<!-- Please do not remove or change this AfD message until the issue is settled -->
<div class="boilerplate metadata" id="afd" style="margin: 0 5%; padding: 0 7px 7px 7px; background: #EDF1F1; border: 1px solid #999999; text-align: left; font-size:95%;">
This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's <br />
Please share your thoughts on the matter at ' on the Articles for deletion page.<br />
Feel free to edit the article, but the article must not be blanked, and this notice must not be removed, until the discussion is closed. For more information, particularly on merging or moving the article during the discussion, read the .<br/>
<small>Steps to : <nowiki> <nowiki> [ log] </small></div>

<!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point -->

<!--

NOTE: Please maintain the following formatting of words:

Counter-Terrorist and Terrorist

The words should be capitalized, even in the middle of a sentence. Do NOT use CT or T.

-->



'cs_italy is a popular hostage rescue map in the first-person shooter game Counter-Strike and is set in a traditional Italian village.

The map

Italy's main feature is a house in which the four hostages are kept. The house is neighbored by a dark path which leads to a marketplace. This marketplace is connected to the Counter-Terrorist spawn point. On the other side of a house is more of the village consisting of houses and walkways. These houses also lead to the Counter-Terrorist spawn point.

Strategy

More inexperienced players seem to gravitate towards the market on this map (to the south-east of the map, assuming the map is oriented with north at the top). Although this can be tempting, there are more strategic ways to play this map.

First of all, the terrorists are spawned in a position that favours a camping strategy. Many people criticize this map for being too terrorist friendly (see below). The terrorists begin in a two story house next to the hostages. This house can be defended by two windows (one looking to the stairs and the other down the long tunnel.) One strategy is to put a sniper in the window looking down the tunnel, and another terrorist with an assualt rifle, perched in the window by the stairs. An additional team-member on the ground outside the house would be advantageous to intercept an assualt from the west. The terrorists should be able to hold the house until the time runs out.

Counter-terrorists should not be under-estimated, however. Starting from their spawning point, they have a tendancy to be predictible in attacking via the market square. However, taking the pathway left or the right pathway, up the crates and through the window offers the best approach. A well timed attack involving a two-pronged attack from both directions is the best bet. If timed correctly, it is possible to divert attention towards the stairs, and leaving the house entrance vulnerable. Once in the counter-terrorist is in the house, the sniper will be easily neutralized.

Criticism

Italy is often criticized as being unfairly balanced to the advantage of the Terrorists. The Terrorist spawn point is right next to the hostage location, which is an easily defended two-story house. The house has one entrance on the ground level, but it is possible to jump on boxes and into a window on the second floor. From here, the Terrorists are able to cover every entrance to the house in the vicinity - two alleyways and a long tunnel. There are also plenty of places to defend near the house which augments the Terrorists' advantage.

The Counter-Terrorists start near a gate with what appears to be only two usable paths. The first starting option provides two further options. One leads to a market, which then leads to either an alleyway or the aforementioned long tunnel. The other leads into a building that connects to a bridge and pathway to the area around the house. The second starting option leads to the wine cellar of a building which exits into the same alleyway that the market leads to. Because the second option is much more complex, players often revert to the market path, which can make gameplay predictable. A third option is to follow the right path but use the boxes to climb into the window that is straight ahead. This leads almost directly to the terrorist's camp and allows another point of attack. From a strategic perspective, having a group of counter-terrorists attack from this direction is very advantageous, as it diverts terrorist attention from the main point of attack through the tunnel.

Uniqueness

Many players derive entertainment from destroying a radio that is located in the house, which loops Italian opera. The song is a clip from the first act, twelfth scene of Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto, in the Duke's duet with Gilda. The singer is Luciano Pavarotti. The actual song title is "Ah, Inseparabile... E' Il Sol Dell'anima" as reported by the iTunes Music Store (see external links).


In Italian language:

Ah inseparabile ~ d'amore il dio

stringeva, o vergine, ~ tuo fato al mio!

È il sol dell'anima, ~ la vita è amore,

sua voce è il palpito ~ del nostro core...

e fama e gloria, ~ potenza e trono,

terrene, fragili ~ cose qui sono.

Una pur àvvene ~ sola, divina,

è amor che agli angeli ~ più ne avvicina!


Which translates into:

Ah inseparable ~ out of love God

held tight, oh virgin ~ your fate to mine!

It is the sun of the soul, ~ life is love,

Its voice is the throbbing ~ of our heart...

and fame and glory, ~ power and kingdom,

earthly, fragile ~ these things are.

Yet one road ~ alone, divine,

is this love that to the angels ~ draws itself ever nearer!



This map is one of the few that does not identify players' location by sound. Footsteps are relatively silent and there are no loud doors. In the original Counter-Strike version of the map, there are some chickens in the market place that can be killed, producing an amusing sound. Also, you can hear classical guitar music coming from one of the doors: it's the intro of Mauro Giuliani's Rossiniana n.2, op. 120.

References

" The CS Maps," The Official Counter-Strike web site (Archive.org archived copy, 24 Mar 2005)

"Counter-Strike" (computer software), Minh Le and Jess Cliffe, 1999, [1794]

See also

Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike maps

List of Counter-Strike maps

External links

Official Counter-Strike Website

"Ah, Inseparabile... E' Il Sol Dell'anima" by Luciano Pavarotti from the iTunes Music Store