Team Fortress 2: Game of the Year

The Orange Box was released with five games in the same package, and the newest multi-player game to hit the market was Team Fortress 2. This game is the sequel to the original Team Fortress. The basic idea is a capture the flag or attack and defend gameplay. A team of up to thirty two players compete in certain game types. There are nine different classes to play with during every battle. But what makes this game so amazing? Well not the graphics, or the weapon choice. The most fun in the game is the simple gameplay mechanic. The whole game is based on teamwork. Although some games do not have any teamwork whatsoever the best games happen when all the players work together, on both sides. My favorite games to play happen when both sides are working together at full capacity. It makes winning a game worth every second.

This game has a very high probability of taking game of the year because of quite a few things the game has to offer. Team Fortress 2 has some wonderful character classes to play with. From the medic to the sniper, each class has a very funny stereotype for a player. The sniper is an Australian hunter, while the scout is a quick witted teen. The medic is a dutch medic with a giant wood saw. The fun of each character is how they look and act on the battlefield. It also makes identifying opponents and friends very easy. There is also a wonderful rock, paper, scissors effect between classes. Each class has a strength and weakness to an opponent class. This makes playing even deeper, because it forces the player to think hard about what classes are on the battlefield and how they can be defeated.

The weapon selection is very standard of each class. The pyro uses a flamethrower, soldier uses a rocket launcher and so on. The weapons though do offer a very simple option to kill. I did want to mention a couple weapons that make this game unique. The sentry gun built by the engineer is something every team needs on the battlefield. It is more of a defensive weapon than offensive. But the gun itself is not a new idea. I think Perfect Dark has the first sentry gun type of weapon. But in this game you can set it where you want or need it to be. And the gun can be upgraded two levels to fire faster and fire rockets. Another "weapon" in the game that takes gameplay to a new level is the Medigun. This gun shoots health instead of ammo. The medic uses the gun to heal allies. Also once the gun has been used enough the medic can become invulnerable as well as another player the medic chooses.

The game mechanics are the best part of the game. There is no friendly fire and no radar. the first time I played I didn't like this feature at all. The more I played I saw how important this is for the game to work. The spy class uses this mechanic to its advantage. The spy can change his appearance to look like any enemy class. But with no friendly fire or radar you can't tell who is a spy easily. This makes players paranoid during heated battles, worried spies are in the base. Another mechanic is the balance of teams. The levels are well designed not to favor one team over the other. The game types are also different enough for many hours of play on different maps. I did enjoy the fact that there is no team death match or rumble pit type of games.