After four years of war-torn terrorising and counter-terrorising, CS:GO has been modified to include interchangeable weather patterns—each designed to alter fighter playstyles.

Courtesy of modders Lewis Palfrey and Luke Millanta, de_dust2_w introduces "varying weather patterns" to one the game's most popular maps, dust2, and also extends to its Cache, Mirage and Overpass arenas. "There is a pool of ten different weather patterns," reads the mod's Steam Workshop description. "At the start of each round one of these weather patterns is selected."

Speaking to Eurogamer, Millanta explains that he came up with the idea for manipulable weather in CS:GO in August, however required the support of someone better versed in map making. Known for his work within the CS:GO and GoldenEye: Source communities, Palfrey obliged and set about helping Millanta realise his idea.

"When raining it is harder to both hear enemies approaching and to see without the aid of a sniper rifle," Millanta tells EG. "This means that while your enemy may have an advantage while AWPing [aka while using the Arctic Warfare Magnum sniper rifle, famous for one-hit kills], it is easier for those stealthy players to sneak up on said AWPers. The feedback thus far has been quite good."

If you're a Counter Striker, I'd love to know your thoughts on this in the comments below. Here's a gallery of Millanta and Palfrey's work in action.