in tournaments where unbelievable amounts of cash are at stake (think $100,000). But one wonders if the same big money will be available to Xbox players. Personally, I doubt it.

The fact is that when you can no longer pull amazing stunts and kill three enemies in a row, the fun of the game is really gone. Counter-Strike is surely going to go down in history as a phenomena of epic proportions, a game that brought together people from all across the world for years upon years, just to shoot each other with realistic guns and then to make fun of each other. It's simplicity and elegant strategic structure are what truly sets it apart from its peers. However, what we have here is the defective offshoot of a superb franchise, a heart-breakingly depressing port. Stay away, and get your fix elsewhere.