Nuke, or de_nuke depending on how old school you are, has been a staple map in competitive CS:GO for a long time, even way back in CS 1.6, however it had a rough reception in its initial release on CS:GO for being rather unbalanced. However Valve have started a tradition of late where they update old maps to have sleeker designs as well as tweaks to the maps to help with balancing issues. We’ve already seen an updated version of Mirage, Season, Train and Cobblestone over the years and now it’s Nuke’s turn for a makeover.
Even at first glance it’s easy to see that the Nuke 2.0 has a much more visually pleasing aesthetic to it. It’s cleaner, has a brighter colour palette and even looks more like a nuclear power plant. The layout of the map has changed very little compared to it’s ancestor, but there have been subtle changes. For example the call out spot referred to as “toxic” has changed position and now has a window that players can see into and out of when covering the bomb plant.
Other changes which are more cosmetic than balancing include the vents; that can now open and close. and just an all-around more appealing aesthetic. Other competitive changes include removing one vent from B bomb site, adding a ladder up to the reactors on A bomb site, and the outside rafters now stretching around the entire building.
As well as re-releasing Nuke, the new update (which let’s face it, is DLC in disguise) also brings with it a whole new load of community maps and of course, a new weapon case. The new maps can be played in competitive mode as well as having another set of missions that can be completed for weapon drop rewards or even a guaranteed case drop.
All in all the update is worth purchasing if you’re a hardcore CS:GO fan just for a chance at new skins and the re-release and re-imagining of Nuke, the map is a lot more fun when it’s balance issues are resolved and it really brings new life to what used to be a dying map.
What do you think of the new map? Have you tried opening any of the new cases? Let us know below.
