Like many PC gamers I’ve been looking forward to Team Fortress 2 (TF2) release. A while back, Valve Software announced that it would be released along with Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and a new game called “Portal”. HL2:E2 was a no-brainer for me, and Portal looks really cool so I was already going to purchase the set.
Then they started showing off the character design. Eschewing the push towards realism of other shooters, Valve decided on a highly stylized, almost cartoony look to the game. Character silhouettes are exaggerated and their “class” is easy to recognize. Textures are cell-shaded but GORGEOUS.
I wanted it before. I really wanted it now.
Last week they let people pre-order what was now called “The Orange Box“, and noted that if you did you not only saved some money ($5) but you’d also be able to play the TF2 Beta starting yesterday.
Well, at midnight last night the beta became available. And it’s better than I expected, and I was expecting “really really good”. Here’s a screenshot, taken at the end of one round of play — I should have taken more during the actual game but I was having way too much fun!
(note that if the popover is too big for you to see the “x” to close it, you can use ESC to remove it as well)
That’s a Heavy Weapons Guy (or “Heavy”) — the class with a huge gatling gun that can take a lot of damage. When firing (or spinning up the gatling’s barrels) he moves very slowly and is vulnerable to Sniper fire. The balance of classes is amazing. Every class has an important job for the team. Any time we didn’t have a certain class I’d be wishing someone would switch. That’s impressive considering there are nine classes! I tended to play the Engineer class, but when going on Offense I really enjoyed the Spy, and tried a bit of the Soldier.
The sense of humor they managed to get into a frenetic team-based first-person shooter is impressive, and everyone I played with was commenting positively throughout the game on how great it was.
Anyway, if you have a computer and Internet and you like shooters at all, this game is incredible. Go buy The Orange Box because Half-Life 2 and the Episodes are also excellent. These games should all run very well on an moderately new PC with a halfway decent video card. If you preorder through Steam now, you can get into the Beta instantly!
Now I have to go to sleep, and try not to think of playing TF2.
Update: It also keeps stats!
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