A few years ago, I had a fairly competent computer. It could run Valve’s Source engine without systematically crashing. But then my dad accidentally static’d the whole thing, and while it still worked, it’s USB ports went kaput. That meant no mouse, and unfortunately, no more gaming (It was a laptop, so I could still technically use it, but who wants to play “Half-Life 2” with a laptop’s touch pad?).
Back when the laptop was still working, I played a fair bit of “Team Fortress 2”, a class-based FPS (or should I say the class-based FPS) that came bundled in Valve’s “Orange Box” package. My favorite classes were the Spy (a stealth-based class that can cloak, disguise as other players, and most importantly, assassinate important targets), and the Engineer (a defensive class who builds sentry guns, teleporters, and health/ammo dispensers to assist other teammates). Man, those were the days. But they all came to an unfortunate end.
Thankfully, I received a new laptop recently, and since “Team Fortress 2” recently became free, I decided to give it a download, and man, has the experience changed.
The core gameplay is the same as it’s always been, and I was easily able to get back into my old sneaky-Spy ways again. However, there are now much more options. New weapons and items can be unlocked (or bought as DLC), and while they aren’t necessarily better or worse than the default weapons, they do add variety to a playstyle. For example, I can play the Engineer as I always have, or I can equip him with the Gunslinger weapon, which in exchange for losing his tight defense, offers the Engie a more interesting, offensive playstyle.
Also, since the game is now free, a lot more friends of mine are joining in. The community is a lot larger than it’s been in my prime, and with the new weapons, it seems like there’s an infinite number of different styles to each player. There are more maps, players, weapons, and features than most games I’ve ever played, and it successfully emulates a community in a video game, something I’ve very rarely seen done.
And of course, I can’t praise the game’s cartoonish art style enough. It’s exaggerated enough to make every class look completely different, and in a game like this, that is a very good thing. It’s also insanely quotable, as every class spits out a lot of humorous dialogue upon killing or assisting other players. Back in the day, every map looked about the same, but now there’s a lot more variety, from the old typical “Wile E. Coyote” setting, to snow-capped mountains, to evil Bond-villain style hideouts. The music (which disappointingly only plays in the menus) is awesome in a super-villainous kind of way. (http://bit.ly/pYVhsq)
So how does the game hold up compared to today’s modern war shooters? Really well. In fact, it’s still one of the best online experiences out there for PC, FPS or not. It’s replay value is off-the-charts (without having to rely on the sort of “Skinner Box” style shenanigans of the “Call of Duty” series). It proves that when you have an amazing art style, graphics don’t mean crap, and that an FPS doesn’t need to be dark or drab to be excellent. Does this mean that it’s the best multiplayer FPS out there? In my opinion, you bet it does.
Rating: *****
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