Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is the sequel to the game that put class-based, multiplayer team warfare on the map. A long time coming, TF2 was first announced in 1998, but in the years that followed went through various concept and design changes, which left it looking less and less like the beloved original release. Luckily by the time the final version came off the presses and was bundled as part of EA’s 2007 release, The Orange Box, it had returned to something very close to the original game.

Gameplay
Built around multiplayer battles of two teams, Reliable Excavation Demolition (RED) and Builders League United (BLU), representing competing construction teams, players choose between two game modes: capture the flag (CTF) and a control point mode. In CTF the objective is to obtain a briefcase of intelligence from the enemy team's base and return it to their own base while preventing the opposing team from doing the same. In the control point mode the objective is similar, only related to holding particular territories. To be successful in either the most important thing is to understand and use each character class in the best way possible.

A Game That's a Class Operation
Unlike other "class-based" games that offer a variety of combat classes only, Team Fortress 2 features a wide variety of classes which provide a broad range of tactical abilities and personalities, and lend themselves to a variety of player skills. All nine playable character classes from the original game are available and although a few of these, like the Medic and Heavy generally work well with any mix of characters, overall each have particular strengths in offensive, defensive and support capacities. Each also will respond dynamically with different comical dialogue when in combat.

The importance of the abilities of particular classes aside, far and away the dominant factor in Team Fortress 2 and the secret to its popularity, is its clear dedication to fun. This is seen in its rejection of realism in favor of cartoon-style art in the game's graphics, the inclusion of super weapons like lasers and missile launchers hidden within the six standard maps and the attention given to each character's incidental trash talking functionality. Combined, these simply make for fast-paced, over-the-top fun which are the building blocks of any multiplayer shooter.

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