Why Team-Fortress 2 Owns
(and why you should be playing it right now)
When Team-Fortress 2 launched alongside of the Orange Box last year, it was something I'd been waiting for, along with the rest of the world, for quite a while. I had never really gotten into Team-Fortress Classic because it happened to come to life just around the time that Counter-Strike was really finding its legs. Yet even though, I knew that TFC had a huge following, and that Valve in all of their wisdom, would not revisit something to the magnitude they seemed to be with TF2 unless they felt it was going to do two things. One, satisfy the TFC fans and two, create a whole new legion of TF players. It was this second group that I would eventually fall into.
One of the things you hear about these days is how PC game developers are losing focus on just what us gamers are looking for in a title. They seem to be spending millions upon gazillions of dollars on pretty and powerful game engines (
*ahem*) while completely missing the mark when it comes to fun and playability. Valve clearly put an emphasis on one thing with TF2, making it fun and easy to learn, and to play
as you learn. That sounds easy to do, but if it was, wouldn't we see more games like this? So hats off to Valve in that department. Not only is Team-Fortress 2 a beautifully designed and competitive game, it's a frickin' blast to play!
One other area that impresses me about this game is how balanced and enjoyable it is to play each class. For example, anyone can suit up as the Soldier and knock down a few bad guys, right? I mean shit, all you need to do is look for a few enemies grouped together and spam the hell out of them with your rocket launcher. You're sure to take out your fair share before they snake your ass back to spectator...and it would be fun the whole time!
Yet there's also much, much more to being a Soldier in TF2. Take a look
at this video and you'll see just how far you can take two simple weapons such as the rocket launcher and a trusty shotgun in this game. Total and utter domination can be had by this character, and it is by no means the fastest, strongest, most weapon-laden or dynamic class there is in the game.
Not since the days of Quake II have I played a character that so nearly encompasses what some of those matches were like. The Soldier in TF2 makes me feel like I'm playing Q2CTF4.bsp all over again...and I love it!
Another example of how basic, yet also just how advanced, a single class can be used is the Demoman. Have a look at
this simple how-to video about being the Demoman. It talks about basic strategies and ways by which the Demoman can use his skills to help his team achieve victory. Now take a look at
this TF2 matchplay video where some dude has obviously taken the basics to a whole new level, combined them with his excellent timing and aim, as well as knowledge of how to play the maps.
I have to admit, when I first tried Team-Fortress 2 I was somewhat underwhelmed. Although I knew what I was playing was fun, I did not see much re-playability in it, even as a multi-player game. Yet the more I played the game, and watched others who were much more skilled at it than I was, the more I began to understand just what the Team-Fortress experience is all about. TF2 about simple competition, playing easy to understand maps, balanced classes that each have their strong and weak points, and above all else, it's a helluva lot of fun to play with your buddies after a few brews!
So even if you didn't like Team-Fortress 2 after your first few rounds of playing it, do yourself a favor and jump into the
StrafeRight TF2 Party Shed any evening of the week, or hell, any fun and active server full of people that know and play with one another on a consistent basis. You, just like me, will soon understand why a game like Team-Fortress 2 can be both a house-party and a competitive online match at the same time. I'll even bring the beers
Gaming Admin. PM 
