Team Fortress 2 Review

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 October, 2007

King of the castle.

Version tested: PC

Thanks to failing eyesight (thanks, Suicide Girls) and this newfangled obsession with making everything look gritty, online FPS games are harder for me than ever. Half the time I can't pick people out from the environment until it's too late. Even in Counter-Strike, which is clearer than most, I often get popped in the head by a distant Colt and then have to cycle the chase-cameras to work out who killed me and from where.

So it's important to start this review by jumping up and down waving excitedly about Team Fortress 2's brilliant graphics: not only is everything extremely clear and intuitive, with character classes that you can easily distinguish at distance, but when you get killed the game crash-zooms to and freeze-frames your killer, so you can immediately identify who, why, how and where. Other FPS developers: copy this immediately.

Making a complicated team-based online FPS like Team Fortress into an accessible experience was obviously one of Valve's objectives. Each map comes with a short video that tells you about the game-type and goals; all the level architecture is distinct when you move between sections, with big sign-posts telling you which capture-point or area you're heading to; and all the weapons and abilities are really intuitive, like the Medic's healing gun, which fires health into your target and illustrates this by pumping little red crosses along the stream.

'Team Fortress 2' Screenshot tf1

One of the most important things about any FPS is its gibs. TF2's are like a sort of splattery ketchup, rather than syrup. Delicious.

Thankfully that doesn't mean TF has been dumbed down. There are nine classes, and, while several are easy to pick up, getting the most out of each will take hours of experimentation and intuition. The Spy, for example, perfectly captures the sense of the name. Armed with a flick-knife and the ability to disguise himself as the enemy, the Spy can infiltrate enemy bases and even make himself invisible. But he's fragile, and you can uncloak him by shooting or brushing against him. And while his flick-knife kills with one hit, it only does so from behind, and using it gives up his position.

Along with the Medic, Heavy Weapons Guy, Scout, Pyro, Sniper, Demo Man, Engineer and rocket-jumping Soldier, that makes nine classes, which you can pick from before each respawn. Your team's objective, depending on the map, may be to run the enemy off control-points or defend them, to capture and hold them in a tug of war, or simply to race into the enemy base and nick a briefcase of intelligence (so, CTF).

'Team Fortress 2' Screenshot tf2

By remaining zoomed in for a few seconds, the power of the sniper's shot increases.

Again though, TF is accessible without feeling slight, and the key to that isn't the six maps, or the game-types, but those nine classes. Individually each has a trio of weapons and various specific attributes, like an amount of health and movement characteristics that are relative to the character's stature, as well as the occasional special ability.

Some classes, like the Soldier and the minigun-toting Heavy Weapons Guy, are easy to pick up and easy to integrate into a team with which you're not familiar. Slightly more skilled players, or those with TF experience, will happily slot into less glamorous or obvious roles like the Engineer, Demo Man or Pyro. The latter's flamethrower is great over short distances, but won't finish enemies off quickly, so you mousewheel to the shotgun for a killing blow, while the Demo Man is a mixture of high-impact projectiles and remote-detonation mine-launching, giving it offensive and defensive flexibility.

'Team Fortress 2' Screenshot tf3

Respawns aren't instant, but the downtime is a good opportunity to survey the action through chase-cams and decide whether to change class.

The Engineer also has that flexibility. As a support unit, the ammo- and health-dispensing stations it produces are great for maintaining forward positions, while the teleports it can set up help reinforce them. But these things are also important in defence, along with the all-powerful sentry guns, which completely disrupt an attacking team's momentum until they're cleared.

Engineers are particularly susceptible to Spies, though, because they're often kneeling down and working on something. And Spies are drawn to their location, because Spies can also undo entrenched sentry guns, sabotaging them at the potential cost of exposure. That relationship is typical. Each class is a cunning set of contradictions. It's not so much rock, paper, scissors as rock, paper, scissors, flick-knife, fire, sentry-gun, mini-gun, sniper rifle, double-jump, bone-saw.

Figuring out how best to fight for your team in the role you've chosen is very intuitive, but so is figuring out how to support your team, and it's all important work - the Medic, for example, is one of the easiest classes to play as in the game, but also the most important in the right hands. His "medi-gun" is useful for healing team-mates in advanced positions, but the other element of it is the ability to build up "uber-charge". This involves lots of healing and staying alive, and allows the Medic to unleash ten seconds of invulnerability for him and his target comrade. Medic-and-Heavy combinations are great for holding down capture-points, or assaulting them in more claustrophobic settings, while other combinations yield other benefits.

In contrast with other, less accessible team-based FPS games, TF2's clever concoction of classes, artistic choices and relationship trackers help you establish effective attack and defence routines almost without the need for voice communication (although it, and finger-bending voice-command menus, are present). The good thing about that instinctive adaptation is that it allows you to slot onto public servers without feeling self-conscious, but the further you progress the more likely you are to experiment with tougher classes, and the more strategic depth you uncover. The victor, in every situation, is simply the team who adapted best first. Where we perhaps expected baffling complexity, instead we've got a game that rewards mental agility, but doesn't struggle to cultivate it.

'Team Fortress 2' Screenshot tf4

Visually there are all sorts of effects to enjoy. As the Heavy builds up killing momentum, his grin broadens until he's laughing maniacally.

In a team-based FPS - especially one that plays at such a fast pace, where death can be frequent - that's potent. The best difference between Counter-Strike and TF2, for instance, is that failure in TF2 is often immediately instructive, and a successful tactic or an unrivalled twitch-killer are never the panacea they are in on the fields of Dust or Militia. After all, what good is the best Sniper in the world if, in sudden-death overtime, he misses the fact that his comrade on the balcony is actually a cigarette-chomping super-Spy preparing to slit his throat?

The game also does a lovely job of framing your relationship with other players and nurturing them. If someone is dominating you, the game says so, and revenge is sweeter. The scoring system, of course, helps reflect this - if someone is dominating you, they get more points for continuing to do so. Valve also includes a range of Achievements (which we witnessed on both PC and 360), that - rather like celebrated Geometry Wars 360 achievement "Pacifism" - push you in the direction of new ideas as much as they celebrate or laugh along with your accomplishments.

'Team Fortress 2' Screenshot tf5

Each character also has a range of taunts - one per weapon. The Medic plays his bonesaw like a violin.

It is a game where even a day's worth of play could fill a website's worth of anecdotes. Standing at the top of a tower trying to avoid Demo Man rounds while Heavies mount the stairs and Spies attempt to get behind you is a science-fiction Helm's Deep. And as with another of the Orange Box games, Portal, Valve's ability to teach players without over-encumbering them, or even without giving away that they are doing so, in no way diminishes the game's long-term appeal or its bounteous variety.

As an aside, there are certain things about any multiplayer FPS game that ultimately prove critical to its acceptance that no review scenario is ever likely to convey, and it would be churlish not to recognise these in the text: we had minimal exposure to the server-side control of the game, and our experiences were limited to LAN play. We believe that the developer's pre-release period of beta-testing, its capacity to make CS work long-term, and its history of offering free and feedback-based support should mitigate potential problems, but we thought we'd mention it.

'Team Fortress 2' Screenshot tf6

The Scout's best for retrieving the briefcase in 2fort. Providing there isn't a sentry-gun in the corner.

Looking beyond release, TF2 will get more maps (for free), but even the initial six will struggle to wane thanks to sheer gameplay density. TF2's been in development since B*Witched were top of the pops, and the result is a game that should scale to the needs of everyone from the clumsiest neophyte to the staunchest supporter.

In an uncharacteristic burst of intelligent observation, the game's Wikipedia entry remarks that the old design of TF2 is "quite possibly the only game to have spawned a thriving sub-genre without ever being released itself". For the people who make up that sub-genre, as well as those addressing it afresh, we're confident the reaction will be "ten years well spent".

9 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (138) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • keyboardmonkey #1 4 years ago

    First! and what's going on releasing reviews at this time of night, trying to sneak them past us.
    Edited by 1 at 17/09/07 @ 19:57

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #2 4 years ago

    Embargoes :) Congrats on being first! That sounds like something I should definitely encourage!

  • foamy #3 4 years ago

    OMG

  • Der_tolle_Emil #4 4 years ago

    Sometime when I finally get the Orange Box this will be mine! A box full of joy since I never played Half Life 2 until this very day (except the demo a couple of weeks ago which made me want to buy the Orange Box).

  • space_ace #5 4 years ago

    Team Fortress 2 Review

    magical words :) not april's fool too...

  • Leolian #6 4 years ago

    Hmmm. Can you buy this separate from the rest of orange box? Already have HL2 and Episode 1.

  • absolutezero #7 4 years ago

    Wait what?

    EDIT Suicide Girls are nasty.
    Edited by 1 at 17/09/07 @ 20:03

  • UncleLou #8 4 years ago

    Visually there are all sorts of effects to enjoy. As the Heavy builds up killing momentum, his grin broadens until he's laughing maniacally.

    Nice, I was hoping some of the facial animations would make it into the game.

  • Pike #9 4 years ago

    I like the idea behind and the looks of this game, but judging by the predecesor it's to much of a twitchy fast paced shooter for me.:(

  • spliffhead #10 4 years ago

    Damn it I've only just waded into Warhawk and now this and COD4!

  • Paleface #11 4 years ago

    Cannot wait. Been waiting around ten years for this, now, and it looks like the worthy sequel to QWTF I've been waiting for. And on a console, too! Bring on the Orange Box!

  • MrCarrot #12 4 years ago

    WANT

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #13 4 years ago

    "Nice, I was hoping some of the facial animations would make it into the game."

    Each classes has several. Under certain circumstances (sorry, haven't got my notes in front of me), even more amusing ones manifest themselves. Robin Walker (lead chap on TF2) was telling me that the Valve guys themselves were still discovering new ones after months of playtesting.

    Plus of course there are still 6 more character videos to be released. Woot!

  • themerlin13 #14 4 years ago

    Whoo its great, but.............hang on..............yes I remember valve said "beta for everyone on 17th if you preorder" but no sign of it and its getting late :(

    (on steam that is not 360)
    Edited by 1 at 17/09/07 @ 20:15

  • absolutezero #15 4 years ago

    Any news on when the Beta is going to be activated?

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #16 4 years ago

    "Any news on when the Beta is going to be activated?"

    It's supposed to be *now*. That's why we had to hold off the review.

  • Pirotic #17 4 years ago

    Glad I pre-ordered the orange box on steam now, the beta goes live in a couple of hours! wahey!

  • Gulag #18 4 years ago

    How much longer will they make us wait?! *Anguish*

  • Carrybagma #19 4 years ago

    Hoo rah!

    Have fun, beta-people.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #20 4 years ago

    "Great!, Now PC or 360?"

    I saw less of it on 360, but if our experience of Portal and EpTwo is anything to go by, it's pretty much identical. The only difference I remember is supported players - 16 on 360, 24 on PC. I don't *think* I'm breaking the Portal/EpTwo embargo if I point out that they run brilliantly on 360!

    I probably am though. Keep it to yourself.

  • JediMasterMalik #21 4 years ago

    Sounds excellent, COME ON BETA!

  • keyboardmonkey #22 4 years ago

    Can't wait, i am even going to try and play this on a console rather than the pc.

    I have the same problem about not being able to see people in FPS', spending half my time whirling around firing at anything trying to work out exactly who is draining my health so quickly. With the good graphics, hopefully nice and bright i won't have this problem anymore. Actually come to think of it maybe i am just sh!t at this type of game. Back to being the servers whipping boy :(

  • jozz #23 4 years ago

    hehe, cry some more...

  • Reapergold #24 4 years ago

    Darn you cruel being Steam! Why is there never a release TIME given! WHY!?! Arr well. Ill still crumble in my fan juices when they do actually get round to letting the beta begin :p

  • Guv #25 4 years ago

    just put in an order for the box, as I've for some obscure reason only played about 30 minutes of H2 and nothing at all of the chapters this should keep me busy for quite a while :)

  • Kostabi #26 4 years ago

    Didn't expect to see a new review this time of night. Excellent cure after a crappy day at work. :D

    Now just to finish pre-loading TF2...

  • Ryuken #27 4 years ago

    So, what's the "beta" for if there already is a "review version"? Hoping that everything will be alright at and after release is odd to read you know, especially when remembering what happened with HL² at release (overloaded servers+sound bugs).

  • HoriZon #28 4 years ago

    cos its a marketing thing.

  • [TR] #29 4 years ago

    Damn Valve! Releasing these sequels so close to the originals!
    I'm still trying to finish TFC!

  • Waldo #30 4 years ago

    but when you get killed the game crash-zooms to and freeze-frames your killer, so you can immediately identify who, why, how and where. Other FPS developers: copy this immediately.

    Sounds like the "Kill-Cam" from Call Of Duty.

  • eAi #31 4 years ago

    I'd be interested to know why it got 9/10 rather than 10/10 - you don't seem to mention any criticism of it at all. It doesn't really seem like much of a review to me - pretty much like a preview...

    There must be some flaw you can point out to justify it losing 10% :)

  • krudster #32 4 years ago

    It's back!

  • Gulag #33 4 years ago

    And so are we!

  • ecureuil #34 4 years ago

    Been waiting years for this, and I'm glad it's good.

  • 1Dgaf #35 4 years ago

    Couldn't you get any original screenshots? Those all seem to be grabs from a promotional video released a few months ago.

  • Carrybagma #36 4 years ago

    @eAi: Here's what EG have said before regarding tens..

    Eurogamer has an unspoken but nonetheless clear agenda of rewarding innovation, and a game has to be not only a pinnacle, but a pretty damn astonishing pinnacle, for it to achieve a ten by simply doing old things exceptionally well.

    Maybe TF2 wasn't quite the pinnacle... :o)

    Makes you wonder how they'll score Halo3. The crushing weight of hype and expectation will make awarding anything less than a 10 an incendiary thing to do.

  • Luckz #37 4 years ago

    I haven't heard anything about Halo3 that'd make it more than an 8/10, but then it's not like I cared.

  • Vandrius #38 4 years ago

    I just wrote a long piece on why TF2 deserved a 10, when compared to Bioshock.

    Then I realised I've already got Bioshock and my Orange Box pre-order is waiting on Steam already, so its not like a 9 or 10 made a lick of difference to me... and I deleted it all :-D

    Engineer, here I come!! I just wish they still had Insta-kill EMP grenades :-(

  • Collie #39 4 years ago

    I've been waiting for this for ages! Seems like I was a child when it was first in development. I've even bought a 1200 baud modem for my ZX Spectrum games machine just to play it! I hope the lag isn't too bad and it isn't another one of those 128K only multi-load affairs. I bloody hate those games.

  • Number1Laing #40 4 years ago

    I want to get this (seeing as I played the hell out of TFC almost 10 years ago and have been waiting for it ever since), but with Halo 3, Sega Rally, etc., sadly it might not make it. Oh, I'll pick up Orange Box but do not know if I will be getting into TF2 like it deserves... truly we have an embarrassment of riches this holiday season!

    And is it any doubt Valve would make this game good? Only problem, 9 years and 6 maps! Damn Valve!

  • Talha #41 4 years ago

    Wow. 2 9/10 games in one day! Too bad my 360 just died on me. But then, thats how it goes doesn't it? It HAD to break down, and it HAD to be now.

    Please send flowers.

  • TripSkyway #42 4 years ago

    Sounds great.

  • Dr_Lobster #43 4 years ago

    Comforting. TFC was among the more fun, accessible-but-hard-to-master FPS' I enjoyed on the PC (hello, Tribes), and it's good to know this version's carrying the torch. Would like to hear some more details on maps, however -- are they expansive? Symmetrical? What kind of situations and playing styles do they invite?

  • 3william56 #44 4 years ago

    Presume this review is PC only, no word yet on what the PS3 (or 360) versions are like?

  • symmetry #45 4 years ago

    Woo Hoo!

    Canny timing, releasing it for review just before the beta :)

    I guess all these scores will take the wind out of any trolling. Wish I could afford to get it for both the PC and 360, just so I could get in on the beta...

  • robg #46 4 years ago

    The review doesn't seem to answer the most important question:

    Are the pipes green or yellow?

  • BadBoyBonner #47 4 years ago

    "when you get killed the game crash-zooms to and freeze-frames your killer, so you can immediately identify who, why, how and where. Other FPS developers: copy this immediately"

    CoD 4 - goes one better and actually shows, from a camera fixzed to show everyone in the fire fight, who killed you and from the display of pre-action death you can work out if it was you being crap of them being brilliant or just a lucky shot.

    So on the end of that, with regards CoD 4, other FPS developers: copy this immediately.

  • Freelancepolice #48 4 years ago

    Cod4s system is slightly different, perhaps better but the screenshot prompt coupled with the hilarious facial animations make this much more amusing imo

  • AlvySinger #49 4 years ago

    I'm with Tom (sorry Mugwum) on this. Most modern multiplayer FPS games make it damn near impossible to spot the enemy.

    On COD4, I keep twitch-killing bits of litter flying around - giving away my position and, inevitably, leading to death.

    TF2 sounds much more my cup of machine gun spraying, blood spattering tea.

  • siro #50 4 years ago

    Am I the only one looking forward to a tirade of "so as good as Halo 3 then?" comments for every 8/10 score? I hope it gets a 7:)

    With TF2 out, there's only DNF left lurking in the bushes.

  • Peew971 #51 4 years ago

    The review reminded me a bit of Shadowrun, which can only be a good thing. Can't wait for it to come out :)

  • smurphs #52 4 years ago

    I know it's TEAM Fortress but is there anything for us social retards who hate the process of finding a team to scorn your lack of gaming prowess? I quite enjoy running around on my own giving people frags for very little effort. It's my form of philanthropy. :)

  • Freelancepolice #53 4 years ago

    there's definitely a place for lone wolfs although I think you'll find it much more rewarding playing as a team. Plus you'll end up losing the matches

  • Peew971 #54 4 years ago

    smurphs - I'm your exact opposite, I find being on your own a bit dull and pointless. I always go for a CTF, Territories or so, even (specially) in Halo. That's why I loved Shadowrun and will certainly love TF2

  • Artemis_Matsas #55 4 years ago

    OMG i want it now!!!

  • Twincoil #56 4 years ago

    Orange Box is Gaming's Holy Grail - Fact

  • TruWari3r #57 4 years ago

    I'm actually really looking forward to this, as much as cod4, crysis, halo and mass effect.

  • Caimbeul #58 4 years ago

    does it have bots?

  • stoopidgreg #59 4 years ago

    i pre-ordered the orange box yesterday just to play this.

    hurry up and download!!

  • magicpanda #60 4 years ago

    That review has just made my day. :D

  • Darren #61 4 years ago

    I'm buying the Orange Box purely for Half-Life 2 and Portal so I can't say I care much for Team Fortress 2 particularly, in fact I doubt I'll play it more than once (I'm not a big fan of online gaming you see). Still, it's nice to see it turned out good after all this time in development.

  • Xerx3s #62 4 years ago

    Why is it that EG always uses supplied screenshots from the developer? How do I know that I can trust them to represent an accurate picture of the game?

  • StigR #63 4 years ago

    I had lots of fun in TFC and I just CANT wait to get into this... It should anyway be more accessible than ET:QW which sucks bigtime!

    Fixed blasphemous spelling mistake
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 17:18

  • UncleLou #64 4 years ago

    Just played the beta - it rocks, no doubt - and looks even better than I would have imagined. Amazing.

  • Kiigan #65 4 years ago

    Nice review Tom, it sounds awesome :)

  • evilashchris #66 4 years ago

    Jesus titty-fucking christ!

    I thought i'd be able to do without this awhile, what with all the excellent 360 and Wii stuff around the corner. I'm really not so sure i can now. Gnnnnn.

  • Guv #67 4 years ago

    Quick question: How casual friendly do you think this game/crowd will be?

    I do play FPS games but more often then not its just the single player side (prefer the story driven ones), so I'm not all that used to the team side. I tried playing GoW online a couple of times... and let's just say it made me give up online play for a couple of months. Think this crowd will be better?

    Really like the cartoony style they've gone with, genius!

    oh and I'll be playing it on the 360.
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 10:24

  • Danoxth #68 4 years ago

    Going to be a tough choice for me, 360 or PC. Decisions, decisions.....

  • miiiguel #69 4 years ago

    The thing with online games nowdays, is that if you don't buy the game ASAP you'll be raped when you 'jump in'.
    So, as I'm deep into chasing that Nene freak I'll give this one a miss.

  • asphaltcowboy #70 4 years ago

    Beta at lunch! w00t!

  • _Price_ #71 4 years ago

    So, now I need to get a 360, HDTV, broadband AND The Orange Box.

    Spare some change?

  • foamy #72 4 years ago

    Probably buying Orange Box for 360.

  • xAx #73 4 years ago

    mmmm suicide girls

  • UncleLou #74 4 years ago

    This is the TF2 thread, not a place to spout Halo 3 propaganda - a game which, I take it, you haven't even played yet...

  • Katsumoto #75 4 years ago

    I'm not sure how anyone can think Halo 3 will even come close to this, but then, I have't played it, so whatever. I am really enjoying this beta so far, though I seem to be the tiny, tiny minority who is actually LOVING the ET:QW demo, so TF2 will have to work hard to vie for my affections!

    Medic + heavy ftw.

  • ViralNinja #76 4 years ago

    Am I the only one who doesn't like that in COD4 and now this, they've effectively killed off the ability to be a camping sniper? What's the point in finding a good spot to snipe from if as soon as you get your firstk ill they all know you're there

  • Bulbatron #77 4 years ago

    Does this have split-screen?

  • Crovax20 #78 4 years ago

    @ ManicMiner

    Its not that hard to find a sniper. I swear developers nerfed the sniper badly overtime. Not only does a sniper have a very absurdly large tracer and large muscle flash, they also have to pinpoint your exact location to the person you kill, in most games these days. The sole purpose of a sniper is to be concealed and do as much damage as possible that way, while being concealed.

    Now I've learned to live with it, and it doesn't really bother me all that much, since I'm more of a upclose and personal guy with my shotgun. But I still think a kill cam defies the whole point of being a sniper

    I can live with the red flash on the screen indicating the direction one got shot from, so you know the general direction the person is next time you spawn. But Killcams are stupid in my opinion. Killcams take away the element of where the f did he shoot me from.
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 12:31

  • JHuxley #79 4 years ago

    You know, I've not had a chance to play it myself yet, but surely as a sniper it's just a case of learning to play the game a little differently? Armed with the knowledge the person you just killed knows exactly where you're hiding then the risk of being killed increases. So when you feel that you're in sufficient danger...MOVE!

    It sounds like this just eliminates camping rather than sniping. Good snipers will still do well.

  • THATinkjar #80 4 years ago

    I'm a tad confused. If they've just released the beta... why is the game getting reviewed? I'm guessing the "beta" is actually a "demo".

  • FaceOmeter #81 4 years ago

    Crovax20: I don'tthink the sniper is nerfed. I just came from a sudden death round where our last surviving sniper took down four members of the opposing team single-handedly to win us the match! He did well cos a dispenser from one of the engineers was still up, but i think the sniper may just be harder to master than he is badly designed.

  • ResidentKnievel #82 4 years ago

    Thanks to the kill cam in COD4 beta you can now camp with the shotgun.Wait for the other team to come looking for you while you hide in the corner ready for a one hit kill.

  • Nova5lag #83 4 years ago

    Cant wait!

  • AhrimaaN #84 4 years ago

    I think it is too slow and too simplified... no grenades doesn't help either.

    Graphics are fantastic though. I think Fortress Forever will have better lasting appeal.

  • JHuxley #85 4 years ago

    Good point FaceOmeter: a combination of classes working in tandem could hold a camping position even with the deathcam working against them. Any game that encourages teamwork like that is good my my book.
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 13:09

  • AhrimaaN #86 4 years ago

    Also... the kill cam shoul dnot be employed in many games at all... and thank god they aren't as that would totally kill the hidey shooter (aka sniper) that kicks arse because everyone is too dumb to locate him withou looking for a muzzle flash or sight glint etc.

  • AhrimaaN #87 4 years ago

    Faceometer, of couse he won, it's because no one knew where he was in sudden death. Had they respawned... he woul dhave been toast straight away, refill station or not. Only in sudden death is the sniper truly effective as it should b. (Or highly overcrowded choke points)
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 13:12

  • king_skins #88 4 years ago

    to all the moaning snipers

    get a job!

  • asphaltcowboy #89 4 years ago

    Oh man, that was totally awesome!

  • chiz #90 4 years ago

    Is there bots in the game?

  • Fitzmogwai #91 4 years ago

    Any decent sniper knows that "shoot and scoot" is the rule to live by anyway.

  • AhrimaaN #92 4 years ago

    Thing is the maps in TF2 are too tight imo to scoot after killing someone. BF2 sure, you can move after giving yourself away with a massive muzzle flash (or dynamic light flash around you) etc... and thus snipers are balanced... and rare for one shot kills too... unlike just telling everyone where you are as soon as you kill them, but letting you kill them easily with one shot... as long as you stay put while waiting to shoot...

  • Chaser #93 4 years ago

    I suspect the killcam will be a cvar option in the server - it was with TFC etc. There will be servers running without it in the near future, and if its not an option out of the box, someone will produce a 3rd part mod to turn it off.

  • FaceOmeter #94 4 years ago

    who'd have thought a killcam could be so contentious? but i think if this is the only part of the game which is annoying people, it's doing very well. it's a minor thing, after all.

    I think TIME will vindicate valve on the killcam though. Those of you worried about snipers being undermined: this is a game with six levels. All the sniper points are going to get found pretty quickly, and most players who get to know levels well work out where snipers might be pretty much intuitively. All this does is allow n00bs like me to reach the same conclusions.

    Secondly, as most of the levels have bases, knowing where mr. snipey is doesn't necessarily equate to being able to instantly take him out, especially if he's playing as a team with a soldier and engineer (for instance). And if it does, I'm with JHuxley - forcing the sniper to do some adaptive gameplay every so often might not be such a bad idea.

  • X201 #95 4 years ago

    Haven't played it yet but it seems that Valve's whole design goal was FUN. Super snipers in impossible to spot hidey holes ruins the fun for everyone else.
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 16:10

  • calexico #96 4 years ago

    A completely silly test which was already written yesterday. How is it possible to do a good test of a multi game like TF2 which just the beta began today? Just to be the first test of TF2 on the web...
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 16:14

  • smoison #97 4 years ago

    I find the look really truns me off this game.

    With Enemy Territory:Quake Wars here next week, this game is totally overshadowed for me.

    Sorry Valve, not this time.

  • Lim-Dul #98 4 years ago

    A completely silly test which was already written yesterday. How is it possible to do a good test of a multi game like TF2 which just the beta began today?

    You obviously don't know how reviewers work, when they get their review versions etc., calexico. Also, the release of TF2 is just being artificially pushed back so that the Orange Box comes out as a whole. A beta released 3 weeks before a game goes gold is simply no beta.

    I find the look really truns me off this game.

    With Enemy Territory:Quake Wars here next week, this game is totally overshadowed for me.

    Have you played ET:QW or are you just going with the hype? If you played the beta you'd know that no matter the looks, QW sucks balls... It's worse than BF2 when it comes to vehicles and worse than CS:S/DoD:s when it comes to teamplay... As generic a multiplayer shooter as can be...

  • Fyzzu #99 4 years ago

    Ye gods. This beta is the most fun I've had all year. I admit I was a TFC fanatic, and I've only played this for about an hour so far, but I've laughed far harder at this than expected, and thoroughly enjoyed whta I've attempted.

    calexico, I would assume this beta is part pre-order bonus/demo, part stress test, and part crash test. If that's what you're asking :) Seems to be in a very, very polished state, so it's really just the latter two left - a few bugs, and finding out how all the servers hold up.

  • smoison #100 4 years ago

    Haveing played the demo of ET:QW I know its LOADS better the Battlefield2 (which is BETA unfinished crap anyway)

    And teamplay is definded by who you play with, so I guess you played on a shitty server.

  • Tyronne #101 4 years ago

    only had a go of this for about 40 odd mins earlier on and it was a laugh, considering this came in a package with some other bits and cost just 25 quid...I honestly cannot complain at all.

  • UncleLou #102 4 years ago

    I find the look really truns me off this game.

    Wow, seriously? TF2 looks absolutely amazing, in my opinion. Not just artistically, but also technically. Fantastic (soft) shadows, particle effects, motion blur, HDR, great looking surfaces (like metal), etc. The elegance and subtlety with which the cartoony look is pulled off is deeply impressive. The real thing looks a lot better than the videos which make all these subtleties disappear - but I guess if you generally don't like the style, there's not much that can be done.

  • Lim-Dul #103 4 years ago

    Haveing played the demo of ET:QW I know its LOADS better the Battlefield2 (which is BETA unfinished crap anyway)

    Well, so basically you're just an ET fanboy? =)

    And teamplay is definded by who you play with, so I guess you played on a shitty server.

    Nope, I played on lots of servers. Either a game encourages teamplay (like, TF2?) or is just pretending to be doing so (ET:QW).

  • YourMessageHere #104 4 years ago

    Sniping...in most games, something is done to show you where snipers are, and in most games, only a headshot equates to a one-shot-kill. Basically, the kill cam is just a different way of doing the tracer effect, or the railgun corkscrew, or the UT lightning arc, or whatever. Any sniper who stays put for more than two kills is either a moron anyway, or has accepted their inevitable death and wants to take a few people out before they go; the best snipers make a kill, then move to somewhere they can cover where they last were and the lines of fire toward that position, in order to kill whoever goes looking for them.

    And as for working out who killed you and how in CS (and most things since), you may have noticed the list of red and blue names and pictures of guns that pop up in the top right corner? Combine that with where you were, what you were doing, where the bang came from and what it sounded like, and it's not hard at all to work out how you died, who did it and from where. Like most MP FPS games, knowing the maps is the key, and why MP gets boring.

  • viper_h #105 4 years ago

    people say no grenades... What does that mean? no concs or emp grenades? no nail bombs or MIRVs? Or just no standard pineapple grenades?

  • delboy83uk #106 4 years ago

    Played the beta all today, a breath of fresh air for online shooters.

  • StigR #107 4 years ago

    After only being online for a short time I can say that TF2 feels spot on. Given that it is still a beta I assume most annoyances will be ironed out before release.. works great on my Vista x64 though.

  • AhrimaaN #108 4 years ago

    No grenades whatsoever, unless you count the demomans gren launcher. shame really!

  • richardiox #109 4 years ago

    What gametypes does TF2 have?

  • calexico #110 4 years ago

    so it's a beta test :p

  • A/V #111 4 years ago

    Does any 1 else find it AMAZING that the ET:Quake wars team are competing against Valve:Team fortress??

    Think about it, the team behind ET:Quake Wars created QW:Team Fortress !
    Its bloody crazy, they are getting beaten by a product that they created/set up 10 years ago!

    No 1 elses seems to of mentioned this ,,,,,

    Also how does this play on the 360 controllers? For example as a soilder how the hell do you rocket jump?? Because u really need a key+mouse for this, unless they have given the 360 owners the option of doing it with one press of a button which would be a good idea imo.

  • Elendil #112 4 years ago

    played the beta for 5 hours today.
    best mp game ever.
    adieu, social life.
    hope my girlfriend won't miss me.

  • viper_h #113 4 years ago

    Played this for about an hour today. Rubbish.

    I'm going to be playing FF from now on.

  • yagisencho #114 4 years ago

    I'm glad it's considered a Beta, as it consistently crashes out under Vista 64-bit. As long as that's fixed by the street date, I'll be satisfied.

    (The other Valve games work fine under the same environment. They even have a 64-bit compiled core EXE.)

  • Razer #115 4 years ago

    Hmm I played this for about an hour this morning and again for the last couple of hours. This is on Vista 64 as well, and it's not crashed once.

    I've had problems connecting to quite a few servers though :(

  • stoopidgreg #116 4 years ago

    been playing all bloody day and i have to say - WHAT A FINE ASS GAME

    seriously seriously good fun, no matter what class you pick. getting a double knife-in-the-back kill with the spy just felt sublime, and when i went on a heavy MG rampage and killed more than 10 fools (thanks to a medic buffing me) it was the biggest adrenaline rush ever. just total carnage.

  • zeox #117 4 years ago

    nice.
    way to review a beta, idiots. Can we expect a review of cod 4 shortly then?

  • Wite_Noiz #118 4 years ago

    @Elendil
    Agreed. Luckily, the g/f is away for a few weeks ;)

    Also, I've been having random crashes on Vista-32. The Valve forums suggest ensuring the latest video drivers. Can't be arsed right now...
    I couldn't play at all initially, had to set the load options on the shortcut to my native res.

    Awesome game.
    Managing to plow through 7 people and 3 sentry guns to get a HMG to the briefcase in 2fort (with a medic propping me up) was my highlight so far.

    Is EG planning on supporting Valve community stats like it does with Live?

  • smelly #119 4 years ago

    MEH..

    Looks too kiddy to me

    kids game!

  • huxathon #120 4 years ago

    http://ww w.somethingawful.com/d/video-ga...

  • useyourloaf #121 4 years ago

    Best. Game. Ever. (Multiplayer.)

  • Darkedge #122 4 years ago

    Butterfly Knife not Flick Knife Tom..

    Great review - very true. Cheers :)

  • Max_Powers #123 4 years ago

    Does anyone care to comment how matchmaking works in the 360 version of this game?

    I find that after the greatness of Halo's system and its ranked team skill matches, I can't bring myself to go back to a 'pick a server' type shite with my group of friends.

    Gears of War I'm looking at you! You could have been so great, if you just let my team of friends play ranked matches against another team.

    /sob

  • Azazel #124 4 years ago

    Work cannot be over soon enough.

  • MrWonderstuff #125 4 years ago

    "In a team-based FPS - especially one that plays at such a fast pace, where death can be frequent - that's potent."

    This game takes some getting used to. Due to its exceptional fast pace it can seem a little overwhelming for new players. Any tips for a new player (a good starter class)?

  • Psi #126 4 years ago

    should have been a 10/10 tbh this is a perfect game.

  • Caimbeul #127 4 years ago

    Does it Have Bots? apologies if its a stupid question but i hate playing on-line...

  • gypsumfantastic #128 4 years ago

    Does it Have Bots? apologies if its a stupid question but i hate playing on-line...

    No, it doesn't. That said, I generally hate playing online too. But TF2 is so much fun that it was easy to make a rare exception.

  • Psi #129 4 years ago

    there wasn't much smack talking to start with but its kicking in now. shame

  • Zelos #130 4 years ago

    I think writing bots for TF2 would be extremely hard, it's not exactly simple deathmatch.

    I've been playing the beta for a week or so and it's a fantastic game, so many little tricks and tactics to learn. The community's generally been pretty good during beta - I've seen some "OMG noob fag team you suck" style comments, but not much.

  • Azazel #131 4 years ago

    I was playing DMC (f*** you, don't laugh!) the other night and had a good solid hour and a half of being called a chaeting minidick pinghacker nopenis speedchaeter!!111oneeleventy.

    All from the same guy, pretty much without pause for breath/rest of fingers. It was actually strangely impressive to see someone sustain that level of smack-talking hatred over a prolonged period.


    I love online gaming.

  • Zelos #132 4 years ago

    @MrWonderstuff

    I found the demoman quite a good class to start with, you can play defensively to start with using the sticky bombs or "area denial" style grenading until you get better at it.

    TF2 actually seems to be quite forgiving for non-twitch players because of all the indirect combat classes (Spy, Engineer, Medic).

    Experience definitely helps - I've gone from normally being bottom of the score table to the upper-middle in a week.

  • Caimbeul #133 4 years ago

    Thanks for the reply gypsumfantastic

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #134 4 years ago

    I saw the Penny Arcade thing and the Something Awful thing too. Although SA got one thing wrong - we posted it at the time the beta went live, not hours afterward.

    As with all our other reviews, it was because we had played it sufficiently to render a score against the cost of the game. Which I imagine is self-evident. I got to play as each of the classes for long enough to be sure of their worth and position in the game as a whole. It wasn't my first exposure to the game, either, and I spent most of the time I was playing it chatting to the lead designer about how everything worked and then putting it to the test.

    So I don't think I did a bad job, but if you disagree you're welcome to comment here. Or post sarcastic rebuttals on your websites. Hurrah for the internet. And Rich Kyanka, who was always such a nice chap when I worked with him at GameSpy when I was about 8.

  • Azazel #135 4 years ago

    Aaaaah. Finally got this fired up tonight and have been playing for about 4 solid hours... so so so so good!

    But my eyes hurt.

  • promoted2001 #136 4 years ago

    If you buy via steam you get the full game right now. Its awesome, better than the original. 2fort still kicks arse!

  • zam786 #137 4 years ago

    been playing this game all night
    pyros still the best
    add me on steam:zam786

  • EggyDeth #138 4 years ago

    Is it just me or....

    does the medic look like Gregory Peck in The Boys from Brazil?

    Where he played the crazy nazi doctor?