Joystiq

Team Fortress 2 Pyro class next in line for upgrade

Jason Dobson — 2008-06-03T17:25:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Action, First Person Shooters

Following the generous upgrades given to Team Fortress 2 Medics earlier this year, it now appears that the Pyro class is next to be doused in flame-retardant achievements and fiery, unlockable weapons. Citing the latest issue of PC Gamer, CVG also reports that Valve plans similar additions for the game's remaining classes, though the timing of these future updates has not yet been revealed.

Likewise a mystery is what Pyro players can expect from the new achievement-fueled equipment roll out, though we expect it to mirror what was given to Medics, only with less healing and more toasting anything that moves.

[Via Big Download]

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Meet the Team Fortress 2 Scout ... again

Griffin McElroy — 2008-04-19T13:05:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters

We absolutely loved the short vignettes put together by Valve to advertise the different classes featured in The Orange Box's online multiplayer offering, Team Fortress 2. The scotch-slurping demoman, the six-string pluckin' engineer -- not only did they get us hyped up for one of our favorite first person shooters of last year, they brightened our otherwise dreary existences. Now, we know that most of you are familiar with the whole crew since the release of Orange Box, but in honor of last week's release of a standalone version of TF2 for the PC, Valve released what we assume will be the last of their advertisements for the game -- introducing the Scout, who apparently has the social graces and equipoise of a Real World cast member. Enjoy!

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Individual Orange Box games hit retail April 9

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-03-05T19:15:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters, Puzzle

Perhaps you've been burnt by digital distribution in the past, and now refuse to even touch the likes of Steam. Perhaps you found one or more of the games in Valve's critically acclaimed Orange Box to be lacking in a peel. Perhaps you'd like us to stop with the excruciating puns you jerks and report the news already geez.

So, have at it: Valve has confirmed to Joystiq that the individually boxed Orange Box PC games are due to hit physical shelves on April 9th. The separate SKUs, which will be available worldwide, consist of first-person puzzler Portal, caricatured multiplayer romp Team Fortress 2, and a crowbar double-whammy in the form of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two. Valve has yet to officially announce pricing details, but retailers currently list Portal at $19.99 and the other two packages at $29.99 each. Expect more details soon.

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Team Fortress 2 PC update balances classes, introduces tournament mode

Griffin McElroy — 2008-03-02T14:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters

We've been hearing a lot less about Valve's cel-shaded, humor-tinged multiplayer shooter since the release of another wildly popular FPS of a more serious nature. Thankfully, Valve isn't using their lighter server load as an excuse to let Team Fortress 2 go to the dogs -- they just released a patch upon an unsuspecting populous of TF2 junkies, adding a number of new matchmaking features and tweaking a few minor gameplay quirks.

We've got a complete list of changes after the jump, but here's a few highlights: A Tournament mode has been added, complete with a team creation UI and win/loss tracker. Sorting through custom games is now easier, as server hosts can now add searchable description tags to their rooms. Most importantly, players who tire of being on the receiving end of high explosive weaponry will be pleased to hear that the maximum ammo capacities for the Soldier and Demoman classes have been sharply reduced (much to the chagrin of rocket-jumpers and Scotsmen, no doubt).

Added "Custom" tab to the server browser

Servers can now specify metatags describing the custom rules they've adopted
Players can use tag filtering to find servers running the custom rules they want to play
Added options for servers who want to become custom games: Disable critical hits (tf_weapon_criticals), eliminate respawn times (mp_disable_respawn_times), and raise maxplayers above 24

Initial release of Tournament mode (mp_tournament)

UI for handling team naming, ready mode, and win results
Disables team player limits, autobalancing, and intermission

Class balancing

Reduced Soldier's maximum rocket reserve ammo from 36 to 16
Reduced Demoman's maximum sticky bomb reserve ammo from 30 to 16
Reduced Demoman's maximum grenade launcher reserve ammo from 40 to 24

General

Added protection against voice command spamming. Dramatic reduction in teleporters needed
Fixed mp_timelimit ending the map during the middle of a round on maps like Dustbowl and GravelPit
Fixed "lastdisguise" command not remembering if you were disguised as your own team
Added "Toggle Disguise Team" binding in Options->Keyboard to toggle the disguise team for the Spy's PDA
Changed PDA menus to accept keys bound to "slot1", "slot2", etc., and "slot10" cancels
Fixed Spectator targetID not using team colors
Changed team autobalance code to not balance the teams when the active round timer shows less than 60 seconds
Fixed "-maxplayers" on the command line not correctly setting the maxplayers value for the server
Fixed Badlands never having Sudden Death triggered
Fixed Engineer being able to detonate buildings that are being sapped
Changed Engineer buildings to detonate when a player disconnects instead of blinking out
Fixed potential client crash for players being healed by a Medic or dispenser
Made several improvements to server-side stat reporting (not related to individual player stats)

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Zero Punctuation attempts building SimCity Societies

Alexander Sliwinski — 2008-02-13T23:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Strategy

If you believe that Zero Punctuation's only reason for playing SimCity Societies was to make a totalitarian government in the vein of the Nazi regime -- well, you'd be right. This week Yahtzee takes on the fantastically average game and ends up complaining about it more than making fun of it. In the end he says that SimCity Societies isn't worth the player's time, but then anybody who actually bought SimCity Societies probably already knows that.

After the break you'll find this week's NSFW review of SimCity Societies, with special Team Fortress 2 homage to the love which dare not speak its name.

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Today in Joystiq: February 4, 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-02-04T23:59:00+00:00

We find the Team Fortress 2 Pyro papercraft hilariously ironic, given how flammable we suspect him to be. (Disclaimer: Joystiq advises against the use of flames. There is no respawn in real life.) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery

News
King of Kong underdog to cameo in upcoming film
New games this week: Devil May Cry 4 edition
Gears of War 2 graces GamePro cover
American McGee announces next 'twisted tale' project after Grimm
Operation Wolf, Columns III land on Virtual Console
Xbox 360 'arcade model' hits Japan March 6
Just blow: Smash Bros Brawl disc problems blamed on dust
Halo 3 DLC for spring swaps 'Purple' for 'Moonlight'
Rock Band Weekly: B-52's, Faith No More and KISS
PS3 budget lineup heading to Japan, 'likely' Europe
This Wednesday: Poker Smash batters XBLA, Crystal Quest gets polished
New Buzz! games coming in March
NBA Ballers: Chosen One gets Chuck D, Just Blaze
Sony cuts PSP dev tools cost in half
The Green Mile actor Barry Pepper to voice Prototype lead
PSP's Daxter sells 2 million copies in 2 years
THQ gets new CFO (also: acronym two-for-one sale ongoing)
SingStar '90s makes us feel old
No More Heroes first planned for 360, says Suda51
Folding@home for PS3 goes platinum
THQ gets new CFO (also: acronym two-for-one sale ongoing)
New Call of Duty 4 maps 'on the way'
Criterion explains Burnout Paradise online hard drive requirement
GameTap turning off Myst Online in 60 days

Rumors & Speculation
Rumor: Resident Evil 4 to blame for no Capcom in Brawl
Will Portal change the game industry?
EA predicts PS3 will outsell Xbox 360 in 2008

Culture & Community
Devil May Cry, a retrospective and review
Ben Heckendorn's Xbox 360 Elite laptop

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Valve: More Portal coming 'for sure'

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2008-02-01T19:30:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Puzzle

Though we'd be GlaDOS can be to have another slice of Portal's topsy-turvy displacement gameplay, we'd almost certainly be unsatisfied with a quick 'n dirty content boost to our 2007 game of the year. Thankfully, Valve's Doug Lombardi has told Eurogamer that the developer isn't looking to simply throw a handful of new puzzles at us. "There'll be more Portal, for sure," he said. "But the details of that, to be honest, we're still working out."

Also being worked out at Valve headquarters are the continuing adventures of crowbar-wielding physicist, Gordon Freeman, who's due to appear in Half-Life 2: Episode Three. "With Episode Three we want to live up to the promise of where we are taking things to; there's a lot of work being done to make sure we deliver on that promise." If you're dying to learn more about where said things are being taken to, you're going to have wait a bit, "probably months not weeks." And don't even get us started on how long you might have to wait for the actual game.

At least you'll have some upcoming Team Fortress 2 content to keep you busy which, as per Valve's desire for all its additional content, will be free.

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Today in Joystiq: January 29, 2008

Ross Miller — 2008-01-29T23:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

We love those image manipulating wizards at Something Awful. Their latest project is new (and much needed) achievements in Team Fortress 2. Enjoy the four pages of photoshoppery and check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Reminder: Win King of Kong on DVD
Super Spoiler Bros. Brawl: Major leaked roster update, videos & more
Today's most satirical video: Loading.Ready.Run tackles 'Max Effect'

News
Japanese Brawl intro hints at unannounced characters, looks sweet
EA Marvel fighting game no longer in development, partnership dissolved
No plans for 120GB PS3 in UK, says Sony
THQ gets Playboy bunnies going mobile
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue arrives stateside April 17
Undertow team creating Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game's game
Civilization Revolution on hold for Wii
Majesco releases early version of Eco-Creatures as DS download
Turok demo finally comes to North American Xbox Live
Console CryEngine 2 will be shown at GDC; console Crysis still not confirmed
Nintendo hopeful third-party Wii games will sell
Want to see three minutes of Tiberium gameplay?
Animal Crossing and Kirby coming to Japanese Wii in '08
Sony gets Buzz-y dealing with trademark dispute
IGA details Burnout in-game advertisers
Sarah Michelle Gellar really wants to make Alice movie
Codemasters looks to outer space for next MMO with Jumpgate Evolution
MMO film Second Skin gets trailer
New Nyko adapter to unwire Wii wired Nunchuk
Smash Bros. Brawl shortages imminent
Take-Two details 'Hot Coffee' settlement; no receipt necessary
Valve shares SteamWorks toolset with PC development world
New GRAW 2 DLC offers new maps, missions, weapons

Rumors & Speculation
Analyst: Spore 'likely' delayed until later in '08; EA guidance incorrect

Culture & Community
GameStrata statistic site launches, get PWN3D via graphs
Crook hides cash in gutted consoles

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Team Fortress 2 updated for PC, 'Well' map goes CTF

Ross Miller — 2008-01-28T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, First Person Shooters

Valve Software has updated Team Fortress 2, introducing a new (sort of) official map for the game, a capture the flag variant of Well (currently available as a control point game mode). The update also provides fixes for SourceTV demo recording and various Gravel Pit exploits, among other patchwork.

The updated is currently for PC users only via Steam; we've sent Valve an email asking when it expects the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of TF2 to receive the update. We're still awaiting the upcoming Badlands map remake and the unlockable weapons coming first to the medic class.

[Via Primotech]

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Team Fortress 2 to get unlockable weapons, new game mode

Ross Miller — 2008-01-23T09:15:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

The PC Gamer blog has shed some light on the changes Valve has planned for Team Fortress 2. The "large scale modification" is actually quite big -- new weapons unlocked via achievements earned in the game. The arsenal can be swapped out via a new Loadout menu, though we're not sure if that means configuration can be done mid-game, between rounds, or only from the main menu.

As previously stated, the medic will be first to receive the upgrades. The first earned weapons is the Overhealer. Unlocked by earning 35 achievements, the "gun" can permanently raise an ally's health to 200% (the current medic tool temporarily boosts health to 150%). Citing balance concerns, Valve said they may remove the invulnerability-granting Ubercharge from the Overhealer. The second unlockable weapon is also a healing ray (what? No shotgun?), but no details were given except that you have to earn all medic class achievements to unlock it.

A new game mode will be introduced with the map Goldrush, the second map due out (alongside the Badlands remake). In Goldrush, the blue team must escort a mining cart through tunnels. The cart moves faster with more blue team members nearby, but stops completely if a red player gets near. According to previous statements from Valve, the maps and medic updates are due out within the next two months.

[Image credit; thanks, Fortyseven]

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Valve tweaking Team Fortress 2's pyro, possibly soldier

Justin McElroy — 2008-01-16T11:45:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

Though all the pretty colors and No One Lives Forever-esque art direction is enough to keep commoners like us entertained by Team Fortress 2, it's what's going on under the hood that's really important to the hardcore legion of fans. In an email to one member of that community, Valve's Robin Walker reveals a few changes incoming for the pyro and soldiers classes, part of the "large scale modification to the core of the game" Walker talked about earlier this month.

For the pyros, they're going to be receiving points for every enemy they ignite, making mass burnings not just fun, but profitable. Walker's a little more vague about soldiers, saying the team wants them to be "a little more
careful firing their rockets at point blank targets." As TF2 newbs we have no idea what she means, but we imagine some of you commenters will have a few ideas.

[Via CVG]

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Team Roomba perfects the art of Team Fortress 2 griefing

Griffin McElroy — 2007-12-22T17:30:00+00:00

Filed under: First Person Shooters

As much as it pains us to be on the receiving end of online gaming skullduggery, we can't help but admire Team Roomba for elevating the practice to an art form. This ain't your Pap Pap's griefing; team-killing and name calling are far below the maleficent minds of Team Roomba. In their latest highlight reel from Team Fortress 2, they transform the doldrum process of respawning into a quiz show, where right answers put you back on the battlefield -- accidentally creating the most amazing supergenre we've ever witnessed: the Online Multiplayer First Person Shooter and Trivia Game (OMFPSaTG, for short).

The video is safely contained after the jump, and is extremely NSFW due to foul language, blurry gay porn, and a number of Legends of the Hidden Temple references.

(Thanks, Perko.)

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PS3's Orange Box confirmed for US and Europe Dec. 11

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2007-12-04T13:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, First Person Shooters

December is looking to be a most excellent month for PlayStation 3 owners keen on shooting things from a first-person perspective, with both Unreal Tournament III (shipping December 10th) and The Orange Box stepping onto the platform, albeit a bit later than expected. An EA press release politely reminds us that the latter will be released on December 11th in both the US and Europe, with French and German versions following in 2008.

In the unlikely case that you've not been exposed to Valve's Orange Box and currently envision it as a crate full of citrus fruit, allow us to point out that it contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal... too. One can only hope the tech people at EA used their 11th hour to rid the port of its alleged framerate issues.

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Team Fortess 2's Xbox Live update now available

Ludwig Kietzmann — 2007-10-29T17:28:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Online

You'll forgive us for missing this tidbit of news this weekend, as we (along with some of you, no doubt) were much too enthralled by the other, other, other, other Game of the Year, this one nestled in Valve's sumptuous Orange Box. If you wanted to add Team Fortress 2 to your list of yearly praise but felt that lag ruined the experience, perhaps the title update for the Xbox 360 version will do away with your doubts. The following technical alterations to the charming multiplayer romp should take effect the next time you load up the game whilst signed in to Xbox Live:

Reduced network bandwidth usage in multiplayer.
Improved overall game performance.
Arranged search results to favor preferred host conditions.
Improved searching for ranked games.
Addressed a possible false report of too little storage space on larger hard drives (not this again!)

[Via press release

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Nega-review: The Orange Box

Kyle Orland — 2007-10-19T08:00:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

To start with, there's "the horrendous box art, which I'm pretty certain was designed by a select group of mildy-talented fifth graders." (8)

For Half-Life 2 and its episodic add-ons, "the visuals are not as good as they should be." (8) "The graphics don't compare with say BioShock, Gears of War or Halo 3," (6) and the game "suffer[s] from occasional framerate stutters and issues." (1) "There's also some noticeable pop-up." (6) "You'll ... see some chugs at certain points, such as during large chain explosions with equally large numbers of characters onscreen." (1)

"There are mid-level loads that halt the action... often [for] 30 seconds to a full minute. This is especially aggravating when a load comes during a high-speed chase." (8) "Whenever you approach a new area, the game pauses and loads. This feels distinctly last-gen, especially compared with FPS of the moment Halo 3, which seamlessly loads new areas without pause." (6)

As for the game itself, "some sections feel over-long, others just a lonely set of corridors." (3) Your AI teammates "can often get in your way when trying to move about small places [and] the AI often ignores [your] orders or will simply refuse to stay put and let you get through a corridor." (8) "Episode 2 is still linear. ... It's not exactly innovative - there's only one new enemy type and the lone new weapon isn't seen until the finale." (4) "The sense of familiarity can dull the game's appeal to [an] extent." (3)

Team Fortress 2's biggest problem is that "there are only a handful of maps" (4) and "none of the gametypes are really out of the ordinary." (5) Specifically, "there are only six maps to choose from" (9) and "each of the six maps has one game type attached to it. This ... hurts the diversity considerably. ... There's no customization here." (8) "And 2fort is the only capture-the-flag map." (9) "Just one capture the flag map isn't nearly enough." (7)

"There are also some performance issues. I've had some big matches that ran just fine, but other matches (even ones with only four players) that were plagued by lag." (8) "It would occasionally stop frame and jitter around like older PC games used to back in the day." (5) "Now several days after release there still isn't a fix in place." (7) "Without a strong connection from the host, TF2 has some issues." (8)

There are some other complaints as well. "Paltry numbers will drag down the overall experience, as we found during some 3-on-3 sessions. (1) "I missed the Halo 3 matchmaking system, which all online games should have now." (6) And, frankly, "the source engine's becoming a little grey around the temples. The enemy models, in particular, are starting to look dated, and a lot of the textures break up when you get up close and personal." (7)

"I question the longevity of TF2 multiplayer." (8) "It's s not the best online FPS the consoles have to offer." (6) "Will people be playing the same maps, with the same game types in six months?" (8) Personally, "it won't be stealing me away from Halo 3 long term." (6)

As for Portal, "he first fifteen puzzles ... are a real breeze [and] few of the puzzles are difficult to solve." (8) "It will probably take you two hours to complete at most," (5). All right, all right, it "may take you three hours or so if you're able to quickly grasp the concepts that are presented" (9) but "it's closer to four hours if you struggle through the last few like I did." (3) The game could be called "a little short" (6), "too short" (4) or "very brief." (1) Any way you slice it, "Portal doesn't fully deliver on its promise." (8)

Welcome, reader, to the latest Joystiq nega-review. Nega-reviews take the niggling negative bits from nine overwhelmingly positive reviews (sources below) and combines them into an overall vicious whole. Important, positive context has been removed from some of these quotes, but we didn't change the underlying meaning of anyone's words ... each quote was intended as a negative in the original review. We don't do this because we think the game is actually bad, but more to point out that even universally praised games have problems and no game is perfect.

On a personal note, I have to say putting this Nega-review together was a lot harder than putting together the one for Halo 3. While the final review scores were similar, the complaints about Orange Box seemed smaller and altogether more overwhelmed by absolutely glowing positives. I mean look at the Portal section above ... practically the only close-to-negative thing anyone said was that it was too short.

We do plan on making this a regular series for well-hyped, AAA games that receive across-the-board critical praise. While the final decision on what games to nega-review isn't made until the reviews start coming in, Mass Effect, Mario Galaxy and Rock Band are likely candidates on the horizon. Any others we should look out for? Let us know in the comments.

Sources:
(1) GameSpy
(2) 1UP
(3) EuroGamer
(4) Yahoo! Games
(5) Gamer 2.0
(6) Pro-G
(7) GameTrailers
(8) IGN
(9) Gamespot

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Zero Punctuation likes Orange Box, but loves Portal

Alexander Sliwinski — 2007-10-17T16:24:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360

We've gotten used to the saucy Brit named Yahtzee hating whatever he reviews in his Zero Punctuation pieces for the Escapist; so imagine our surprise when a little ray of sunshine crept into the latest video (found after the break). This week Yahtzee tackles The Orange Box and generally seems dismissive of the whole thing -- except for Portal, which he loves. Yes, even ornery Yahtzee has sold out and is having a love-fest with the game, just like many on the Joystiq staff.

Regarding Portal, the typically acid tongued Yahtzee says, "[Portal is] the most fun you'll have with your PC until they invent a force feedback codpiece." The Orange Box seems to have a little something for everyone, even for people like Yahtzee. Now how long will it be before the Portal theme song becomes a spontaneous geek sing-along anthem at every gaming convention?

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Play Team Fortress 2 with Valve this Friday

Justin McElroy — 2007-10-17T09:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

We've been unapologetic about our love for The Orange Box, so we have to admit to being a little conflicted about an event this Friday that will allow you to play some Team Fortress 2 against the Valve team on Xbox Live. Sure, it would be neat to have a chat with them, but when we're staring down the barrel of a chain gun at someone who's brought us so much joy, we're not convinced we'll be able to pull the trigger.

The event kicks off on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT, and we've provided a full list of gamer tags after the break if you want to take part. Just do us a favor, OK? If you see someone firing a gun into the air and screaming Point Break-style, just go ahead and ignore us, alright? We'll pull through.

gamewithdev1 (Matt W.- Level Designer)
ValveArtist1 (Matthew S. - Artist)
ValveAnim (Matthew R. - Animator)
ValveProg1 (Vitaliy - Programmer)
ValveProg2 (Adrian - Programmer)
ValveProg3 (Kerry - Programmer)
ValveProg4 (Robin - Programmer)
ValveProg5 (Jim - Programmer)
ValveLevelDes2 (Dave - Level Designer)
ValveArtist2 (Nick - Artist)
ValveLevelDes3 (Scott - Level Designer)
ValveProg6 (David - Programmer)
ValveWriter (Chet - Writer)

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Valve makes patch for Team Fortress 2 lag on 360

Justin McElroy — 2007-10-16T12:56:00+00:00

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

The only problem is that you don't have it yet. Valve knows that some of you playing the Orange Box have experienced lag while playing 8-on-8 or 6-on6 Team Fortress 2 games, and they've reacted quickly, making a title update for the game designed to fix the issues.

Now, the title update must make it through the gauntlet of Microsoft's certification process. Should it make it out alive, 1UP says you can probably expect the lag situation to be improved by this weekend or early next week. Good luck, little title update. We're rooting for you.

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Metareview: The Orange Box (PC, Xbox 360)

Alexander Sliwinski — 2007-10-10T18:28:00+00:00

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, Online

Valve may have the most deficient understanding of episodic gaming EVAR(!), but they are masters of smoke and mirrors marketing. Valve made us completely lose focus on Half-Life 2: Episode 2 being in The Orange Box (YAY!) by bundling so much gaming goodness in the package, that instead of us cracking jokes about their episodic incompetence, we end up calling The Orange Box the gaming value of the year -- 'cause it is with Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Sure, if you've played Half-Life 2 on your PC it might not be such a fantastic value, but for console owners (minus those that played Half-Life 2 on the original Xbox) this is their first go at HL2 and its episodes.

GameTap (100/100): "If your PC isn't quite up to snuff, the Xbox 360 version is a good substitute. Occasional framerate hitches, plus one minor gaffe with the gamepad (weapon selection) are the only things dragging down the 360 version. That, and it has freaking 99 Achievements spread across all five games. Due to the delay of the PS3 version, we haven't played it yet, but we'll update you when we do."
Team Xbox (96/100): "So, is The Orange Box the best bargain in gaming? While there might be longer games (Oblivion, for example) or games that pack more titles onto a single disc (any of the 'classic' compilations), this is a near-perfect blend of varied games. ... Although this is undeniably one of the must-own games for the Xbox 360, we have a few questions. Will we be getting Episode Three over Xbox Live? And where's our Counter-Strike: Source?"
IGN (95/100): "There's nothing else available on any console like The Orange Box. Though you could argue that Half-Life 2 is old news by now, there are still four components of the Box brand new to consoles. That so much great content is offered at the standard single-game price is astonishing ... And all on one disc. While Portal and TF2 may not be strong enough to stand on their own, coupled with the Half-Life titles, The Orange Box really is one of the best games ever released."

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Joystiq hands-on: Team Fortress 2

Justin McElroy — 2007-10-09T11:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Features, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360

We know that a lot of you who pre-ordered the game through Steam have already been playing around with the beta version of Team Fortress 2. We just wanted to put this message out to those of you who may still be on the fence. We've been enjoying the beta version of the game for a while now and, to put it mildly, we're extremely impressed.

Let us give you the quick version, if you're a complete TFC noob. Two teams, each competing for one objective. Each team is populated by very different classes of characters, each with their own special abilities. Team Fortress Classic is one of the all-time favorite multiplayer shooters, and as 1/3 (or 1/5, depending on your view) of the Orange Box, TF2 is looking to reinvent the game.

Gallery: Half-Life 2: Orange Box

What you'll first notice (what you've probably already noticed) is the graphical style, which is somewhere between a well-animated cartoon and spy shooter No One Lives Forever. In fact, with its pseudo 60s pastiche and retro sound cues, the game owes a lot to that series.

It's also similar to NOLF in its flair for the comedic. In addition to the genuinely entertaining narrator and character voices, each of the classes is just entertaining to watch. It's hard not to let a chuckle slip after you're killed by a heavy weapons guy and see the stupid grin on his face.

But once you get past those trappings, you'll notice that there's a really practical reason for the look: All of the character classes have a very distinct appearance, which is so refreshing, you'll wonder why more games don't do it. From a good distance away you can tell what sort of enemy you're facing, so you'll know what sort of tactic to employ, whether you should run or start blasting.

Though said running and blasting is satisfying for old hands at the game, where TF2 really shines is in the way in can accommodate new players. Though you have your traditional killing machines, there are also support classes, like a medic and an engineer.

Even if you can't snipe worth a damn you can still feel a part of the battle if you build a turret in the right place as an engineer. You can even have a more direct role if you wish as the medic, following your tank into the thick of battles and helping to keep him juiced with your health gun.

Other concessions are also made for accessibility's sake, like a little tutorial video that can play on each of the maps giving an overview of how they operate.

We haven't played the full game yet, so it's hard for us to give a final verdict. But between Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Portal, it's hard for us to see how this package won't be a required purchase when it ships today (or unlocks on Steam early tomorrow).

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