With the release of the long awaited
Orange Box comes Team Fortress 2, the follow-up to 1996’s mod-based on the Quake
engine, comes unique characters, new weapons, characters and a highly
sophisticated graphics engine. At its core, it is a team-based game and as such,
can’t be played as a one-man army. This means if your team isn’t cooperating,
you’re probably losing.
Lets talk about the most obvious
factor and highest attention getter – the graphics. Team Fortress 2 has been
completely overhauled into one of the most stylistic and fluid animated games
ever created. It brings back the feeling of the first time I played Curse of
Monkey Island and I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail in each scene. It
easily rivals some of Disney’s movies over the past two decades except you are
free to run around it as you wish. The amount of detail given to the
cell-shading is unparalleled and each animation flows perfectly as if they were
hand-drawn. Suffice to say you will not be let down in the graphics department.
So what is Team Fortress all about?
Variety. There are nine different characters to choose from, each varying in
look, control, and skill. There is a Scout, Basic
Soldier, a Heavy, an Engineer, a Demolition Specialist, a Medic, a Spy, Pyro and
Sniper. Each person has their specialty and each fits together with the other
like a puzzle. This results in a very important feel to each character, even the
medics and engineers, but also will cause you to immediately identify your
team’s weakest link. Lets take a look at each of the characters more closely.
Scouts are
ridiculously quick and extremely hard to hit. They can double jump and beat
people over the head as they pass with their baseball bat.
Spies are
some of the most annoying characters as they basically make you paranoid and
shoot anybody you see. This is multiplied by the fact that they can kill you
with one hit. But on the opposite end, it is one of the most satisfying
characters to play and be able stab someone in their back when they aren’t
looking.
The Medic
has what is basically what I like to call “Liquid Life.” He carries a hose in
which shoots health wherever aimed. Being a medic is one of the most important
rules, as without him, your team is guaranteed a quick fate.
The Pryo
does exactly what it sounds like, it lights things on fire … a lot. This is one of
the best characters to be in close quarters. If your opponent cannot escape very
quickly, they are going to be incinerated.
The
Soldier carries the all-mighty rocket launcher, which is one of the most
powerful weapons if not the most powerful, it takes forever to reload,
and doesn’t carry much ammo.
The
Demolition Man carries sticky bombs and grenade launchers. His character is
perfect to protect your base. When you start hearing explosions in the hallway,
you begin to rethink your route.
The Heavy
has probably gotten the most attention of any character since Valve released
their teaser videos showcasing him and his mini-gun. This character has lots of
health and firepower, but walks like a building is strapped to his back. It
takes like half an hour to get from one side of the map to the other.
The
engineer sports a shotgun and can build some really cool things like special
health and ammo dispensers as well as turret guns and even teleportation pads.
Finally
comes the sharpshooter of them all: the sniper. The sniper is capable of one-hit
kills with headhots and if hits you at all is going to critically wound you.
With such
varied skillsets and styles of play it takes a couple hours just to figure out
how each character moves, shoots, and their special abilities. It’s only when
you really understand what is going on, how the maps work and the little tricks
of each character do you deeply experience this great multiplayer game.
In the
end, Team Fortress 2 is a highly polished work of art with so many unique
characteristics that it’s easy for it to stand out as one of the best available.
From the maps, to the weapons, to the characters it shines like a bright gem. If
you love multiplayer gameplay, go get this game; if you love simgleplayer as
well then go buy the Orange Box which includes 3 full games for the same price
as one.
Review Scoring Details for Team Fortress 2 |
Gameplay 9.0
A stupendous game … if everybody works together
Graphics: 9.6
Hands-down one of the most uniquely envisioned games in the past three years
with cel-shading at its best.
Sound:
8.8
With some really funny sound effects and voices, TF2 will keep you laughing in
the midst of getting your derriere
handed to you.
Difficulty: Medium
Takes a few hours to figure out your niche, but is pretty straight-forward after
that.
Concept: 9.0
And uniquely envisioned sequel that keeps die-hard fans and newcomers impressed
by it’s graphics, and equally enthralled by its gameplay.
Overall: 9.2
This game makes me laugh even when I’m losing … an impressive feat.
