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Dont listen to these reviews. yet at least.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 32
Date: July 10, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is not out yet. Anyone who claims to have played it is either lying or somehow managed to play an incomplete, still-in-development version that is not at all indicitave of what the final product will be. Until the game is actually SHIPPING, do not listen to any reviews dated prior to the shipping date, as they are all complete shams and/or mindless speculation.

Incredibly unique, and very polished

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: April 20, 2008
Author: Amazon User

One thing the first-person shooter genre has been tending towards in the last few years is an emphasis on gritty, realistic (or at least semi-realistic) gunplay. This is not a universally-loved proposition. Take a look at two screenshots from two different shooters, and chances are that if you aren't already an avid fan of the genre, you will not be able to tell them apart. The status quo is rather displeasing - but who better to shake it up than Valve Software, who have already revitalized the genre twice with the 1998 hit Half-Life and its 2004 sequel? Their effort to this end is Team Fortress 2, and what a terrific game it is.

In spite of its title, Team Fortress 2 is in fact the third iteration in the Team Fortress series, which is known for being the first class-based multiplayer first-person shooter. When it was announced way back in 1999, Team Fortress 2 was supposed to have a highly realistic art direction, but along the way that decision was dropped in favour of a highly stylized art direction. The result is that TF2 looks like no other first person shooter on the market today. Valve has used some clever shading techniques to make both the characters and environments look like cartoon characters, with exaggerated anatomy, bright colours and incredible facial animation.

The audio is similarly inspired. While weapon and impact noises are as good as you would expect them to be, what really shines is the speech and music. The game has a consistent musical theme, and jingles that wouldn't sound out of place in a '60s spy thriller play at the start and end of each round. The characters themselves emote with gusto. Each character has three different unique taunts, and several context-sensitive voice clips that can be triggered at the push of a key. While they fulfil the obvious need for a way of communicating with your teammates, they also help to create what is perhaps the first multiplayer shooter in a long time with actual personality. Whether it's the Demoman's angry Scottish rants, the Medic's odd battle cry of "OKTOBERFEST!" or the Pyro's incoherent muffled yelling, the characters' oddball personalities really grow on you.

Aesthetics aren't everything, so it's a good thing that Valve is on the ball when it comes to gameplay as well. As noted earlier in this review, Team Fortress 2 is primarily a multiplayer game, much like Unreal Tournament and its ilk. Unlike those games, though, the focus here is on teams of players competing against each other to complete specific objectives on a variety of maps. These objectives can include stealing intelligence from the enemy team's base (this game's version of Capture The Flag) or capturing all the control points on a given map. There are several variations on the latter game type, each of which has its own subtleties. The most interesting game type is territorial control, which plays out as a series of smaller battles in a larger battle to control all the areas on a map. There's a lot of variety to be had here; the only possible complaint is that the game ships with only six multiplayer maps from the get-go (with two more available as free downloadable content), but this being a first-person shooter on the PC, there are already numerous high-quality user-made maps making the rounds, thanks to the free Source SDK and Hammer map editor released by Valve.

TF2 wouldn't be much of a Team Fortress game without its classes, and while each of the classes from TFC has made a return, they've all been changed quite drastically. Where TFC had more homogeneity with its classes (particularly with regard to weapon and grenade use) TF2 goes in the opposite direction, offering nine distinct classes with decidedly unique abilities. For instance, the Scout has low hit points, but is the fastest of all the classes, making him the ideal intelligence carrier or point capturer. On the other hand, the Heavy is slow, but can take significant punishment and deal out massive damage with his minigun, and is thus suited for major offensive pushes. The Medic is primarily a support class with poor offensive abilities, but he can also impart a ten-second invulnerability charge at intervals that can really serve to turn the tide of the match in his team's favour. And then there's the calculating, cerebral experience that is the Spy class. No two classes can really be played alike, assuring that even if you manage to master one class, the others are waiting to offer you a completely different gameplay experience every time you log on.

TF2 also implements some interesting features that may be a first for a first-person shooter. In an attempt to get people to keep playing, the game keeps track of your statistics for each round. If a certain player kills you several times, that player is marked out as your nemesis, and you get bonus points for getting revenge on him. Similarly you can dominate players on the other team by killing them repeatedly. In addition, the game uses these stats to reinforce the sense that you're getting better as you play, pointing out little achievements from the previous round, like new records for maximum kills in a single spawn, time spent alive and so on. It's a nice trick to keep players interested in their own progress and keep them playing. However, the most curious of the new features is the critical hit system - critical hits are randomly awarded to players on each team, and the chance of getting a critical hit depends on various factors, such as how well you're playing or what weapon you're using. It's an interesting twist, one not usually seen in FPSes, and it's rare enough not to be gamebreaking.

As far as the multiplayer experience goes, TF2 is the first game to benefit from the enhancements to Valve's Steam content delivery service. This means the inclusion of things like achievements, a unified friends list that lets you join your friends' games with a single click, stat tracking and a robust server browser. The multiplayer experience is of a very high standard, and the game is eminently playable even when your ping starts to scrape the low 200s. Full in-game voice chat support is also included, and is crucial if you want to work effectively with your team to win games. The robustness of the online service ensures that more often than not, your TF2 experience will be unhindered by network hiccups.

All in all, Team Fortress 2 is a great multiplayer first-person shooter that will be fondly remembered by many for years to come. It's rare that a game with such a long development cycle turns out to be such a well-polished and high quality affair, so players would do well to savour what this game has to offer. Personality, gameplay, balance - TF2 has it all, and is a must-play for any fan of the genre (and maybe even for those who aren't).

NB: I've reviewed the PC version here. As a personal note, I strongly recommend that anyone with an interest in this title pick up the PC version, either through Steam, by purchasing the Orange Box, or the new standalone retail version that comes out this week. The console versions simply do not match up, in that they don't have most of the new content that has arrived on the PC version, and lack the ability to take advantage of the excellent community-generated content.

Spy sappin' mah sentry!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: April 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The game is very well balanced with 9 classes with unique abilities and weaknesses. Valve continues to update and add more maps all the time. The animation and voice over work will have you chuckling as you intensely battle for intelligence and capture points. Be aware that this game is only for online play, and has no single player. So good luck and have fun.

Fun fun FUN!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 02, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Don't listen to negative reviews. I've been playing games for over a decade (including online), and this is the most fun I've had in a long time. I've also played on many servers, and I'm yet to find those "abusive players", "glitchy content" or "poor support from Valve" that was mentioned by one reviewer. Don't know what they're talking about. This game is clean, smooth, fun, hacker-free (hackers get banned permanently), well-balanced, funny, easy on the eye, and players are for the most part friendly and cool. If you like online shooters, this is a must-get!

Sequel to game of the Year

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 18
Date: August 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The sequel to the 1998 game of the year, Half-Life seems it is coming along fine. They are adding even more classes with TF2 and also adding vechiles to help you get around the map. They are appealing to the ever growing online gaming community and people will thank them for that. Using the tried and true method of Tribes I would look for a great online team based game next year.

Simply put: one of the best team oriented games ever created.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: June 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

After playing multiplayer games (in the first person shooter genre) ranging from class based to normal frag games, I would have to say that in my 7 years of gaming experience that this is one of the best team games I have ever played online.

This is also one of the most balanced games I have ever played.

Basically, there are 9 different classes, all with different weapons, abilities, speed, health, and some now with upgrades.

Take for example 2 classes: One is a sniper, one is a medic. The sniper has a sniper rifle, has lower end health, the deadliest weapon at long range, and is pretty fast moving. The medic basically heals people, is a fast class, has regenerating health, and has a weak shooting weapon.

Teams must work together to win matches, ranging from a simple capture the flag type game play to control points.

The game is only online, but you need to work together with people to achieve goals and victories. It is very hard to make a huge impact as an individual, it takes time and work to get good at a single class and make a huge impact on a team of 9+ players (usually games are 12v12).

Every class is so unique it takes hours to master each class. The experience is great for an individual in this game but with a mic and a decent team, team earned victories are so fulfilling.

Coming from team fortress classic, grenades were missed, and everything felt so simple. After a while you realize grenades are not needed, and the simplicity pushed team play, while mastery is harder to gain for a class.

My only gripes are limited maps and no offline play whatsoever. Updates have been added to counter the map issue.

Visual and sound are amazing, the art direction adds a lot of fun to the game.

Give it a try, give it at least 5 or so hours and you are guaranteed to be hooked. This is simply one of the most fun and addicting multiplayer games created in a long time.

Possibly best multiplayer pc shooter

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Do not listen to those people who give this a 1 star rating or anything below 5 stars. This game is really the best multiplayer game ever, It requires teamwork, true strategy and skill. Definatly RECCOMEND!

Best Damn Action Game Ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 13
Date: December 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is going to rule on the action/shooter games. If the 1st one was a great game I cant say enough about this one. Everyone who likes great 1st person shooting games must buy this game, its a must. This game is really close to reality itself and its like real battle out there not knowing whats going to happen... My recommendation is to buy it and not to loose anytime on this game. Thnx.

Doesn't Exist

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: January 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A ploy by Sierra to get all of us...to play TFC... well... if you play TFC now, its everything TF2 was suppose to be. They kept patching it, until it is now TF2. Its retarted. It very well does not exist. And if it does, I remember telling my friend how amazing it was going to be when I was in 8th grade. We use to talk about this upcoming game, which we were blood thirsty for.... I'm finishing my first semester of college this year...TF2 can stay in the minds of the Sierra, because this gamer, doesn't care much for TF2....

PS: TF2 Technology, MRX and all of that great stuff? well... its been surpassed... sorry guys!!

How can you review a game prior to release

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 10
Date: December 20, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I love Half-Life, Counter Strike, TFC, DoD, and every other mod out there for the original HL. However, only screen shots say little about the actual quality of a game in action. Look no further than the original Unreal. It was a great design and looked stunning on paper. However, it hit the market and the network code was so bad that noone ever played it. Don't judge a book by its cover people, whether good or bad!

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