Team Fortress 2

[PeteJ]

I don't think any other videogame in history has been in development as long - and still been released - as Team Fortress 2 (beating Pray and Stalker, but Duke Nuke Forever could still take the prize!). Announced in 1999 as Team Fortress2: Brotherhood in Arms, a realistic war-based team FPS, Valve finally released the Beta on monday to Orange Box prepurchasers on Steam. But with a completely different direction...



There are two teams fighting each other in capture the flag or capture the control points, and nine classes to choose from. You cannot customise any of these classes, so one soldier will be identical to the next.

Extremely fast paced and intense, the game certainly captures the same feelings that Team Fortress Classic did many moons ago.

This time the classes are much better balanced and (so far at least) there doesn't seem to be any pointless classes (unlike say, the pyro and a lesser extent the spy from TFC). Slightly overpowered classes like the medic have also been toned back to make them less formidable in offense but more useful in support, as you'd expect.

Unfortunately grenades have been entirely removed, which I personally find extremely disappointing but I can see why it was done. TFC had something of a problem of 'spam' where some players would chuck them about all over the place, but also they made the game fairly inaccessable to new players as a lot of depth came from them. It'll take some getting used to, but at the moment the games feel a little less...involved than before.

That said, loads of good stuff too.

Full stats tracking, kill cam showing who killed you, a spawn timer which makes the game paced a little better (though its frustrating having to wait!) and a stunning look. All in all, pretty much worth the wait

Coming out on 360 too, which should be awesome.

[Spatial]

What's the Pyro like to play? Given my penchant to set things on fire he's been the one that's interested me most since the first trailer was shown.

And although you say the Beta doesn't have any element of customisation is there any word on if it'll be in the final thing? (even if it's something minor like slight outfit changes).

Oh and are the graphics on a par with the video stuff they've been releasing in terms of facial animation?

[chopemon]

How does it feel in regards to shooting?

Is it a fast paced game?

Just how awesome does it look in motion?

Cheers!

p.s. what format is everyone getting this on?

[Ciaran]

What's the Pyro like to play? Given my penchant to set things on fire he's been the one that's interested me most since the first trailer was shown.

Hard to play but can be very powerful. Flamethrower has a very short range but will half a soldiers health in one hit.

And although you say the Beta doesn't have any element of customisation is there any word on if it'll be in the final thing? (even if it's something minor like slight outfit changes).

This is the full version of the game.

Oh and are the graphics on a par with the video stuff they've been releasing in terms of facial animation?

Yep, looks fantastic although TBH unless you stop for a look alot of it is missed. Facial animation is beautiful and you really notice it with the kill cam.

How does it feel in regards to shooting?

Not really sure how to answer this but its all very tight and you won't be blaming the game if you get killed.

Is it a fast paced game?

Depends on the class. Something like the engineer doesn't have much twitch aiming to do and is still effective part of the team but try a scout or a soldier and you have to be very fast. While you have to be patient to play the spy and go unrecognised amongst the opposing team.

p.s. what format is everyone getting this on?

PC of course, its a FPS

[Spatial]

This is the full version of the game.

*spits juice all over monitor*

Really? I thought this was just the Beta. That's pretty cool.

I've made the hard decision to go for the 360 Orange Pack but this news has made it hard to not think about chucking a PC order in as well

Shame there's not even a slight bit of customisation for the characters, but lets be honest when you're blowing the crap out of all and sundry you aren't going to worry about how unique you look doing it

[Malavon]

Really? I thought this was just the Beta. That's pretty cool.

"Play in the Team Fortress 2 beta right now!"

Listed under benefits of preordering on Steam.

"Team Fortress 2 beta now open"

Listed as the latest headline on Steam.

So yeah, it is

[FreelancePolice]

It is beta but it's the full retail version, i.e all maps and features.

[Ciaran]

Oh yeah, forgot to point out this run flawlessly at 1280*1024 4xAA 8xAF, motion blur and everything set to max on my machine

4200+ X2
x850XT
2GB ram

[Malavon]

Ah right, didn't realize that. Still, theres a chance they may be adding stuff to a launch patch based on feedback they recieve in the next few weeks.

[PeteJ]

Yeah this is basically the full game, it's incredibly polished, one of the smoothest games I've ever played.

The graphics are very impressive but not for the usual reasons - this game is so clean. Extremely uncluttered, most of the maps are completely lacking details, but it works so well!

The characters speak for themselves, they are pretty much as detailed and well animated as the videos that are coming out. Obviously you cannot see much when the game is flying about, but you occasionally catch little details, such as when a Heavy is firing the Machine Gun too long they start grinning and laughing manically. Also each character has taunts depending on what weapon is equiped - the solider with his melee weapon (a spade!) wacks himself on the head to pump himself up

Full of quality touches too. When you see a spy on your side changed into an enemy say...Scout, they look like a spy as normal but have a paper mask of a scout. Quality!

Also when you die it'll say things like "Look on the bright side, that round you almost beat your record of assists. You got 3 and the record is 4". Really cool touches. The deathcam shows who killed you, and if you've been gibbed it sometimes puts a little arrow up saying "You ->" or "Your foot ->".

Unfortunately it isn't quite as balanced as I first thought. No class is useless, but they've made the fastest class, the Scout, way too powerful. They have a shotgun that is meant to be "deadly" at close range, but seems to be overpowered at all distances. I actually saw heavier classes like Demomen and Soldiers running away from them because they are so deadly! There is also a huge number of spies running about, which I find a little bit irritating...likewise Pyro's, but at least they are useful this time.

Also the game features less CTF maps than before, most are Control Points like in Battlefield. In my opinion these don't work so well, but at least they've included a map called Dustbowl, an awesome Attack Vs Defence map that is sure to be a favourite.

I'm running in very nearly full detail on a Athlon 3500+, 2gig ram, x800 and it runs incredibly well with 4xAA and at 1280x1024

[chopemon]

The class that most interests me is the Engineer because of all his toys.

I've never really been the support class in games before, preferring the more run and gun style. So how effective is he and how cool are his toys?

What I'll be really interested in is seeing how well the team work shines through after the amazing scenes we had in Chromehounds (which I still hold as one of the best team based multiplayer games ever) and the variable results Team GRAWsome get .

I fear that PC players will be better suited to team play as Battlefield and MMO raids are the staple of PC games and that 360 owners are more of the every man for himself kind of player.

How is the team play working out in the beta?

[PeteJ]

The teamplay isn't that good but you'd expect that with randoms. Engineers set up gun turrets in the right places, snipers go to the right spots, medics heal when instructed...the scoring is setup as such that it rewards you for doing your job. This really helps get the teamplay going, but I haven't seen any real discussion yet, in text or over comms.

The engineer gets teleport, ammo dispenser and the awesome Sentry gun (at three levels). You grab ammo and use your wrench to wack the gun to upgrade\repair it. You can set a In and Out for the teleport, which can only be used every 30 (?) seconds.

I actually think that TF2 is VERY well suited to the 360, it should go down a storm...although CoD4 and Halo3 may have something to say about that. Much easier to get into than the others. I don't think it will have a party system though which is a shame.

[Number45]

Full of quality touches too. When you see a spy on your side changed into an enemy say...Scout, they look like a spy as normal but have a paper mask of a scout. Quality!

It's little things like that that make the difference in some games, no matter how trivial they may seem. This sounds so awesome.

I'll be picking this up when the US PS3 version launches. Extra treat for me, because I've not played any of the post HL2 episodes either.

[FreelancePolice]

5.2 hours since Tuesday with full time job :S that is all

[dragz]

Is there any chance at all of being able to play the console versions with a mouse and keyboard?