With the new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive operation, Broken Fang, comes heaps of new content, including the return of co-op events, some new maps, a new competitive queue AND some fun game modes to play around in. One of which, of course, is retakes.

Retake lobbies have been a thing in CS for quite a few years now, usually hidden behind the awkward custom lobbies screen that’s already hidden behind buttons and checkmarks, hosted by players themselves. These lobbies would take teams to the end of a round, Ts defending a bombsite with the bomb preplanted and CTs posted randomly around attempting to attack it. They’d often have the usual custom lobby gimmicks like the ability to choose a custom glove or knife skin, but they also had some fun features to speed things up. If a CT defuses a bomb and has more than five seconds remaining, the round instantly ends with a CT victory. If there is less than five seconds, the bomb instantly detonates, losing them the round.

Valves version of retake offers some interesting new mechanics – namely the loadout screen that gives you a pretty standard grenade + weapon loadout with some minor variations to the weapon and utility you can bring. This forces people to use the premium rifles and round specific weaponry that comes with a competitive match, rather than experimenting with less popular weapon choices. This is good in that it’s quick and competitive, though somewhat limiting if you really want to practice your Deagle skills.

It does away with the instant defuse mechanic but keeps the central idea of retaking a bombsite quite faithfully. With three terrorists and four counter terrorists, the rounds are quick, thrilling and serve as a fantastic way to warm up for 5v5 competitive, CSGOs premium ranked game type. Check it out now and look out for more advancements in the Broken Fang operation.