CS's core gameplay is good. It lives up to its reputation as one of the best tactical shooters, and it manages to provide balanced gameplay and makes nearly all weapons have a legitimate purpose in game through its economy system. It isn't pay to win (arguably agent skins have changed that, but still...) and one can avoid spending any money on this game. However, CS does have some issues. It has a massive learning curve (which can be perceived as either a pro or a con) and getting good at the game requires countless hours. Right now I have 650 hours, and I still suck. The matchmaking system is terrible. It firstly fails to rank players appropriately by their skill, and secondly doesn't even properly segregate matches by rank. Master Guardians (upper middle ranks) often are stuck in games with silvers (lowest ranks), creating completely unfair matches. Until you pay fifteen bucks for prime, or play enough to reach the level requirement for it, hackers are quite prevalent in matchmaking. It's not as bad as some games, but it can detract from the experience. However, it's still not worth 15 bucks, so it's best to just grind casual until you reach prime. Like most games these days, people can be toxic. If you don't have a group of friends to play with, half the time you will have terrible teammates who either drag you down or insult you for being worse than them. CS:GO is a team game, and I would not recommend this game if you don't have at least 2 other friends who will play with you (I suppose you could have 1 friend and just grind wingman, but it's not the same).
Overall, I would recommend CS:GO. It's a fun game to play with friends, and there are so many different ways you can play it, from messing around in private servers to grinding matchmaking.

CS's core gameplay is good. It lives up to its reputation as one of the best tactical shooters, and it manages to provide balanced gameplay and makes nearly all weapons have a legitimate purpose in game through its economy system. It isn't pay to win (arguably agent skins have changed that, but still...) and one can avoid spending any money on this game. However, CS does have some issues. It has a massive learning curve (which can be perceived as either a pro or a con) and getting good at the game requires countless hours. Right now I have 650 hours, and I still suck. The matchmaking system is terrible. It firstly fails to rank players appropriately by their skill, and secondly doesn't even properly segregate matches by rank. Master Guardians (upper middle ranks) often are stuck in games with silvers (lowest ranks), creating completely unfair matches. Until you pay fifteen bucks for prime, or play enough to reach the level requirement for it, hackers are quite prevalent in matchmaking. It's not as bad as some games, but it can detract from the experience. However, it's still not worth 15 bucks, so it's best to just grind casual until you reach prime. Like most games these days, people can be toxic. If you don't have a group of friends to play with, half the time you will have terrible teammates who either drag you down or insult you for being worse than them. CS:GO is a team game, and I would not recommend this game if you don't have at least 2 other friends who will play with you (I suppose you could have 1 friend and just grind wingman, but it's not the same). Overall, I would recommend CS:GO. It's a fun game to play with friends, and there are so many different ways you can play it, from messing around in private servers to grinding matchmaking.