Team Fortress 2

The long-awaited sequel to the popular Team Fortress Classic and nine years in the making, Team Fortress 2 conveys a bold new visual style while retaining the original class based gameplay pioneered in the first game.

The Rundown

Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer, team-based first-person shooter developed by Valve, and was first released as part of The Orange Box on October 10th, 2007 for the PC and Xbox 360, and for PlayStation 3 on December 17th, 2007. It was also later released as a stand-alone package for Windows on April 8th,2008. Fans of the original Team Fortress (and its GoldSrc-based update, Team Fortress Classic) waited years for the release of this sequel, which many had assumed had become vaporware. The result is class-based shooter that takes after its predecessor in name and concept only, everything else, from gameplay to visual style, has been shifted, tweaked, and polished over its 9 year development.

Years in the Making

The original graphical style shows just how much changed during development.

Valve seems to have a penchant for agonizingly lengthy development cycles; the gap between the first two Half-life games was 6 years. According to Valve staff in the game's commentary, TF2's delays were the product of ideas that failed after significant time had been invested in them. The clean-cut spy movie look of the released product was not even a notion in the early stages of this game's R&D. The first screenshots make TF2 look like an attempt at a realistic modern combat simulator. This was the initial intent, but this idea was scrapped in favour of a more light hearted style way late as far as most developers would be concerned.

The Valve team have also spent a huge amount of time looking into a shooter that incorporated a commander for each team who had some form of overlord viewing angle and the ability to give players on the ground information and orders. The idea was tested and redesigned countless times, but there was no way to guarantee that both the commander and the fighters would both have fun in any given game; the possibility of a poor commander or lousy squad members messing up the whole experience weighed too heavily on Valve and, after all the invested time, they abandoned the idea completely. There were many other detours on the way to making TF2 the game it is today, and Valve has a blog open that sort of regularly posts messages about such things as well as in-progress update news.

Early concept art for the Demoman.

Graphical Style

The art style in Team Fortress 2 was drastically changed from that of the original, which strove for the appearance of military realism. By contrast, TF2 has a comical, cartoon-like appearance, with characters having deliberately humorous taunts and exaggerated animations. Ever wondered what The Incredibles would look like as a class-based first- person shooter? TF2 is your answer. Valve constructed the models and architecture of TF2 using the Source Engine, their in-house development platform and graphics engine, but made several major modifications to the shader system along the way. The reflections in Fortress 2 all have a more rubbery look to them, even on the characters. This causes models to have more defined silhouettes even in darker locations, an effect intended to improve the readability of other players during combat.

The Demoman as he appears today.

The classes themselves were built explicitly to be identifiable and easy to recognize immediately at any distance to prevent confusion; this has contributed considerably to the ubiquity of the game's characters in internet chat rooms as well as encouraged the Valve team to make a number of "Meet the Team" videos starring the individual characters. The individual classes now, as a result, have personalities and characteristics that are fleshed out to a degree never attained by a multiplayer shooter. Despite the cartoonish feel the game displays, this should not be interpreted to mean technical laxity; the "Meet the Team" videos are all done with the in-game engine and speak for themselves if you need convincing on this point.

Team Work by Design

The "Team" in Team Fortress 2 is there for a very good reason. From the start, Valve's objective with TF2 was to create a multiplayer shooter where cooperating with those around you would always lead to a team that is better than the sum of its parts.

A prize too great for one man alone.
Objective-Based Conflict

When it first debuted with the Orange Box in 2007, no deathmatch mode existed in Team Fortress 2. Every map involved holding points, capturing briefcases or, (also new) pushing a Fat Man in a railroad cart into enemy territory. That is because these play styles lend themselves coordination and team progress rather than individual achievement. One man can certainly take all the points or steal the flag, but their job is made extremely difficult by the open layout of the maps and the variety of stalwart defense options the game has to offer against rushing. Instead, pushing the front line or forcing a major breach in the opposition's defenses are the much preferred ways to go about winning a match. Even now that deathmatch has been incorporated (in the form of Arena mode) , most servers have kept their previous map rotations or only added one or two of the new deathmatch based maps and tournament play excludes Arena mode almost entirely.

The Class System

There is no middle-ground in the roster of characters for TF2. The Soldier is the assumed all-in-one trooper but he is slower than most other classes and is armed with a rocket launcher; a far cry from the universally effective assault rifles of most shooters. There are 9 classes available to both sides during play, and though their secondary weapons may coincide, no two classes have significantly overlapping niches. As a result (usually in combination with circumstance) each class has particular foes they prefer to fight against and particular friends they prefer to work with.

Class select screen.

The exploitation of class synergy is more than half the battle in TF2; the Heavy may have a boat load of health and a gun to match, but one backstab from the Spy or one headshot from a Sniper and its back to the spawn point. However, if the Heavy enlists the support of another class, such as a Pyro or Scout, to deal with such menaces the two allies together become far greater adversaries than they would be by their individual merits. Even classes like the Spy whom one would think a loner makes an awesome teammate for sabotaging defenses on the way inside enemy territory. The Spy is the second least played class in TF2; the extra difficulty rookie Spies make for themselves by not working in tandem with their allies is at least partially responsible for that.

Wave Respawning

Another way TF2 encourages teamwork is in the respawn system. When players die, they are assigned to a respawn wave rather than simply waiting for an individual timer to hit zero then immediately racing back out to the front. Aside from the multitude of exploitative tactics that this potentially fixes, the waves also make sure that players remain in contact with each other. This convenience of positioning and exposure increases the chance that players will try to work together when they get back in the field, concerning themselves with a more dedicated push than individual struggles for victory (once again, the class synergies make teamwork a better option nearly always). The effect is really more psychological than it is practical, but it is certainly a conscious effort by the developers to get players to work together.

Minimally Explosive Atmosphere

Very few things in TF2 explode. The weapons in the game with splash damage are the Demoman's bombs, the Soldier's rockets, and the Pyro's flamethrower. Other than these, the only thing that blows up are characters that get hit for massive damage. Valve saw the common shooter grenade as a barrier to effective teamwork during the development of Team Fortress. A splash damaging bomb meant the potential for an everyman's weapon, useful against any opponent and effectively leveling the playing field between classes. A breakdown of the rigidly assigned capabilities of the classes was seen to be detrimental to the teamwork aspect.

The other major issue Valve saw in using grenades was one that crops up in many shooters (CounterStrike being a home - turf example for Valve) where grenades are spammed with reckless abandon during matches with the hope of landing a kill on that one unfortunate soul that doesn't know what is going on before the grenade's thrower gets mowed down (likely by a grenade from an enemy with the same mentality). Curbing exploitation of new, inexperienced players and enhancing team cohesion were both strikes against grenades, Valve took them out. They have been criticized by the community ever since for doing so; some avid modders have even developed grenades for use in TF2, though these mods have caught only minimal popularity amongst players.

Classes

The game has nine classes: Demoman, Engineer , Heavy, Medic, Pyro, Scout, Sniper, Soldier and Spy. Each class has its own personality and appearance, as well as a unique set of weapons and abilities. For instance, the heavy is a large Russian packing a mini-gun he calls Sasha, while the engineer is a Texan who can build turrets as well as health and ammo dispensers. Each class offers its own play style, and an effective mixture of all the classes is crucial to a team's success. So far, Valve has shown an admirable commitment to updating Team Fortress 2 with new maps, character abilities, upgrades, and achievements.

For more specific information about each class, visit their individual pages.

Attack

Scout
Scout

Boston, USA

The Scout is the "twitch" class of Team Fortress 2. He attacks his enemies with his fast movement and double jump ability. His weapons are the scattergun (a close-range shotgun), pistol and a baseball bat. He is tied for lowest HP with the Engineer, Sniper, and Spy at 125 but he is also the only one of those classes that sees head-on conflict. As such, Scouts must use their speed to get in, do damage to vulnerable targets, then hop back out again. The scattergun is tailored to this style - a shotgun that is formidable within a few feet but becomes useless even at medium ranges. The scout is normally used for objective acquisition, like capturing a flag or control point, or moving the cart in Goldrush, and is useful in taking out priority targets such as medics. When standing on a control point the scout counts for two people.

Soldier
Soldier

USA

The easiest class to understand, the Soldier is just an all-round fighter. Despite his slow movement speed, his rocket launcher is very strong in good hands. Being both a good defensive and offensive class, the Soldier can cause great amounts of damage with his rockets (particularly critical rockets, which have a tendency to obliterate everything nearby) and has the second largest amount of health in the game. The Soldier also has the ability to " Rocket Jump", a skill allowing the Soldier to reach otherwise impossible heights by shooting at his feet and propelling himself into the air, with the cost of around a quarter of his health (about 52 damage). Along with the Heavy, the Soldier is the class which received the least number of changes from the original game. Since launch, the most prominent change made to the class is an increase of the Soldier's rocket ammo.

Pyro
Pyro

Unknown

The Pyro is the only class which can use fire to burn his/her enemies, doing huge amounts of up-front damage as well as additional damage over time. Upon release, he/she only had a shotgun and an axe to support his flamethrower which meant he/she was inclined to ambush his enemies. Later, the Flare Gun was added, giving skilled Pyro practitioners the ability to set opponents aflame from afar. He/she was also given a new ability, the Compression Blast, a burst of air that can be shot out of the Pyro's flamethrower to push nearby enemies back or deflect incoming projectiles (possibly right back at the enemy). Despite being a powerful offensive class, the Pyro can also be a useful for defense as his/her flamethrower is great for covering tight corridors and checking for spies (compromising invisible or disguised enemy spies by lighting them on fire). Also, as they are always wearing a mask, it still unknown as to the gender of the Pyro. There has been much speculation that the Pyro is actually female and Valve have hinted at this as well, but they have not officially confirmed or denied his/her gender. One reason behind this belief is a flowery fanny pack in the lockers in the spawn on the map 2Fort.

Defense

Demoman
Demoman

Scotland

If an enemy force is too great to handle head-on, the Demoman can break up the action. He has no direct hit weapons (apart from his melee weapon, the bottle) so he must rely on indirect combat, but he is also the only character who has such weapons. Using the physics of the game, his knowledge of the maps, and his anticipation of enemy movements, the Demoman must be smart and kill his enemies either by bouncing his pipebombs off walls toward unseen foes or lay traps for them with his Sticky Bomb Launcher. The grenade launcher is very strong, and can quite easily kill most of the classes with weaker health pools; engineers, scouts or spies. Sticky Bombs adhere to nearly any surface and remain until their layer detonates them, they are destroyed by bullets, or their layer dies. Sticky Bombs can be used like the Soldier's Rockets to propel the Demoman into the air.

Heavy
Heavy

USSR

Heavies are heavy. This means they are slow, the slowest class in the game. However, they have the highest health pool as well as the biggest and, arguably, the most powerful gun. The firepower of his mini-gun (his main weapon) is very high and is similar to the mounted turrets in other games. At close range the heavy puts out the most damage of any class, able to mow down nearly all the classes in mere moments, except for enemy heavies or over-healed soldiers. However, when shooting this weapon the heavy must spin it up first, which takes a few seconds, after which the heavy walks at a snail's pace, making him very vulnerable to fast classes (like the scout) or long-ranged classes (like the sniper). The gun also loses most of its power at long range. Though the Soldier is the preferred partner for competitive play, Medics normally flock to Heavies for their massive HP and imposing turret-like character.

Engineer

Bee Cave, Texas, USA

The Engineer is responsible for creating your team's homebase away from homebase. The Engineer can build four different buildings: a sentry gun, a dispenser and the entry and exit for a teleporter. To build these things, the Engineer must use metal, obtained from any source that gives ammo, such as dropped weapons or friendly dispensers and resupply lockers. The sentry gun is a stationary autoturret that fires with pinpoint accuracy at enemies in range of its 360 swivel. It can be upgraded up to three levels, each time adding more health and bigger weapons. Dispensers deliver ammo, metal and health to anyone standing near it. Teleporters allow teammates to transverse across the map quickly. All of the Engineer's buildings have health and can be destroyed by the enemy. As such, Engineers tend to stay near their machines so they can fix them, especially if the enemy is near and also to deter any Spies, against whom undefended buildings are sitting ducks. The Engineer uses his Wrench to repair buildings as well as upgrade them and accelerate their construction. Engineers are equipped with a pistol and a shotgun, and so are not totally reliant on their buildings to deal damage and capable of defending themselves to a degree.

Support

Medic
Medic

Stuttgart, Germany

The Medic is one of the weakest offensive classes in the game, primarily concerned with healing their teammates via their Medigun, which emits a beam that attaches to an ally (and disguised enemy spies) allowing the Medic to move around and stand a short distance from the person they are healing. As well as healing damage, Medics can boost another players' hit points to 150% of its normal value and can provide invulnerability to himself and one teammate for 10 seconds, (the Übercharge) when they have collected enough charge from healing. When resorting to combat, the medic carries a rapid firing needle gun and a Bonesaw.

Sniper
Sniper

Adelaide Street, Australia

The Sniper's rifle is the best long range weapon in the game. With little health and weak close combat weapons, the Sniper is best used for picking off inattentive enemies at long range. The longer the scope is in use, the more powerful the Sniper's shot becomes and a fully charged headshot will kill any class in the game, even classes who are being over-healed by a medic. Headshots do 3x damage and are almost always the better option for a skilled sniper compared to a body shot, though a charged body shot will kill the weaker classes in one hit. When forced to fight at close ranges, he has a small submachine gun and a Kukri, a machete type blade.

Spy
Spy

France

As the game's stealthy class, the spy packs the ability to cloak, thereby briefly turning invisible to enemy players unless damaged, and to disguise himself as other classes or as a member of the opposing team. He uses these abilities to sneak behind enemy lines where he can use his Sapper to sabotage enemy Engineer buildings, and his knife and pistol to assassinate enemy players. When used on an enemy's back, his knife can cause an instant kill; a Backstab. When he uses any of his weapons, except for the sapper, any disguises are removed, so the spy must be careful about when and where he attacks. He also cannot attack while cloaked. In the right situation, a Spy can be among the most powerful classes in the game, sometimes turning the tide of a round singlehandedly. On the other hand, playing Spy successfully is extremely hard if the enemy team is coordinated and attentive. A disguised enemy spy can be identified by his lack of ability to fire his weapon, his ability to take damage from "teammates," and collisions with his "allies."

Game Modes

Team Fortress 2 has many game modes, ranging from team death match to a new mode to shooters called payload. As of latest game update there are a total of 8 unique modes.

Capture the Flag ( CTF) - This game modes uses the basic Capture The Flag idea except you capture the other teams intelligence briefcase instead of a physical flag.
Payload ( PL) - This mode has one team pushing a cart holding a bomb with the intention of pushing it to the last level and blowing it up. The cart is pushed on a predetermined path of rails and heals the team that is supposed to push it as well as giving them ammo. Like capture points, the cart goes faster with more people that are pushing it. If the team that is supposed to push the cart does not touch the cart in 10 seconds the cart will slowly go backwards by itself. Also if a defender is next to the cart it stops moving.
Payload Race ( PLR) - As in Payload, players must push a cart to their opponents base. Unlike Payload, both teams have a cart to push, and teams must simultaneously push their cart to the opponents base and prevent the opponents from pushing their cart to the players base. The first team to push their kart to the end of their track is the victor.
Capture Point ( CP) - Capture Point maps have certain areas that teams must control. The object is to control all the points. Teams must have control of a co joined point before they can move on the the next. For example you can not take point c if you do not have control of point b first. The more people you have from your team on the point the faster you team takes control. Scouts count as two people.
Attack/Defend ( CP) - A subset of the Capture Point mode in which one team starts out in possession of all the capture points and has to try to defend them for a set amount of time while the other team tries to capture all the points from the defenders. The defending team cannot re-capture a point after the attackers take it over. All official Valve maps have Blu attacking and Red defending.
Territorial Control (TC) - Similar to Capture Point mode as the aim of TC is capture all of the other team's territories. To do this you must win a CP round on a section of the larger map and by doing so you will take over a territory. There is currently only one Territorial Control map, Hydro.
Arena ( Arena) - The Arena mode has teams go against each other in a full out deathmatch, but unlike the other modes you do not respawn and must wait for the round to end before respawning. The arena maps also have their health boxes taken out from them and the only source of health is from medics and dispensers, although there is a very small health jar on lumberyard.
King of the Hill ( KotH) - King of the Hill mode has two teams going after a single capture point, which is initially locked. After the point opens and is captured by a team they must then defend that point for three minutes.
If the enemy team manages to capture the point back, their clock will start counting down while the other team's clock freezes at the time the was recaptured.
Highlander - In this mode the team size is restricted to 9 players so that each team can have no more than one of each class type.

Official Maps

Team Fortress 2 currently features 27 official maps, many of which can be played in more then one game mode. The first six maps listed are the ones the game initially shipped with and all maps after those are in the order in which they were introduced to the game. Some maps were originally just community maps (those made by modders and not by Valve themselves) but were promoted to official status by Valve because of their quality and reputation. So far eleven community maps have received this distinction.

2 Fort (CTF)

2Fort is the oldest and most iconic map in the Team Fortress franchise. It consists of 2 almost identical Forts in which each team attempts to capture their enemies Intel. Generally the team has to capture their Enemy's Intel 3 times to win the round.

Well (CTF/CP/Arena)

Well is a Control Point map and a Capture the Flag map. The center point is probably the most recognizable part of the map: A station like building where occasionally a trains passes through killing anyone or anything in its way. A new Arena version of this map was released in the Heavy update.

Hydro (TC)

Even though Hydro is basically another Control Point Map, it is unique as it is split into separate territories, hence the Territorial Control mode name. The Control Points consist of rounds where each team has to defend their point, as well as capture their enemy's. 2 points are only ever active in a single round. The Teams must capture an area to take control of it, winning the round, where upon the beginning of the next round, they must defend it. Moving around the Map like the board-game "Risk", eventually a team will have only a single area left. The winning team must take this Control Point to win the match. Whereas the losing team can only Defend until the time limit runs out, to take back an additional area. However the losing team's last Control Point is very easy to capture, making it unlikely that winning team will fail to.

Granary (CP/Arena)

A team must capture all 5 control points to win. Each team begins with 2 points under their control. Similar to Well. A new Arena version of this map was released in the Heavy Update.

Gravel Pit (CP)

The blue team must capture all 3 points in the allotted time while the red team tries to defend them.

Dustbowl (CP)

Dustbowl has a wild-west theme and is a larger map that typically involves checkpoint control in 3 areas. The attacking team (Blu) must take all 3 areas to win. However if they fail to capture an area before the time runs out, the defending team (Red) wins and swaps to become the attacking team.

Badlands (CP/Arena)

Both teams rush to capture all of the points on the map. A new Arena version of this map was released in the Heavy update.

Gold Rush (PL)

Introduced in the medic update, it was the first map to introduce the game mode, Payload. One team must push a cart with a bomb into the opposing teams base before the time runs out.

Turbine (CTF)

A community created map selected by the TF2 Developers to become an official map. Turbine is an indoor, symmetrical capture the flag map, Where control of the middle is absolutely crucial to your teams success.

Fastlane (CP)

A community created map selected by the TF2 Devs to become an official map. Fastlane is a symmetrical control point map with five points.

Badwater Basin (PL)

Introduced in the Heavy Update, the map will be set up very similar to Gold Rush but will be much larger and more open.

Lumberyard (Arena)

The first map of the new Arena gametype. It is also the first to feature the new alpine environment. It was released in the Heavy Update.

Ravine (Arena)

Ravine is the second map of the new Arena game type. It was released in the Heavy update.

Steel (CP)

Steel requires the attacking team to take capture point E. It is in play the entire match and can be captured at any time, however there are 4 other capture points, A-D. Capturing these aids the main objective of taking E and adds more time. It is a community map added with the Heavy update.

Junction (CP)

A community map added with the Scout update, Junction is a map full of tight corridors and short sight-lines creating frantic battles.

Watchtower (Arena)

Watchtower is a community map which emphasizes on open spaces and large sight-lines with both teams vying for the central building. It's the only other map to use the alpine art style introduced in Lumberyard.

Egypt (CP)

A large community map; Egypt is a a very open map with lots of verticality. It has a unique desert art style and was introduced in the Scout update.

Sawmill (Arena/KotH/CTF)

An arena map which goes back to the alpine art style previously seen in Lumberyard. The capture point is situated on the top of a hill in a large building which is surrounded by two deadly saw blades. The map features rain and is the first map to include a weather effect in TF2.

Nucleus (Arena/KotH)

A circular map with a giant doomsday device in the centre. The map includes long sightlines and has a bottomless pit under most of it. The capture point is only accessible through catwalks which are suspended over a deep chasm.

Pipeline (PLR)

The first Payload Race map for Team Fortress 2. The map has three rounds all in which both teams are trying to get their cart to the end of the track first. It was included in the Sniper vs. Spy Update.

Hoodoo (PL)

The most popular community payload map prior to the Sniper vs. Spy update, in which it was made an official map. It is a fast paced payload map that, like Gold Rush, is split into 3 sections.

Offblast (Arena)

A community map which was added with the Classless Update. Offblast is
Offblast is a high-altitude map and most fights will take place over a perilous mountain top, with no protection on the sides.

Viaduct (KotH)

Viaduct is an all-new map especially built for KotH, set outside of the entrance to a secret underground base. Viaduct is also the first Valve-made Team Fortress map to take place during a snowfall. Both teams start at the base of a low hill, and will have to climb to get to the capture point at the hill's peak. The various elevations of the map and multiple routes to the central point guarantee some frenzied battles as the point changes hands during gameplay.

Yukon (CP)

A community map based in mountaintop coal mine. There are 5 control points in total and there are several alternate routes to reach them.

Harvest (KotH)

A community map originally set in the day time and made for the arena mode but was modified for the Haunted Halowe'en Special. The map became KOTH and was set in the night time. It also featured exploding pumpkins and had the ghost of Zepheniah Mann, who would scare any player who crossed his path.

Gorge (CP)

An attack/defend map with only to control points, Gorge is an alpine themed map with quick rounds and a short turnaround.

Doublecross (CTF)

The second official map to be set in the night time, Doublecross is a CTF map with a quick turnaround. Action takes place across the map's two bridges which span over a bottomless chasm.

Major Updates

Valve has released a series of large free updates for the PC version of Team Fortress, each focusing on a different class. Each update gives the specified class new unlocakable weapons and new Steam achievements. The updates will also be coming to the Xbox 360 version some time in the future and Valve has yet to give a firm release date.

Note: The (AM# - #) next to an unlockable weapon refers to the corresponding Achievement Milestone needed to unlock that weapon and the amount achievements, for that class, needed to reach that milestone. For example, Achievement Milestone 1 (AM1) for the Medic requires 10 of his classes achievements to unlock the Blutsauger. This would be written as The Blutsauger (AM1 - 10). The amount achievements needed to reach each milestone varies between classes, generally it's easier to unlock weapons with later classes as the number achievements required to get to each milestone is less.

Gold Rush Update (Medic Update)

New game mode: Payload (PL)

New Payload map: Gold Rush

New unlock system: players could now unlock weapons (later hats) by earning achievements. This is now one of three ways to unlock items (see Unlock System section for more information).

New Medic weapons:

The Blutsauger (AM1 - 10) - New syringe gun that drains health from the enemy.

The Kritzkrieg (AM2 - 16) - New medigun that's Ubercharge gives its recipient 100% chance to score critical hits, instead of the invulnerability given by the original medigun. It charges 25% faster then the normal Medigun, due to its risky nature.

The Ubersaw (AM3 - 22) - Melee weapon that converts damage dealt into Ubercharge. Slower then the ordinary Bonesaw.

The Pyro Update

New community maps: Fastlane (CP) and Turbine (CTF)

New Pyro weapons:

The Flare Gun (AM1 - 10) - Long distance gun that sets enemies on fire.

The Backburner (AM2 - 15) - New flamethrower that guarantees a critical hit when used from behind.

The Axtinguisher (AM3 - 22) - Melee weapon that guarantees a critical hit when the enemy is on fire.

Flamethrower given Airblast ability - can push stickies and grenades, deflect rockets and push people a short distance.

A Heavy Update

New community map: Steel (CP)

New Payload map: Badwater Basin

New game mode: Arena (Arena)

New Arena maps: Lumberyard and Ravine (Well, Granary and Badlands have also been reworked to allow Arena to be played on them)

New Heavy weapons:

The Sandvich (AM1 - 10) - Healing item that restores 120 health within 4 seconds, rendering the heavy immobile during a comedic animation.

Natascha (AM2 - 15) - New minigun that slows the target upon damaging them. Does 25% less damage then Sasha (original minigun).

The K.G.B. (Killer Gloves of Boxing) (AM3 - 20) - Melee weapon that grants 5 seconds of critical hits to every weapon after killing an enemy. Slower than standard Fists.

The Scout Update

New community maps: Watchtower (Arena), Junction (CP) and Egypt (CP)

New Scout Weapons:

The Sandman (AM2 - 16) - Baseball bat and ball which, when the ball hits an enemy, causes them to be stunned temporarily in proportion to the distance the ball traveled. Also works on invulnerable player. The Scout cannot use his double jump ability while this is equipped. Players take 50% less damage while stunned.

The Force-a-Nature (AM1 - 10) - Slightly less powerful and containing less ammunition than the Scattergun; this weapon gives the Scout a "knockback" effect, allowing him to push enemies back or push himself higher into the air while jumping.

Bonk! Atomic Punch (AM3 - 22) - A radioactive drink which gives the Scout a short burst of energy enabling him to travel faster and also dodge bullets. A side effect of the drink is that the Scout suffers a period of slowdown after his temporary high which means he is more susceptible to attack.

Also part of the Scout Update were some changes to the Spy class. These included:

Faster backstab animation for the Spy.
The ability to see the Player ID for enemies when disguised as part of their team.
The ability to alter the weapon shown when disguised as enemy character by using the "last disguise" hotkey.
When backstabbing from a disguise, the kill speech is now appropriate to the class you were disguised as.

The Sniper Vs. Spy Update

Initially billed as simply the Sniper update, Valve started slipping in hints to the Spy's inclusion (such as the Spy appearing cloaked behind the Sniper on the third day's background picture). On day 4, it was revealed that the update included the Spy.

New Arena maps: Sawmill and Nucleus
New game mode: Payload Race (PLR)
New Payload Race map: Pipeline
New community map: Hoodoo (PL)
New unlock system: players could now unlock weapons and hats through random weapon drops that would occur by simply playing the game. This is now one of three ways to unlock items (see Unlock System section for more information).
New Sniper weapons:

The Razorback (AM3 - 17) - A tribal shield with an electric voltage running through it. When the Sniper has this equipped he is immune to being backstabbed as when the Spy hit him in the back he will will experience a short period of being temporarily stunned and will have to wait before his knife cools down before he can us it again. The Razorback breaks apart after a single stab.

The Huntsman (AM1 - 5) - A bow and arrow which works in the same way as the original Sniper Gun but has the added ability to impale it's victims to walls. Even if the target isn't killed they still have the arrow sticking out of their body. The Huntsman can hold 12 arrows (which is less then the Sniper Gun's 25) and takes 1 second to fully charge itself

Jarate (AM2 - 11) - A jar filled with the Sniper's urine. When it is thrown at an opponent, the disgust is so intense that it causes them to take 35% more damage for a short period of time or until they wash Jarate off by jumping in water. Jarate will disrupt enemy spy cloaking devices and can also be used to douse teammates who are on fire.

New Spy weapons:

Dead Ringer (AM3 - 17) - A pocket watch which gives the ability to feign death for 8 seconds (similar to Team Fortress Classic.) When the Spy gets hit by a non-lethal attack, a copy of his corpse will take his place and react accordingly while the Spy is granted 8 seconds of stealth. The Spy cannot cloak normally with this item equipped and upon reappearing a distinctive ring can be heard.

Cloak and Dagger (AM2 - 11) - This wrist watch allows the spy to remain invisible for longer periods of time, as the cloaking ability is only drained whilst moving. Cloaking cannot be replenished by picking up ammo as normal, the spy must remain stationary.

The Ambassador (AM1 - 5) - An even bigger revolver for the Spy that features an engraving of the Scout's mother. The Ambassador features pinpoint accuracy and head shots will register as critical hits, but it's damage is lower and it is subject to recoil and must recover after each shot.

Classless Update

This was the first major update not to have specific features (weapons, achievements, etc) focused towards one or two classes. Hence the name.

Added an additional 18 unlockable hats (two for each class). As of this update every class had 3 unique hats. The Scout, Sniper and Engineer also have an additional hatless model.
New community maps: Offblast (Arena) and Yukon (CP)
New game mode: King of the Hill (KotH)
New KotH map: Viaduct (Nucleus and Sawmill now also KotH maps)
Sawmill now also playable as a CTF map.
Added new effects for players that have a critical effect such as Kritzkrieg, capturing a flag, and winning the round.
Added custom animations for the losing team.

WAR! Update (Demoman and Soldier Update)

Similar to The Sniper vs. Spy Update in that two classes would update simultaneously, in this case the Demoman and the Soldier, the WAR! update added new weapons, maps, achievements etc. The update had another layer to it in that the two classes were pitted against each other. In the end Soldiers had killed more Demomans than the demomans killed soldiers, so the soldiers got an extra weapon, the gunboats.

New unlock system: items can now be created through crafting (see Unlock System section for more information).
New maps: Gorge (CP) and Doublecross (CTF)
New Demoman Weapons:

The Eyelander (AM2 - 11) A replacement to the Demo's melee weapon, The Eyelander decapitates any enemy that it kills. As it's cursed you start off with less health but, for every hit you get to a neck, you receive a health and speed boost (up to 4 times). It deals no crits unless used with The Chargin' Targe's charge ability.

The Chargin' Targe (AM1 - 5) - This wooden shield is designed to work best in conjunction with The Eyelander. It replaces the sticky bomb launcher and gives the Demo a 65% blast damage resistance and 50% fire resistance. The alt-fire makes you lunge forward quickly, damaging anyone in your way.

The Scottish Resistance (AM3 - 17) - A tactical replacement to the sticky bomb launcher. It carries twice as many stickies as normal and can set off individual (or clusters of) bombs off by facing them, instead of blowing them all at once. On the down side it has a longer priming rate (0.4 sec per bomb).

New Soldier Weapons:

The Direct Hit (AM2 - 11) - This more accurate rocket launcher trades precision for area of effect. It has a 70% smaller blast radius but it's 80% faster and has 25% more destructive force. It also deals a mini-crit to any airborne enemy that has been pushed in the air by explosion.

The Equalizer (AM2 - 5) - Melee-slot pick axe which increases in power the more damage you take. As you lose more health The Equalizer becomes both faster and stronger. It's most powerful when you're on the verge of death.

The Buff Banner (AM3 - 17) - Secondary-slot item that gives nearby teammates temporary mini-crits on all damage they deal. When equipped, as you deal damage a rage meter in filled up. When full the Soldier sounds his bugle and any friendlies near your flag will gain 10 secs of mini-crit damage.

The Gunboats - A pair of boots reduce rocket jump damage by 75%. It is a secondary-slot item.

Minor Updates

These updates didn't change the game as significantly as the major ones but still affected the game more so then normal patches and fixes.

Minor Engineer Update

Though not a large update like the class specific ones, this patch gave engineers the ability to upgrade their teleporters and dispensers to level 3. Rank 3 dispensers give ally players health and ammo at a greater rate and also included new upgrading animations. Rank 3 teleporters recharge faster than normal.

Minor Spy Update

Released along side the small engineer update. Spies became able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground.

Crit Update

A small update affecting critical hits and the balancing of weapons. Critical chances were lowered. The Heavy's unlockable gun, Natascha, was given increased slowdown and strength. Soldier's rocket ammo rose from 16 to 20.

Loadout Screen Update

This update changed the character loadout screen to include a slot for headgear. Headgear is purely a cosmetic change (characters can wear a variety of unlockable hats) and has no effect on how the classes play.

Minor Hat Update

A small update in which all hats unlocked obtained through external idling application were removed from the players who used them.

In addition to that, players who didn't cheat were rewarded with a new special hat - Cheater's Lament. It is is a shining halo which is attached to the player's head by two strings.

Halowe'en Special

A special update which lasted between October 29th until November 2nd 2009. The achievements (and the hats that came with them) were only only available between those 5 days.

Five new 'scarechievements' which unlocked Halloween based hats.
New KotH map: Harvest

Bill's Hat

To celebrate the upcoming release of Left 4 Dead 2, Valve rewarded all those who pre-ordered the game with Bill's hat from Left 4 Dead. Unlike previous hats this one could only obtained by pre-ordering Left 4 Dead 2 and not through a drop or holiday event.

Unlock System

There are three ways to obtain unlockable weapons (and hats) in TF2:

Achievements

Each updated class has a list of achievements specifically related towards them. Players must accomplish certain tasks to get an achievement and some might require the player to accumulate a certain objective (eg. Get 1000 kills) or to pull off a single feat (eg. Backstab a disguised Spy).

After acquiring a specific amount of achievements the player unlocks an achievement milestone, which in turn unlocks a new weapon. Each milestone corresponds to a weapon and the amount of achievements needed for each milestone varies depending on class. All classes have three unlockable items, with Soldier having a bonus fourth item.

Random Drops

Included with Sniper vs. Spy update, random drops allowed people to unlock items by simply playing the game. Valve created a marker time based the average amount of time played by normal TF2 players. Every time the player reaches this amount of time played they have a chance of unlocking an item. This means that the more a person plays the game the higher the probability that they will receive an item.

Backpack Screen

The chance of unlocking an item after playing the marker amount of time is based on a completely random formula and is in no way affected by the players skill or how well they are doing in a certain game. The item unlocked is also random and so it is possible to acquire duplicate items (Valve have said they intend to introduce a trading system so that players can swap items) which end up in the players 'backpack' and is accessible through the loadout screen.

Game data has shown that, on average, the player has a 1% chance to unlock an item every minute played and a 60% chance to unlock an item every hour played.

Hats are a very rare unlockable item which change the appearance of class and are purely an aesthetic feature. Their numbers are growing.

Crafting

Included in the WAR! update, crafting is the ability to create new items through combining old ones that are in your inventory. It is accessed through the loadout screen and is a box next to your backpack.

To create new items you first need to know its blueprint, which tells you which items to combine. To begin with everyone starts off with some blueprints but to get more you'll have to discover them for yourself.

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

CPU: 1.2 GHz Processor

RAM: 256 MB

Graphics Card: DirectX 7 capable graphics card
Windows 2000/XP/Vista

Recommended System Requirements

CPU: 2.4 GHz

Processor RAM: 512 MB

Graphics Card: DirectX 9 capable graphics card 256 MB

Windows 2000/XP/Vista

Ideal System Requirements

These are the ideal system requirements to run the game smoothly in 1280x1024 with High Quality graphics:

CPU: 3.4 GHz Processor

RAM: 1024 MB

Graphics Card: Radeon X800 or Geforce 6800

Windows XP/Vista

Reception

Team Fortress 2 has received a lot of critical acclaim, and to-date has a 92% Metacritic score from 16 critic reviews. From Gamespy, TF2 took the Best Multiplayer Game of the Year award and best Unique Art Style. 1UP gave similar awards, Best Multiplayer Experience and Best Artistic Direction. IGN also gave TF2 best Artistic Design. As well as receiving countless awards with its inclusion in the Orange Box, PC Gamer UK put TF2 as the Best Game Of All Time in in it's yearly Top 100 list for 2008.

Meet The Team Videos

Team Fortress 2 Roster Team Fortress 2 is somewhat famous for its clever and original introduction videos for each individual class in the game. As of now, not every class has a video,below are links to each one. In addition, in an update on August 19, 2008, Meet the Sandvich was released, being the first (and, to date, only) 'Meet The' video not introducing an actual class.

Meet The Heavy
Scene from 'Meet the Demo'.

Meet The Engineer

Meet The Soldier

Meet The Demoman

Meet The Scout

Meet The Sniper

forum	Updates screwing up a winning formula?	mrcool11
blog	The death of Crab Spies within sight?	AURON570
forum	Sniper hat now on 360 Avatar Marketplace	LordXavierBritish
forum	Kiss me	ErrorOperator
blog	Flustrations!!!	Kyreo
blog	TF2 Portrait 4 of 9: Blu Sniper	Crono
news	TF2 Sniper Update On The Way	snide
news	Valve Not Done With TF2 Yet, 360 Getting PC Content	Brad

Game Name	Team Fortress 2
Platform(s)	Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 PC
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts Valve Corporation
Developer(s)	Valve Corporation
Genres	Add a new genre Action First-Person Shooter
Themes	Add a new theme Comedy Espionage Modern Military
Original US Release	Oct. 10, 2007 need a fuzzy date?
Original US Release	know the real date?
Aliases	TF2

How to play sounds over the Mic How to set up the function to play sounds or music over voice function of tf2.
Team Fortress 2 Sniper Guide
Team Fortress 2 Engineer Guide A guide for the engineer class in Team Fortress 2.
Team Fortress 2 Achievement Guide A guide to unlocking the weapons in Team Fortress 2.

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