Counter-Strike started off as a mod made by a bunch of players in their spare time and it’s become the most popular shooter in history. It’s an “underdog did good” story of Hollywood, except the disadvantaged kid who believes in himself never grows up to kill ten thousand terrorists a minute, even if he’s Rambo. Advanced Counter-Strikers know their maps more intimately than their own genitals (and have more fun with them). This dedication to the pinnacle of first-person-shooting is so intense, some people play Counter-Strike even when they’re playing things that aren’t counter-strike. Behold, five insertions of anti-terrorist gameplay into other games.

1. Black Ops Counter-Strike “Mod”

Call of Duty Black Ops: one of the biggest shooters of the year and some people are already bored with it. Possibly because of Treyarch’s idiotic exclusivity deal where they’re holding “private” servers hostage. This is a brand-new definition of “private” which apparently means “You can only rent them off the company we tell you to.” They’re so mercenary in this monopoly that you have to pay extra for teamspeak, and an attitude like that is worse for gaming than a power cut. That’s why advanced players are coming up with their own voluntary, player-side mods – like Counter-Strike for Black Ops.

With voluntary “No knife, no prone, no sights except sniper” rules, players recreate classic CS gameplay with far superior graphics. And until you’ve seen people crouch-strafing with an assault rifle with the very latest in video-card lighting, you haven’t seen anything.

2. GTA: CS

In a fever dream of great gaming confusion, behold: Grand Theft Auto’s CJ running around our favorite maps with a machine gun.

It’s an amazing mod, and we especially love how they’ve cushioned the shock of seeing de_dust2 in heretical third-person with that chillaxed shirt and shorts combination. Though no amount of holiday clothing could convince us to play Counter-Strike with the drunken paralysis-simulator GTA calls an aiming system.

3. DOOM!

The greatest grandaddy of all shooters is always welcome, especially when it’s remixed with the most successful offspring any shooting game could hope for.

Some demented pixel artist updated GZDoom (already an outpost of retro-love) with all the weapons the modern counter-terrorist could need – although he does betray a lack of understanding by starting off with the shotgun. Which no CSer would even consider. The dropped weapons show the love lavished on the imported hardware, because blocky as they are the level of details forces the guns to be bigger than the corpses they came from. Particularly enjoyable additions are the programming of grenades, and the way the pixelated AWP is an insta-kill one-hit-murder machine. Just like in the real thing!

4. The Quake III Killer

This video clip isn’t so much gaming as “CSI: Counter-Strike”

We’ve got nothing but a few seconds of grainy video, four corpses (but they were Quake server corpses so they disappeared shortly after), and the knowledge that whoever this mysterious killer is we wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.

5. Left 4 Dust

The mysterious “Masterofsomthn” lives up to his name, as long as you extend it to “something BRILLIANT!”

He demonstrates the glory of the source engine, especially how NAV files make it possible for infected to sprint around de_train in pursuit of survivors. And if you thought dust couldn’t get any better, it’s because you didn’t dare to dream you’d be able to use Left 4 Dead 2‘s chainsaw mutation there. UNTIL NOW!