Team Fortress 2

Team Fortess has quite a history behind it. It started out as an ordinary mod for Quake, but with time, it became one of the most popular mods based on the Half Life version of the game was released seven years ago, and an update has been pending for a while now. The update has been delayed for so long thst it was dubbed vaporware for several years by Wired Magazine.
Thankfully, the wait has been for the good. The way technology has evolved over the past few years has boosted the version we have now, and has given a new lease of lofe to the franchise. A lot of changes have been made, including the absence of perclass grenades except the Demoman, which actually play really well and provide a nice mix and distinction to each class.

Meet the classes of 2007

Each class has it’s own unique abilities, weaknesses, health values, and sounds, which blend well with the theme of the game. Let’s look at these classes in a little more detail. We have the Scout who is fast, can double jump; the only problem is that he’s the weakest class in the game. The soldier is a moderately slow class type who carrries a rocket launcher and a shotgun. The Pyro is also a moderately slow class, but is resistant to fire attacks and carries a flame thrower. The Heavy is a big, gung-ho type of character with a huge mini-gun. Medics can heal other and can also Ubercharge anyone to make him and themselves invincible for ten seconds. Te Demoman can throw grenades and sticky bombs that can also be used to double jump if timed correctly. The Sniper carries a bolt-action rifle that places a red marker on players before shooting and can even bring Heavies down with one hit.
Spies can turn invisible till their timer runs out. Also they can disguise themselves as players from the opposing team and can sneak behind people to kill them with their knives. The Engineers build turrets, health, ammo dispensers, and teleport portals. This class needs to keep collecting metal from fallen players to build their structures.
The different classes and their abilities are very well balanced, with well designed weaknesses and strengths that play really well in the multiplayer world. Players can easily change classes in mid game. Respawning is timed and takes between five and 20 seconds depending on the number of players.
The game types currently available are ‘Control Points’ and ‘Capture the Flag’. There are six map types available, which have been designed by Valve for the mod community. The current map listing is: 2Fort, Dustbowl, Granary, Gravel Pit, Hydro, and Well.
The graphics are a Departure from the Photorealistic setting of Half Life 2 Episode Two, and take a wild comic turn for the better. Mostly inspired by 20th century commercial art, the characters and weapons are drawn with bold lines and heal=vily exaggerated caricaturized looks. The graphics add a lot of humor to the on-goings and work really well with the characteristics of each class and weapon.
Because I like to nitpick my games, I have a few negative points to mention as well. I would have loved to have bots enabled in the game. It would have definitely added a lot of value to be able to play the game without an internet connection. Also, considering I had to wait so long for the game, I surely need a bigger collection of maps to pent-up excitement.

For: Very well balanced classes and weapons, looks really cool.
Against: Really few maps