Counter Strike 2: New Smoke Physics Explained

Counter Strike 2 is indeed real, and it’s bringing with it a bunch of changes from the first game. One of the biggest changes that have players jumping from their seats in anticipation is the change to smoke physics.

There are multiple changes made to how smoke works in CS:GO 2. For starters, not only is the smoke volumetric, but it also interacts with lighting in the game now. Furthermore, smoke can now grow to fill specific enclosed spaces naturally, and it’s possible to manipulate its shape using either bullets or grenades.

Below you’ll find everything you need to know about the change in CS:GO 2 smoke physics and how it’ll affect the game.

Smoke Grenades Create Volumetric 3D Objects

The first and perhaps worst change for you if you’re someone with a lower end PC is that instead of smoke grenades releasing a thick smokescreen that simply changed the color of a specific area, in Counter Strike 2 they create volumetric 3D objects that can actually interact with the world.

Although this is really good news for a lot of players and adds to the immersion of the game by a huge degree, it also makes it so players with lower end PCs are now at a high risk of experiencing FPS drops. Of course, Valve has always been good at optimizing its games, but this will without a doubt be a taxing feature.

One major upside, however, is that because of this feature, every player will now see the same smoke regardless of what angle they look at it. This removes any one way smoke advantage some players might have unfairly gotten before. If this all wasn’t enough, the smoke is also able to react to light, with its color changing depending on how bright or dark the area it’s deployed is.

The Smoke Can Now Be Manipulated

In addition to being visually different, the smoke that’s released from smoke grenades in CS:GO 2 is also able to interact with the environment in interesting ways. 

The one thing we want to point out is how the smoke is now able to grow to fill specific enclosed spaces naturally, similar to how it works in Riot Games’ Valorant. So if you throw a smoke grenade in an enclosed hole in the ground, the smoke will naturally grow to cover the entire hole almost instantly.

Furthermore, and here’s where things get really interesting, the shape of the smoke can now be manipulated using bullets and grenades. While grenades temporarily dissipate the smoke around the area where the grenade’s blast happens, bullets form head sized holes every time they’re fired.

As you can imagine, this has the potential to fundamentally change how Counter Strike is played. Instead of spraying and praying every time you see some smoke, you’ll have to stop and consider the fact that the players on the opposite side will be able to see you through the smoke now.

Perhaps the strategies most affected by this will be the ones that involve throwing a smoke grenade near the bomb and then planting, or even fake planting. Because bullets and grenades form holes in the smoke, these players will be at risk of being exposed.

What Does This Mean For the Future of CS:GO

Now, these new smoke physics have had the CS:Go fandom divided. While some players think it’s a good change all around, others are opposed to some of the changes. Us? Well, we understand both sides.

For starters, having the smoke be more dynamic and adaptable is nothing but amazing. It adds to the immersion and opens a window of new strategies for players to test out.

However, the one thing that has most players scratching their heads is the way things interact with the smoke. Many players are of the opinion that having literally everything counter smoke grenades will pretty much render the useless.

Additionally, with how the bullets form a rather sizeable hole in the smoke, wouldn’t that mean in high level games whoever shoots through the smoke first loses? After all, they’ll be giving away their location to the players on the other side of the smoke, right? Of course, as time goes on, many players, including our professional Eloking players, will come up with various strategies to adapt to the changes made to smoke.