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Reviews » Team Fortress 2 [PC]

On the 16th of June 1999 I received an email from Sierra. The email advertised an upcoming product from one of their development teams - Valve software. The project was a sequel to a popular Quake mod called Team Fortress, which had recently been ported to Valve's popular Half Life engine. Little over eight years later the game was released on the 18th of September 2007.

Over the years TF2 went through a lot of changes. Development stopped and re-started multiple times, most notably with the development of the source engine for Half Life 2, and the subsequent theft of the source code. Valve admitted that they started over four or so times before they were finally happy with the game, and for a long time the words “Team Fortress 2” were more or less synonymous with the words “Duke Nukem Forever” for most people.

When the game was first announced it was intended to be a complex, team-based tactical military game, and at first TF2 resembled games like Counter Strike, featuring realistic weapons and player models with a contemporary military style. Over the years this changed, and the game wound up being something very different.

The realistic weapons and camo-clad models were eventually tossed aside in favour of an array of colourful, larger-than-life characters, maps and weapons. The distinct look of TF2 has a lot in common with games like No One Lives Forever, Evil Genius, as well as the James Bond and Austin powers movies. The game was also streamlined – there's no commander class, the maps are simple and uncomplicated, and each class has been stripped down to the bare essentials.

In short, Valve's master plan was to take the class-based warfare of TFC, give it a slick makeover and re-balance the game to make it more fun.

The TF2 in-game commentary reveals just how much work was put in to balancing the classes, maps and gameplay mechanics. In order to find a good balance or design even the simplest things seem to have been agonized over at length and tested extensively. The attention to detail really shines through, and the game feels very smooth and balanced. In fact, TF2 may well be the most balanced online game I've played – there's no bunnyhopping to master, no physics or line-of-sight exploits, and you won't be sitting behind a crate with your crosshair trained on a doorway for half an hour. It's very much a pick-up-and-play game, and in my experience this is a good thing. It's almost self explanatory.

Every class has a myriad of vocal taunts, phrases and commands that are either player-controlled or automatic. The voice acting is really top-notch. Automatic voice communications are situational – a person that has just been lit on fire by the flamethrower might start yelling in pain - “Fire! Fire! I'm on fire!” - or a heavy weapons guy being healed by a medic might give out a cry of “I love this doctor!!” in his thick Russian accent. Running around hearing all of the yells, taunts and catchphrases from your team mates and enemies really brings the world to life.

The game ships with six maps – five control-point based maps and one capture the flag map – hopefully with more to be added in the future. Some of the maps are re-makes, such as 2fort (CTF) and Well which has been re-worked to be a control-point map, Dustbowl is also included. The new maps Granary, Gravel Pit and Hydro are easily as good as any of the old favourites.

Presentation – The stylized graphics give TF2 a distinct character all of its own. The source engine provides the icing on the cake, and the game looks great.

Team Fortress 2 - PC

Presentation

The stylized graphics give TF2 a distinct character all of its own. The source engine provides the icing on the cake, and the game looks great.

Gameplay

Typical FPS gameplay - shoot things with your big gun - but the style, setting and attention to detail make for a fantastic game.

Replayability

I have found TF2 to be dangerously addictive. The inclusion of stats tracking and personal achievement awards gives you something to aim for.

Value

TF2 currently comes as part of Valve's Orange Box for $45, alongside Half Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2 and Portal. This is an amazing deal even if you already own two of these games.

Overall

Team Fortress 2 is a nice little shooter with plenty of charm and character. In a world of Counter Strike clones and World War II games, it provides something aesthetically different with very polished and incredibly enjoyable gameplay. It was worth the wait.