If you think that Condition Zero's graphics will be superior to Counter-Strike, you're wrong. The game is still using the old Quake engine that the original Half-Life used. However Ritual has managed to squeeze the very last drop of capacity out of the engine, so a tiny improvement is actually noticeable. The good thing about using "ye olde engine", is that system requirements will be kept relatively low, people who are able to run Half-Life on their systems should have no problems running Condition Zero as well.

The ingame effects have been improved quite a bit, even though they are still all scripted sequences, meaning that they will be executed the same way every time. The chopper, for example, will always follow the same route, and people falling down stairs will do it in the same manner every time and pay no attention to whether you shot them in the head or the kneecaps. We'll probably have to wait for Half-Life 2 or Counter-Strike 2 to see dynamic effects.