Team Fortress 2

"Best game with teams, worst without."

I've had my hands on Team Fortress 2 for a while, and hands down it's the most entertaining FPS I've ever been into. So I'll begin a straight forward review.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is where the game starts to show. It has a few flaws, too, but it makes up for it.

The first notable thing is that all games are online, and it's team-based. Now, being forced to play something else when you don't have internet access is a bore, but I can understand it when it's built on team cooperation. First hint: Bring friends. If you join in games without friends you'll sometimes get a terrible team. With no maps being used for anything other than having two teams fight for the goal senselessly, it's tedious to have even a few players who don't know how to play.

The second thing is the classes. This is the best thing about Team Fortress 2, as every class has their own style, and none of them are the same. An example would be the Demoman, who can shoot grenades that roll after you fire them to blow up a poor bastard who didn't watch where he was going. They can be used for running away from enemies too, by shooting them against the wall while they bounce. Demomen also have sticky bombs, which you can detonate when you choose too, and have up to 8 at one time, which is good for defense and traps.

Another example is the Spy, who can disguise as enemy units or temporarily go invisible. Using these two abilities putting a "sapper" on an enemy sentry or using your butterfly knife, the weakest weapon in the game to instantly kill someone from a stab in the back is perfect. Everyone has their own use, Pyros are good with fire, and can ambush other players. Engineers can build sentry guns, and teleports to help defend the base, and get slower allies moving across the map.

Another thing is the maps. There aren't much maps to play on, but they don't get old. Due to the class and team-work system, you won't be getting bored, because every game is played differently, depending on how both teams play.

So, let's wrap up gameplay here.
Pros:
Interesting and balanced class system.
Works well with teams.
Great maps.
Requires team communication.
Unlockable weapons on the PC version.

Cons:
Forced online mode.
Not very much maps.

Graphics:
Moving on, the graphics in this game aren't actually impressing. There is a reason though. They tried making it so you wouldn't require a top-notch PC to play it, and the game's graphics don't have any focus on being realistic. If you play other FPS games you'll notice that no matter how the game customizes your character, they have the same general shape and give off the same vibes.

In this game, all the characters are cell-shaded, and look much different. The pyro's wear a red or blue and black suit, with a gas mask. The 'heavy weapons guy' (his name in itself is pretty hilarious.) is an obese man who carries around a big gun, in which the game has named "Sasha." The scouts are skinny, wear brown pants, and the shirt color is depending on teams, and moves twice as fast as normal characters.

Let's wrap it up:
Pros:
The cell-shaded graphics work well with the game.
The characters are designed uniquely to the extent that you can't mistake them unless their disguised spies, and you won't know it until they stab you in the back.
The graphics don't weigh it down if your computer isn't that good.

Cons:
They aren't really impressive.

Sound:
The sound for the game is also one of the main parts, and plays a key role in gameplay as well. Funny I didn't put this part in there anyway.

The sound effects in the game are great, and there's a voice in the game portrayed as an evil mistress or something of the sort, who exclaims it like you're playing in an Arena. This becomes clear when you have a tie, in which it is called a "stalemate" and instead of saying everyone wins, or it was a tie, everyone is labeled as a loser by her.

Some things require sound as well. If a spy misses a back stab and the player fights him, he'll probably pull out his pistol, and though it is a decent handgun, it makes quite the noise, attracting any other teammates. Pyros are good at hiding and ambushing people with his flamethrower, and likewise the flamethrower makes a loud noise, like rushing water, meaning once he's fired, people will know where he is. This will also shock enemies to get them to try and run once on fire.

Pros:
Every sound effect is unique.
They play a decent roll in the game.

Cons:
Some sounds, up close, like a pyro's roaring flame thrower, is annoying.
If your volume is down, you may be off key on how well you do in the game.


Overall, the games worth the money and PC space, but it still has a few issues. So I'll give it a 7/10.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/14/08

Game Release: Team Fortress 2 (US, 10/09/07)