Is it too late to start playing?

CS is still good to play. You just have to find a server to play on. I use gamespy3d for CS so all I see is my regular servers. X-ploited (216.234.234.97:27015) is a really good server. Be wary though, X has some of the 1337est players around. Also, many servers use antih4x progs, and there is an integrated anticheat program made by valve that I don't know much about. All in all, I say go for it. I'm taking a break from CS for a while with some WC3 tower defense and hero arenas, but I'm sure I'll go back to it in a month or so.