eyes, this undefined melding of class
and character feels more awkward,
yes, but also more playful. It
lampshades the inherent absurdity of
the same characters fighting an
endless conflict—largely defined by
being dressed in either red or blue
clothes—and thus invites you to revel
in it too. It’s impossible to take the
conceit seriously, creating a
charmingly slapstick battlespace,
despite all the blood and gibs.
It’s refreshing—after years of
seeing characters like Overwatch’s
Reaper and Apex Legends’ Revenant—
to be playing a game that so fully
rejects being dark or edgy. But more
than a tonal triumph, I’m taken by
how unexpectedly restrained Team
Fortress 2’s class design feels. Where
once nine distinct playstyles felt like a
lot, now it’s at the low end of a
videogame roster list. And while each
has been broadened over the years,
even the wildest of weapon loadouts
won’t change the basic role each class
was made to fill. The Pyro still burns
things. The Sniper still does longrange, precision damage. The Scout,
well, they’re still a prick.
Arguably Valve’s boldest design
decision—one that’s remained
steadfast throughout TF2’s lifespan—
was not to include an assault rifle. It’s
too blandly effective for a game built
around player limitation. The Heavy’s
minigun might be able to cut down
swathes of enemies, but it comes
with inherent compromise: Slow
movement, a long spin-up time, a
large, dominating hitbox. Each class
comes with a similar in-built
weakness, usually in the form of
another class that acts as a hard
counter, in a way that creates more of
an unspoken sense of team cohesion
than in other games of its type.DREAM TEAM
A problem that Overwatch has never
elegantly solved is incentivizing
players to switch heroes based on the
team they’re facing. For starters, the
loss of your ultimate ability’s charge
means there’s a cost for making a
change. More deeply, though, it’s
harder to master a large roster’s
range of quirks and abilities and
counters, meaning players trend
towards picking a single ‘main’, or atSoldier pays tribute to his
voice actor, the late Rick May.In TF2, fashion is just
a state of mind.NEVER GO HOME AGAIN Six key updates in TF2’s history
APRIL 29, 2008
GOLD RUSH UPDATE
The first major update added
the payload mode and began
the process of giving each
merc an alternate weapon set.MAY 21, 2009
SNIPER VS.
SPY UPDATE
This added the
hats. And also
the piss.OCTOBER 29, 2009
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN
SPECIAL
The first Halloween event added
koth_harvest and also filled out the
lore of the ridiculous Mann family.SEPTEMBER 30, 2010
MANN-CONOMY UPDATE
TF2 gets item trading and loot boxes.
At its height, stories about the wild
TF2 earbud market were more
fascinating than the game itself.JULY 7, 2016
MEET YOUR MATCH UPDATE
Arguably the last of the real
game-changing patches (so far?),
this added matchmaking for casual
and competitive play.AUGUST 15, 2012
MANN VS MACHINE
This added a co-op
horde mode against
robotic versions of
the mercs.OLD GAMES, NEW PERSPECTIVES
REINSTALL
Why can’t laser guns be
sniper rifles?