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Monday 14 January, 2008
GAMEPLAY
One of the aspects of Team Fortress 2 that I enjoy is how rewarding the kills are. I especially noticed this while playing the spy class. To disguise as a member of the opposing team and sneak around before backstabbing an unsuspecting enemy, killing them instantly, is fun over and over again.
I almost always play on the same server, so I know a large amount of the people playing with me. This is nice, because one of my biggest problems with the game is finding a good server to play on. If the server I normally play on is full, I often have to go through several servers to find one worth playing on due to annoying players, unbalanced teams, etc. which wastes time and sometimes makes me lose interest in the game.
DESIGN
One of the first things that stood out to me were the style of graphics. They are cartoony, with each class acting as a different character . The game lacks a story, but the characters' unique personalities give Team Fortress 2 a sense of humor even though players are getting blown up and bloody body parts are flying everywhere. The presentation is lighthearted and a bit dark at the same time. As mentioned before, getting hit with a rocket and exploding into 20 pieces causes the shot to freeze before an arrow points to a lone leg flying through the air, labeled "Your leg." The violence matches the style of graphics with its cartoon nature.
There are not very many maps initially available in this game. Custom maps are allowed, but are not frequently used on most servers due to mixed feelings among gamers. The maps can get repetitive at times, but have a surprisingly good replay value considering there are only about five or six. Three different game styles aid this.
One is a capture the flag style game, which is enjoyable but can turn into a stalemate if both teams have strong defenses. The other two styles are based on capturing control points. In one, one team tries to defend two or three points while the other tries to capture them. The last point will be "locked" until the remaining are captured. This is usually a lot of fun although sometimes games can drag on for too long. The last type of game involves a total of 7 control points. Each team starts off controlling 2 with the 3rd up for grabs. Like in the other control point mode, only the point farthest away from a team's "base" is available for capture. Whoever controls all the points first is the winner. This is possibly my favorite, as teams need to balance offense and defense in order to advance without losing their position.
The combat system works well, although I have heard some people ask to have critical hits taken out of the game. These are essentially "lucky shots" that do extra damage and can kill an enemy much faster than normal. I find this positive as it adds another aspect to the game that keeps players on their feet. On the downside it can reward classes with the ability to "spray and pray" by giving them lucky kills that do not require as much skill. All of the classes seem to be balanced, giving everyone the opportunity to find at least one, but probably more, play styles that they will enjoy.
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