What I’m playing – Team Fortress 2

Sure, 99% of the free world is already aware of this game, but it’s a good time to talk about it since it’s a free weekend, and the game’s on sale! I’m going to drop some of the ‘Meet the classes!’ videos in to this post because they amuse me.

Put quite simply, TF2 is the single best multiplayer shooter I’ve ever played. It’s fun, it’s amusing, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and it’s graphics engine is light enough that it can work on old hardware. It’s also a purely multiplayer game, so if you’re looking for single player stuff you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Basically, there are two teams on every map. The teams are comprised of various players using 9 different player classes (seen above…more on those in a bit). It’s a purely team based game…there is no free for all deathmatch play here.

There are a few game types, some of which are fairly typical. Team Arena is two sides trying to slaughter each other. Capture the Flag is two teams trying to defend their flag while also grabbing the flag of the other team and bringing it home.

Capture Points has two different game types. In one, both teams are fighting over the Cap Points. In the other, one team is trying to capture while the other is trying to hold out and defend at least one.

Payload is my personal favourite. One team tries to advance a mine cart full of explosives down a rail track. This is done by team members being next to the cart…the more members there, the faster the cart (which also replenishes the ammo and health of those advancing it) moves. As it advances, points are captured along the way, with extra time being added to the game session with every point taken. The other team is trying to stop the advance. Even more nuts is the version of the game where each team has a cart they’re trying to move with also stopping the cart of the other team.

What really makes the game shine are the various classes and how they work together.

From the left in that picture above.

The Pyro. A short range class with a flamethrower that does persistent burn damage. He’s extremely effective in tight and against the structures Engineers build. Also useful in weeding out enemy spies that are cloaked or showing as a friendly character.

The Engineer. Primarily a support character. It’s his job to build teleport entries and exits, health & ammo dispensers and sentry turrets. All can be upgraded by beating the shit out of it for awhile with a wrench, with each of the 3 levels per structure increasing it’s effectiveness.

The Sniper. Pretty straightforward. The longer he looks through his scope, the harder the shot will hit. A fully charged headshot drops anyone with a single squeeze of the trigger.

The Spy. I HATE people who can play spies, mostly become I am incompetent at it. He’s armed with a pistol and a knife…the knife is weak as Hell UNLESS he gets an unseen backstab attack. In that case, instant kill. He can cloak himself. He can also mask himself to look like any class on the opposing team. Finally, he has a sabotage kit to use against Engineer structures.

The Heavy. My personal favourite at the moment (also prime Spy bait, hence my hatred of them). He has the most health, he’s slow as shit and he has an enormous chain gun. Your jobs is spraying lead…kills are nice, but kill assists are big as well as you weaken numerous enemies for your teammates to finish off.

The Demoman. He’s a drunken black Scotsman with an eye patch…do you need to know anything else? Okay, he has a multi use launcher weapon. One type fires mortar bombs that explode on contact with enemies, or after a few seconds from launching. The other are sticky bombs. Both can be arced over buildings and bounced around corners. Oh, and he has a bottle of booze as a melee weapon.

The Medic. He does have some combat abilities, but he’s primarily a support class. He not only can heal wounded troops, he can overcharge their health bar beyond its normal maximum level. Once his ubercharge reaches 100%, triggering it renders himself, the one he’s currently healing or overcharging and those right next to either of them temporarily invulnerable.

The Scout. Very little health, but he’s a fast little bastard. Can double jump…so while in mid air from jump one he can then do a second leap in a completely different direction (often with amusing Bionic Man sound effect). His scattergun is good at close range, as is his baseball bat. Also captures points twice as fast as any other class.

The Soldier. Slower than the Demoman but with more health, he’s the other ‘standard’ infantry unit. His bazooka does as much splash damage as it does direct hit damage, and he can rocket jump to just about any vantage point on the map.

Now, beyond the basic classes, as you play you’ll unlock more gear. The thing I like about the game is that you don’t JUST unlock gear for the class you’re playing…you might spend an afternoon playing as a Heavy and Demoman and earn equipment for Heavies, Snipers, Scouts and Medics. Some of the upgrades include an alternate flamethrower that does critical damage when attacking an opponent from behind, a bow and arrow to replace the sniper rifle, and a new Medical ‘gun’ that gives nearby units all critical hits for a short period (rather than invincibility) when an ubercharge is used.

Two reasons why this game obliterates other multiplayer shooters :

1. Humour. The game is flat out funny. Every character has a series of ridiculous lines they’ll spout. The Heavy’s lines after eating a sandvich (the Sandvich is a piece of earnable gear that is literally…a sandwich. You eat it, and after a few seconds of munching vulnerability your health is totally restored) still make me chuckle. “Why are you running? Is only ham!”, “What’s that, sandvich? Kill them all?” and “You a loose cannon sandvich, but you a damn good cop!” are still amusing after many times hearing them.

2. It’s actually made worthwhile to play any class. Normally, support classes in shooters are ignored, but Valve has given enough earnable bonus points to every class that you can easily level up playing as any of them. Medics get kill assists every time someone they’re healing or overcharging scores a kill, and bonuses for ubercharges. Engineers get kill assists for every kill registered by a sentry gun they’ve built and points every time a teleport system they’ve built is used. Spies score for backstabs and sabotages. Every class can load up on the scoring so people have incentive to play as every class. Frankly, trying to play the game with a team consisting of only 2 or 3 classes will get your ass kicked.

So, log in to Steam and pick it up. It’s actually a free to play weekend, so you can download and play the full game through Sunday afternoon and see what you think. If you decide to pull the trigger and buy, everything you’ve earned will remain in place. It will STILL be there if you don’t buy it for 4 months, but since it’s half price this weekend for $10 you’d be kind of an idiot to wait. Got a Mac? It works on that too…in fact, one buy gives you PC and Mac copies of the game and all your gear, stats and everything else will transfer between every install of it that you’ve got.

Now I must take my leave, for I have noobs to smash.