Team Fortress Classic

"Excuse me, I'm in need of medical attention"

Let me start out by saying this is one of the most addictive games I have ever played, and I owe it all to my little cousin who introduced me to the TFC world. It's an absolutely amazing game, one that you don't want to miss.

Gameplay 10/10
This game has to be one of the best FPS (first person shooter) games around. Most of the maps you play on will have capture the flag as the objective of the game, but there are many other different maps with different objectives. For example, the map ''hunted'' gives players two objectives, one for each team. The bodyguards must protect the ''hunted'' and get him into a waiting vehicle. The other team, the assassins, must kill the hunted in order to win the round. There are tons of maps out there available for downloading, giving this game a lot of variety. While playing TFC, you'll notice that all the characters are divided into 9 classes: scout, soldier, sniper, demoman, medic, hwguy, pyro, spy, and engineer. Each of these classes have certain strengths and weaknesses, along with unique abilities. For example, the scout is extremely fast, while the hwguy is the slowest in the game. The medic has the ability to heal team mates, and the spy has the ability to disguise himself as anyone he chooses, even people on the opposing team. Finding the perfect class for you may take some time, but once you get used to the game, finding a favorite class won't be too difficult. Because this game is a MOD for half-life, you can only play it online. This can be frustrating if you have a slow connection, so make sure your computer has a 56k modem or faster. Since you're playing with other people, the game's difficulty will vary every time you play. Perhaps the only thing you'll have trouble with is the awkward controls. You use either the arrow buttons or a set of arrow buttons to move in a certain direction. At teh same time, you must use the mouse to change the angle at which your character is looking. This can be confusing at times, and you'll probably get killed if you take too much time trying to move. I got used to the controls after playing for a few days, so I don't think it's a major problem, just a minor flaw. If you don't like the default controls, you can always change them to you liking on the menu screen.

Story N/A
Because this game is a Half-Life MOD, there is no story behind it.

Graphics 10/10
Even though the graphics will be different for each computer, it's still amazing how the life-like the game is. The characters all have unique uniforms, and they each have different faces. They are believable and interesting. The weapons are also very true to real life. Most of them closely resemble their real life counterparts. The other weapons are weapons that don't exist, such as the tazer gun that the engineer uses. Despite this, they are made in the same life-like quality that the other weapons are made of. Because there are so many different maps out there, it's difficult to rate the graphics according to maps, but I can tell you that the default maps are excellent. You can see a lot of detail in the maps, and the layouts are strategically planned and creative. The coolest part of the graphics is all the blood and gore you'll see whenever you frag (kill) someone. It's disgusting and surreal at the same time. You'll be staring in amazement as your enemy blows up into large chunks after you nail him with your rocket launcher, or how the blood gushes out of your victim when you shoot him with the shot gun.

Music (N/A) and Sound 10/10
There isn't any music in the game, but that shouldn't be a problem for most gamers. If there was music, it would just be too distracting. The sound effects, however, are awesome. The sound of flesh meeting a sharp, steel knife are so believable that the hairs on the back of your neck will stand. The explosions are loud and sudden, the cries of your team mates are realistic, and the gunfire will make you want to duck. The sound effects really add to the overall feel of this game, and I'm impressed with how much work was put into it.

Replayability 10/10
This game will make you come back for more. Since it's a game played entirely online, you'll never play the same game twice. Different people and different maps make TFC a unique experience every time you play. And did I mention that it's highly addictive? You're not going to sleep for days...

Buy or Borrow?
Definitely buy this game. No doubt about it. Half-Life is a great game in itself, but if you don't like Half-Life, it's still worth the money just to get TFC. Gamers who like Quake, Doom, or Unreal would most certainly like this game, and casual gamers would be impressed with it.

Conclusion-
Team Fortress Classic is one of the best FPS games out there, and one of the most addicting, as well. The fun factor is very high, and you won't want to miss out. Happy fragging.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/21/01, Updated 06/22/01