CS2's Animgraph 2 update completely overhauls animations, but the real benefit is its performance gains

The animation system in Counter-Strike 2 is receiving an overhaul in the form of Animgraph 2, designed to improve all third-person animations while also reducing the CPU and networking costs that come with it. In short, this should make the game both look and run better without needing to improve your hardware, which in these trying times is always a good thing.

There are plenty of animations in the multiplayer game, like weapon-specific reloads and knife pullouts, that could only ever be seen in first person, and now this Counter-Strike 2 update lets you show off your weapons in all their glory. More importantly, Valve has responded to player feedback with its tweaks to the movement animations, making it clearer to identify that someone has performed a counter-strafe. This should help quell any accusations of cheating now that you're more easily able to identify when someone is peeking around a corner.

Unlike a lot of the changes Valve decides to make on a whim, like the reload update that was dropped unceremoniously in the middle of March, Animgraph 2 has only gone live on the CS2 beta build for now. There's no timeframe as to when the update will go live on the main branch, but judging by our short testing period, there don't appear to be any obvious flaws with the system so far.

One of the biggest pain points transitioning over to CS2 from CSGO was the added system load that came with the Source 2 engine upgrade. For players using low-end computers, this update has already proven to be hugely beneficial, with one Redditor reporting average FPS gains of up to 8%. With the best gaming monitors these days exceeding over 500Hz, we'll happily take any performance improvements that we can get.

Some animations are still missing, like the all-important weapon inspection that lets you get a better look at your CS2 skins, but I suspect these will be added down the line. And speaking of skins, it appears there have been stealth upgrades to some skin finishes, including the Printstream line, which has a more reflective finish in this latest update. It's still not as vibrant as it used to be back in CSGO, but this will certainly have an effect on the skins market.

As I mentioned back in my CS2 review from 2023, Valve's shooter has been in a barebones state since launch, but updates like this are slowly coming through to turn it into the sequel fans were initially hoping for. Now, the big question remains: where the hell is Cache?