Soldiers and Demomen are back to their old rocket and grenade jumping tricks, and some players are already extremely adept with these skills. Scouts are once again the fastest class, and they've been given a double jump that changes their direction in midair, making them more mobile than ever. As you would expect, Snipers are deadly at long ranges, but they have to stay zoomed in to get full power from their rifle, which makes them easy to flank, and they often become victims of backstabbing Spies.
Valve has done a nice job of giving each class strengths and weaknesses. While they continue to make small adjustments, none of the current classes feels dramatically overpowered, nor do any of them feel useless. Medics are certainly more crucial to success than they have been in previous iterations of Team Fortress, but even that is an improvement.
Maps
As you would expect, most of the TF2's maps are inspired by maps in earlier versions of the game. You'll recognize 2Fort from the old days, and updated renditions of Well and Dustbowl are also included. Maps are connected to particular gameplay modes, so 2Fort, for example, is capture-the-flag, or more accurately, capture-the-briefcase. There are also control point maps, where the objective is to take all the control points on the map, which are triggered by your team's proximity to them. In some cases teams are assigned defending and attacking positions which alternate from round to round. The objectives of each map are explained with a short, optional movie available at the loading screen, which is a nice touch.
Some servers have bumped the player cap up to 32, but most have stayed with a 24 player maximum, which seems to be what the maps were designed for.
Gameplay varies considerably from one map to another, as does the effectiveness of some classes. Scouts, for instance, make a huge difference in 2Fort as briefcase carriers, but if your team is on the defending side of Dustbowl or Gravel Pit, Scouts aren't nearly as important. Similarly, while Engineers are key in defensive situations, they're a lot less useful if a strong offense is necessary. Fortunately, you can switch classes whenever you die, so it's not difficult to fill out classes that compliment the rest of your team.
Team Fortress 2 comes with 6 maps, all of which are quite well-designed. They are not overly large, and they tend to have numerous tight spaces that keep you quite close to the action. Of course, the community is already putting out new maps, because six really isn't enough, especially considering that 2Fort is the only capture-the-flag map that ships with the game.
Finding Game Servers
Being a Valve game, server browsing, buddy tracking, security, integrated voice chat, and updates are all handled by Steam. Despite the uproar Steam created when it was first released, its robust features and ease of use has clearly won over a lot of gamers. One word of advice when installing Steam: put it on the same drive you want your games on.
Stats and Achievements
Like most recent online shooters, TF2 has a good stat tracking system that gives you a wide variety of information about your performance playing each class. You're also rewarded with achievements, although none of these statistics unlock anything special, as they often do in other games. While unlockable equipment can be a huge motivator, it also tends to give more experienced players an advantage in both skill and gear.
The Bottom Line
Even though Team Fortress 2 isn't the most sophisticated or complicated shooter on the market, it's magnificent at what it does, and it's packed with entertainment value. It only has a couple weaknesses, namely, that a few more maps would be nice (Valve says they're coming) and most shooters these days include bots. As for the latter, who really wants them when online play is this much fun? The graphics and animation for TF2 are dripping with character, and the gameplay is very finely tuned as of the last patch. Even though there are a plethora of great shooters to choose from this year, you won't find many that are as lovingly polished or as light hearted as this one. Valve clearly set out to make a game they can be proud of, and it shows in every bullet-riddled corner of Team Fortress 2.
