Happy 4th of July - Nothing says America like massive gun battles in Team Fortress 2!

Happy 4th of July everyone! And for those of you who are from other countries, congratulations on your country's independence as well. Unless you are from one of the those countries that was doing the oppressing, in which case thanks for giving people their independence, whether voluntarily or not. That being said, the following review is our first post by a new writer. I hope you enjoy it.

-Grizz

Team Fortress 2 for the PC- A Review

(photo courtesy of Valve via teamfortress2.com)

Team Fortress 2 isn't your ordinary First Person Shooter. A game that looks like “The Incredibles” and handles like “Rambo”, the game takes a different approach to multiplayer shoot'em ups.

Released by Valve Corporation in 2007 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, the game was included in “The Orange Box” which included “Half Life 2” and “Portal” as well as TF2. Having played Valve games like Half Life or games based on the Half Life 2 engine like Couterstrike since grade school, I had high expectations for TF2 and figured that after countless hours of CS Source I figured I could come in guns-a-blazing to another online shooter. After the first two matches I quickly realized that there was a lot more to this game then just aiming and shooting.

(Photo courtesy of Valve Corporation via steampowered.com) (Photo courtesy of IGN)

The game itself revolves around working as a team (so thats where they got the name from!!) to complete an objective, ranging from standard capture the flag, to capture the point, to the more random fan maps that create their own goals. The difference that makes this game unique is that players choose unique classes instead of simply choosing specific weapons. Nine classes in total, each class has a unique set of weapons and abilities which gives it both advantages and disadvantages in the battlefield, a lesson that is quickly learned when beginning to fight other classes. The nine different characters are divided into subsets of “Offensive” “Defensive” and “Support” roles, and in order to have a balanced team the combination of these categories are of the utmost importance. A team composed of Scouts (a quick lighweight class with powerful weapons but a small health bar) might seem like a great idea at first, but after an enemy builds a machine sentry, or a Heavy unloads a few hundred rounds of Gatling gun ammo into your team you quickly learn that having a Sniper or a Spy might be a good idea (although some teams seem to learn this lesson the painful way). As a whole, the class base system adds a second element of skill to the game other than regular aim. While being accurate certainly helps, knowing when and how to use the abilities of your class to bypass obstacles or take down enemies can prove significantly more useful.

This video gives a quick run though of each of the classes.

So you might be thinking “Alright, so the game's got classes, I had that back in 2002 with Battlefield 1942, whats the big deal?” Aha! I'm glad you asked. At the launch of the game this question was one that many asked, and its an understandable one. What many players didn't expect was the wave of updates that was about to dramatically change the simplicity of the game. One day I sat down at the computer to log on for a couple of matches after school, and as I run out into the battlefield I'm mowed down by a gun I don't recognize. Thinking it might be a potential hacker, or a player with a different gun skin, I run out and a different player once again mows me down with a weapon I hadn't seen before. Rushing to the all-knowing internet, I quickly realized what was going on: NEW CONTENT!

Just one of the few weapon and map updates that Valve has released since the game's release.

Photos courtesy of Valve Via teamfortress2.com

Achievements, guns, new maps and new objectives are all what have separated this game from previous class based shooters. As a result of these updates, classes had not only new specific abilities, but also different weapons that flipped what I previously thought about certain classes on its head. New weapons mean new gameplay, new strategies, and more fun. After all, who doesn't want updated guns that suck blood or guns that make other players run in slow mode? You want achievements? It's got'em. You want new scenery? Check out those shiny new maps. You want access to tools that let you make your own maps, or contests to create new weapons that will be put in the game? Its your lucky day! You wanna pay for it? Too bad! That’s right folks, for three easy payments of $0 and one really hard payment of absolutely nothing, this new content and more could be yours. (I would like to take this time to apologize for console owners I may have made cry with frustration at the fact that none of this really applies to them). With new content coming out fairly consistently, and new class updates being planned in the future, the game is constantly changing and as a result, presents new challenges and scenarios for you to play in, and that....is frickin sweet.

The only negative aspect of the game I've noticed so far doesn't lie within the game itself, but rather in dealing with other players. As many of you already know after playing online games, sometimes people are unhelpful or downright bad at working as a team. Someone who's convinced that they're the end all be all of FPS strategy and teamwork might try yelling orders for an entire match, only to see that no one listens. Trash-talking, lack of common sense or refusal to cooperate all make a team based game a lot harder to player. In short, if you're not looking to deal with other people when playing your online multiplayer game....you might wanna pick a game without “team” in the title.

Some are better at pissing off teammates than others...

So to summarize, Team Fortress 2 for the PC is a game that has a solid foundation improved upon by the continuous stream of free updates Valve releases. Its fun, its challenging, and most importantly you get to shoot people with a plethora of different weapons. On a scale from “1” to “Buy it” I would rate it as “Should already own it”. Get it, play it, ….play it some more.

-Spence