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It’s far from being “too little, too late” for this venerable battle royale to go free-to-play. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds may be a known quantity these days, but its slower paced survival of the fittest struggle still creates memorable shootouts and intense moments in nearly every match. However, console players might find its efforts to render its massive 8x8 km maps in proper detail technically disappointing, and no matter where you play its vehicles are no joyride. Thankfully, PUBG has plenty of life left in it if you can look past the clunky weapons and vehicles to see the much more hectic firefights and interesting, tactics-focused survival that house them.

The standard game mode (Bomb Scenario) involves either defending or exploiting a bomb site. I spent most of my test-play time playing this mode, but I did branch out to the Arms Race and Hostage modes. Most competitive matches that I've watched stick with the Bomb Scenario match type, as well, which is another reason for the mode's popularity.
The Bomb Scenario mode comprises a maximum of 15 elimination-style rounds that last until one side wins a majority of the rounds. Players spawn either on the Terrorist (T) or Counter-Terrorists (CT) side, which determines the objective. Terrorists need to plant a bomb at one of the two marked bomb sites on the map. The CT team must prevent the terrorists from planting the bomb or defuse it before it explodes (the bomb has a countdown timer of 40 seconds). The defuse process itself takes 5 seconds, so getting to the bomb site quickly is a priority. Of course, eliminating all the players on the other side makes this objective easier, so keep an eye out for enemies at all times.

CS: GO's Bomb Scenario mode is a simple, yet enjoyable, twist on the standard multiplayer FPS setup, which opens up a ton of variability in each round. Another game mode, called Hostage, flips the tables and has the Terrorists defend a hostage, while the Counter-Terrorists attempt a rescue mission. CS: GO typically gets new mission-based modes with new operations. The current operation, Operation Hydra (released in May 2017) brought War Games, Wingman, and Weapons Expert modes to the game. These modes introduce twists on regular gameplay and affect the available weapons, the match objective, and the playable maps. These operations typically include a narrative-driven campaign, too.
Which CS: GO maps you can play depends largely on the game mode. Regardless, you should try to familiarize yourself with as many as possible, if you care at all about strategy or coordinating with your teammates. There's no worse in-game feeling of being the last one on your team alive and frantically trying to find the bomb site in time while your teammates watch (and judge) you. All maps have a couple of different paths, clearly marked bomb sites, and recognizable features, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get up to speed.
CS: GO hosts a large number of official maps; despite my 50-plus hours into the game, I have not encountered all of them through regular play. For example, the Casual mode currently lists four different playlists of maps: Sigma (Austria, Shipped, Train, Overpass, Nuke, and Canals), Delta (Mirage, Inferno, Cache, and Cobble), Dust II (Dust II) and Hostage Group (Agency, Insertion, Office, Italy, and Assault). Variety is always appreciated, but I feel like some maps don't receive the same level of attention as others.
When I first started playing CS: GO, I was confused by the weapon purchase system at the beginning of each round, and I suspect most newcomers will feel the same way. Basically, at the beginning of each round, you have a certain amount of money to purchase weapons and other equipment for the round. In the first round, you only have enough cash on hand to buy a pistol and one other item (I talk about equipment a bit later). During the round, you earn additional cash by eliminating enemies and, of course, for your team winning the round. The losing side also gets some cash, but the cost of multiple weapons, grenades, and other equipment quickly adds up, so winning teams and skilled players will have the tactical advantage. In later rounds, players on both sides have more than enough cash to buy multiple weapons and items.

Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists have access to most of the same weapons, and the ones that are different are balanced with each other. CS: GO organizes weapons by type: pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, rifles, and machine guns. Generally, the more powerful the gun, the more it costs. However, don't simply buy a weapon because it's the most expensive one. Take some time to experiment and find a loadout that works for you. You can carry up to two guns (a pistol and something else), which is always a good idea, for those times you are caught by an enemy mid-reload. There are also quite a few fan favorites, such as the "Deagle" (Desert Eagle pistol) or the AWP (a powerful sniper rifle) that tend to make an appearance in most matches. One recent addition, the R8 Revolver, has a distinct feel; the trigger-pull is slow, but it is highly accurate and powerful once it fires.
CS: GO is available on macOS, Windows, and Linux. You can also play CS: GO on Xbox One and Xbox 360, as well as on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles. CS: Go is not available on Android or iOS as PUBG and Fortnite ($0.00 at Epic Games)(Opens in a new window) are, but that's probably for the best. Mobile controls aren't great for either of those games and CS: GO's pacing and game style likely wouldn't translate well.

You don't need very powerful hardware to run CS: GO. The minimum specs only include an Intel Core 2 Duo (or AMD equivalent), 2GB RAM, a DirectX 9-compatible GPU with 256MB of vRAM, and 15GB of hard drive space. I tested CS: GO on a Dell Inspiron 5675 desktop running Windows 10 equipped with a Ryzen 1700X CPU, Radeon 580 8GB GPU, and 32GB RAM. Needless to say, I had no trouble running the game at its highest settings. I recorded CS: GO's frames per second with FRAPS and the game averaged well above 200 FPS.
Although not part of the official recommendations, make sure that you have a decent internet connection at your disposal if you plan on playing any competitive matches. Since CS: GO is so reliant on quick reaction times and fire-on-sight mechanics, having a fast connection is critical. For reference, I tested the internet speeds of my home network (200 Mbps download over Ethernet) with Ookla's internet speed test tool(Opens in a new window) (Ziff Davis, PCMag's owner, also owns Ookla). Again, this connection speed is likely overkill, but for reference, I didn't have any connection-related performance issues.