Arms Race

"Upgrade your weapon by eliminating enemies. Win the match by being the first player to get a kill with the Golden Knife" — Official slogan

In the game Counter-Strike 2, a new exciting mode called Arms Race has been introduced, which falls under the category of War Games. This mode was reintroduced in Counter-Strike 2 thanks to the update on February 6, 2024.

Overview

The concept of Arms Race mode is inspired by the classic mod Gun Game. The game takes place in a single round with unlimited respawns, where counter-terrorist and terrorist teams consist of 6 people each. The victory goal is the same for both sides: to prevail by killing an enemy with the Golden Knife.

On November 13, 2017, this mode was moved from Arsenal to the War Games section along with the Demolition mode. Maps for Arms Race have the prefix ar_ in their name.

Gameplay

The main objective of the game is to perform a kill with the Golden Knife. The game is not time-limited, there is no purchase menu, financial rewards are absent, and weapons disappear after a player's death and cannot be thrown away.

Players spawn in the arena already armed with weapons of the corresponding level and a knife. By getting two kills at the current level, a player moves to the next level and receives a new weapon, with the Golden Knife being the final stage. The first player to make a kill with the Golden Knife leads to his team's victory.

After death, a player instantly respawns with a short protection period to avoid being killed immediately upon respawning. Once the player starts moving, the protection is removed. Upon respawning, the player retains the weapon they were using before death, except in cases of knife kills or suicides, which will lead to a return to the previous weapon level.

With the update from September 21, 2021, players making a killing spree of more than 3 people receive a Medi-Shot. If applied, your health will be fully restored.

In this mode, it is possible to dominate opponents by arranging a "killing spree," successfully destroying 4 or more opponents. In such cases, all players see a message about the killing spree.

On November 11, 2014, there was a radical revision of the Arms Race scenario. The weapon set is now formed randomly, but the Golden Knife remains the last stage for victory. The order of weapon categories remains unchanged, which was updated on September 21, 2021:

• 1 Automatic sniper rifle
• 1 Sniper rifle
  
• 3-4 Rifles
  
• 1 Machine gun
  
• 3 Submachine guns
  
• 1 Heavy pistol
  
• 3 Pistols
  
• 2 Shotguns
  
• Golden Knife
  

To move to a new level, a player must make two kills with each type of weapon, except for the knife.

Team Leader Mechanic

In the "Arms Race" game mode, there is a unique feature called "Team Leader." This status is given to the player who has made the most progress in the game for their team.

When such a player fires shots, their model is surrounded by a glowing outline — red for the Terrorist team and blue for the Counter-Terrorist team. Moreover, in the first-person mode, a glow indicating the location of the team leader appears on the edges of the screen for all players who can see it. Until the update from February 17, 2016, during Operation "Wildfire," this glow could be noticed even through obstacles.

Killing the enemy team's leader immediately raises the level of the player who made the kill, unless that player is also the team leader.

If the leader of one team is ahead in progress compared to the leader of the opposing team, they receive the title of match leader.

Weapon Sequence

Each player starts the game with a submachine gun, specifically with the MP9, and for each kill receives a new, different weapon. The weapon set was predefined. If a player manages to make 2 kills with the same weapon, they advance two "levels" forward. This rule works for shotguns and AWP.

The sequence of weapon changes, grouped by types, is as follows:

• Submachine guns: MP9 → MAC-10 → MP7 → PP-Bizon → UMP-45 → P90 →
• Shotguns: Nova → MAG-7 → XM1014 → Sawed-Off →
  
• Rifles: Galil AR → FAMAS → AK-47 → M4A4 → SG 553 → AUG →
  
• Sniper rifles: AWP →
  
• Machine guns: M249 → Negev →
  
• Pistols: Glock-18 → P2000 → Tec-9 → P250 → Desert Eagle → Five-SeveN → Dual Berettas →
  
• Melee weapons: Golden Knife
  

Maps available for Arms Race in CS2

Currently, in CS2, you can only play on two maps in Arms Race mode, namely:

• Shoots
• Baggage