Many dedicated players of Counter Strike’s Global Offensive edition have noticed many changes over the years. The latest among those changes is cosmetics. Veteran players might have noticed that some of their teammates or opponents are outfitting their weapons and gear with unique skins. So, what are these cosmetics all about, and do they have any standing in your play?
To the untrained eye, these skins and cosmetics probably seem like pure indulgences more than anything. They are just something else for the developers to make money on, right? They are no doubt basic, self-explanatory, and hold little importance in the world of Counter-Strike.
Sure, it’s a bit of a marketing ploy to keep veteran players interested while also maybe drawing in some new hopefuls, but these cosmetics and skins are anything but basic or self-explanatory. There is an entire system based around them. A system where players can lose hours on top of hours exploring.
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Understanding The Rarity Ratings
The iconic Borderland Franchise will forever be known as the game of loot and millions of guns. Long after all the content is explored and explored again, players from around the world can still travel the universe with excitement, collecting and framing the most unique guns.
Not just unique guns, but unique guns with the most interesting stats. Sometimes an 8-mag is essential over a 6-shooter.
Although a different game entirely, the Counter-Strike creators have chosen to utilize a similar color-corded rating system. Every unique add-on or cosmetic introduced into the game features a color scheme. From dull and drab gray to bright, scarlet red, there are a variety of amazing colors to collect.
Consumer-Grade Skins
Grays are referred to as Consumer Grade skins and are considered the most common, whereas the red upgrades are as rare as the players can find. Any player wanting to show off their elite standing in the game will don those reds skins!
Contraband Skins
As with most things in life, there is one exception to this rule. That would be the yellow or almost gold skin. This is the only skin in the entire Counter-Strike Universe being referred to as a Contraband skin. In addition, it only has one home, which is on the M4A4 Howl. Due to ensuing controversy and copyright allegations, this skin can now only be acquired via untraditional methods. Desert eagle skins are definitely worth checking out.
A Further Breakdown Of The Grouping
As previously mentioned, creators took a grouping or bundling approach to simplify these skins while making them much more manageable. The important takeaway for players here is the understanding that each available skin, regardless of rarity, is part of a collection or set.
The M4A1-S Blue Phosphor was released alongside the Broken Fang Operation map or campaign. Skins and cosmetics that are released with campaigns and maps have grown to be known as Control Cosmetics.
Control Cosmetics are rewarded to the players for successfully completing missions within the campaign they were released with. The M4A4 Howl is part of the Snakebite Case. Not overly complicated, right?
