New weapons, enemies coming in Operation Broken Fang finale

Tuesday night’s update for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive may have been small, but it primed the game for the final chapter of Operation Broken Fang. 

Developers pushed a patch in CSGO, intentionally including building blocks for next week’s Operation Broken Fang finale. Players will head back to the cooperative Autumn Harvest map from week one and “delve deeper into the Phoenix facility.”

Heavy spoilers follow:

Players will face off against a tank, wield a grenade launcher, and take on Valera’s Phoenix Crew in the Broken Fang Finale. For the first time in CSGO’s history, players will also either face off against trip mines or get to use them against their enemies.

There was something else included alongside the other additions to Fang’s expanded autumn Harvest map, but it’s not entirely clear what this entails. References to “target practice,” as well as new voice lines from player’s guide voice actor Felix Reilly point towards a possible new training mission based on the Broken Fang finale. Even odder still is what Valve decided to call a section of the mission.

Voice lines and texture names reference an autumn “test chamber,” stoking rumors that all of Valve’s universes might be related. If players walk into something that looks like a Portal test chamber next week, it could be the first tease of true Counter-Strike lore.

The test chamber is a large area, with sections named after CSGO maps such as  Mirage and Aztec. Players fight through Phoenix soldiers under the command of a character named Jennerto make it out the other side. That’s where Valve stopped short with its tease, declining to include anymore spoilers for next week.

Reilly’s voice lines also reference a man named Booth, the main character from CSGO’s Arms Deal update in a mention that brings CSGO’s story full circle. Arms Deal was released in 2013 and was the update that first added skins to CSGO. If Valve tied up Broken Fang with a Booth cameo, it would also be a fitting time for CSGO to take the next step in its evolution. 

Next week will be a big one for CSGO no matter what, so players should get in their practice before the finale’s expected release on Tuesday, March 25.