CS2 broke away from the darker visuals of CS:GO and adopted a more vibrant and discernible environment. This change in the visual realm not only freshens the game's ambiance but introduces a new mood. Another noteworthy change was the removal of skyboxes, which served as invisible barriers when lobbing grenades.

From UI to gameplay, all visual effects have been reimagined. All of the visual effects have been updated in Counter-Strike 2. With Source 2 lighting and particle systems, there's an all-new look and behavior for water, explosions, fire, smoke, muzzle flashes, bullet tracers, impact effects, and more.

On the other hand, if you were not a CS:GO player but are looking to get into Counter-Strike now, you can easily download the game from Steam. CS2 is free to download, so you just need to make sure you have enough free space. Note that only players on Windows or Linux can play CS2.