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zmanrwks
#1

Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:13 am

zmanrwks
Moderator
Moderator
For the past couple years, first person shooters have been dominant in the video game business. Some will complain they all look the same, with dark graphics and similar gameplay, and many have hated on the genre's success and popularity in today's culture. But of course, there have been FPS games that have tried to differentiate themselves from all of them, some with success, and some without. Enter Team Fortress 2, a cartoon-styled class-based FPS by Valve, those guys who haven't released Half Life 3. And after 4 years of life, Valve made the game free-to-play due to its huge success and give many other people a chance to enjoy the experience. Does it deserve all this praise though?

The main premise in Team Fortress 2 is similar to most FPS games (actually, most games in general): defeat your opponents. The year is 1968, and two businesses - Reliable Excavation Demolition (RED) and Builders League United (BLU) - are fighting each other for what the other company has, and become incredible powerful and wealthy. They each hired 9 people to fight for each side - Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Heavy, Demoman, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, and Spy. There's a bunch of backstory for this game, revealed in comics and updates, this is just a summary of the story explained in-game. Which is basically none.

Team Fortress 2 has 9 different classes to play as, classified as either offensive, defensive, or support, and each have unique stats, abilities, and weapons. The Scout runs fast, double jumps, and is great at close combat. The Soldier has a rocket launcher and can rocket jump. The Pyro lights people on fire and also excels at close range. The Heavy is slow, but bulky and has a powerful minigun. The Demoman lays down sticky bombs and shoots grenades. The Engineer builds things, such as sentry guns, dispensers, and teleporters. The Medic heals people and can make people invincible for a short time. The Sniper is pretty self-explanatory. The Spy can turn invisible, disguise as an enemy, backstab, and sap Engineer buildings.

In addition to the unique classes, there are also other items that can be equipped in place of their stock weapons, making for plenty of options for each class. Some items are simple replacements with different stats or abilities (such as the Degreaser, which replaces the Pyro's default flamethrower, and has faster weapon switch, but lower afterburn damage), while others completely change how a class can be played (such as the Engineer's Wrangler, which replaces his pistol and allows him to control his sentry). The best part of these alternates is that act more as sidegrades instead of upgrades, meaning no item becomes obsolete when you obtain another. Some items may also be more suited to a certain situation compared to another, all of this meaning there isn't any real top-tier item that can make anybody an automatic pro. These items are unlocked by completing achievements (speaking of which, there's almost 400 of them), finding them through drops, crafting them, or purchasing them (the latter two being explained later on).

While most FPS games involve your team killing the most enemies to obtain the most points, Team Fortress 2 instead has multiple different modes to play on, and different maps for each - Valve-created and community made. Control Points involves either the RED team protecting their points from BLU, or both teams trying to capture all points. Capture the Flag has the teams trying to steal each others' intel briefcases a certain amount of times. Payload has BLU pushing a cart while RED tries to stop them, and Payload Race is when they race each to get to the end, pushing their own cart. King of the Hill is when the teams aim to hold a point for at least a combined total of 3 minutes. In addition to these, there are multiple other community-made modes/mods, and (previously mentioned) multiple maps made by the community also. Only problem is that Valve maps tend to dominate the server lists, but if you go looking enough, you're bound to find plenty of custom, fun maps to play on, and different mods as well.

A main focus of the game is in the teamwork, as it's called TEAM Fortress 2 for reasons. Your team won't be winning if they're all scattered around, not working together or co-operating. It's also important to have your team prepared to get past a certain obstacle and not have 4 Snipers on one team doing close to nothing. This heavy emphasis on teamwork is what can make the game so much fun at times, when a well-prepared and collaborating team can successfully win a round, but also be aggravating when they lack any kind of preparation or co-operation. This isn't the games fault, however those who don't play well with others will not enjoy the game to its fullest extent.

Now, I feel obligated to elaborate on this subject, as it's what made Team Fortress 2 famous: hats. Added in some update a few years back, hats and other miscellaneous items can be worn by a class, which act as cosmetic things. They are often found as rare drops, or crafted or bought (again, explained later on). A few can be found in achievements, as well. It's also worth noting that you can't be free-to-player to find or craft a hat. They're a fun addition to the game, I think, even if they do nothing. Plus they give you more to strive for - this game has huge amounts of replayability.

A feature to this game is trading, which is also excluded to free-to-play people. It's a rather obvious concept, as you trade away weapons, hats, and whatever else you've collected in the game for other weapons, hats, or items. All items - with the exception of achievement items and items crafted from achievement items - can be given away, and you can also trade for items from other games! Regarding TF2-specific trading, there's a whole bloody market based on in-game trading. Seriously, go search it, they have lists of items and what they're worth. It's crazy. Yet well-organized.

Another feature of the game is the crafting feature. With this, you can create items out of your unwanted items, instead of waiting for a specific drop. By crafting two class-specific weapons, you get a scrap metal. 3 scrap make a reclaimed, and 3 reclaimed make a refined. You can also make Class Tokens and Slot Tokens to try your luck at making a random item for that class and weapon slot. Most recipes to make an item only need scraps of reclaimed: refined can make hats (unavailable to free-to-play) and are also the main "currency" for that trading scheme I discussed earlier. The only things that can't be used to craft are items bought at the store.

This store, called the Mann Co. Store, is where you can just buy your weapons and hats with real moneys, or test out weapons you may want to buy. By buying any item here, a free-to-play user becomes premium, allowing them to trade, find rare drops, and craft rare things. No monthly fees, no specific price, just purchase a 50 cent hat and be on your way. The best part about this system is that all of the items minus a very, very, very few items (none if you count trading), can be obtained outside the store, meaning that purchasing is completely optional: it's a great system, and, in addition to its large, content-rich updates, shows that DLC can be done right. Screw off, EA. You too Capcom. One of the items exclusive to the store are keys, to open up the numerous crates you'll find during gameplay. Within the crates are special weapons called Stranges, which count the number of kills you get on that weapon. When you get enough, you'll get a new rank (such as "Uncharitable"), and are awesome and fun to have. You may also find hats in crates and very rare Unusual hats, which have some sort of effect on it, such as flames or clouds.

Now, how does the game look? Fantastic. The cartoonish style of this FPS compared to its brethren that are dark and gritty and such is very eye-pleasing, and the blood stains actually appear on characters and on walls and floors instead of disappearing into thin air. And the sound? Weapons sound good, no in-game music though, but that's not important. The characters have dialogue when they kill someone or do other actions, and it's hilarious and charming. Upon dominating a Scout, Spy comments: "Here lies Scout. He ran fast and died a virgin." The accents and nationalities of these characters also add emphasis to their sayings, and make them even better and charming.

PROS:
-Unique classes, weapons, game modes, etc. make for lots of fun and replay value.
-Separates itself from other FPS games.
-Crafting and trading are some great features of the game.
-Characters are funny and enjoyable.
-DLC done right.
-It's free!


CONS:
-You need to play well with others.
-Can be difficult to find unique modes or maps in server list.


Score Breakdown:
Presentation: Sandvich
Gameplay: 9
Replay: 10
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9.5
Story: N/A

Final Score: 9

There are reasons for games being free-to-play. Most common reasons include that they're total crap or they did not sell well. In Team Fortress 2's case, it was such a success, they could make it free-to-play for everyone to enjoy. For anyone who does not own the game, I highly recommend it, especially if you're a fan of FPS games. It's fun, and you will be attached to this game for a long time.

roshipower
#2

Sun Jun 17, 2012 12:23 pm

roshipower
Zekrom & Reshiram
Zekrom & Reshiram
best online shooter ever?yup

https://www.youtube.com/roshipower
Bzilla56
#3

Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:13 pm

Bzilla56
Ice Kirby
Ice Kirby
I Prefer Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Skochko
#4

Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:41 pm

Skochko
Administrator
Administrator
Yes. CoD has better graphics. This is a kid's game.

No, srsly, I may join you soon.

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#5


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