I’ve been caught in the grip of a vile dilemma lately.
Two awesome video games have recently graced my computer. I’ve talked about both of them briefly, but I only gave what a I laudably call “first impressions” on them.
Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is the game that has received the most hype. Coming from the makes of the Half Life series, the game has awesome stamped into its genes. Couple that with the fact that TF was one of the first on-line games that I seriously played (I bought a US Robotics 56K modem specifically for it), and you have the nostalgia factor as well. I have to say that as I continue to play the game, I think Valve may have hit one out of the park…again. Now that everyone has shaken down into a preferred class, the balance issues that I previously railed about are gone. For every awesome move by one class, there is a counter by another. Got spies? A demoman and a pyro should serve your purpose nicely. Got a medic/heavy combo? Snipers make short work of them. Got an engineer with a penchant for dispensers and sentry guns (my own fave on defense), a spy or a demoman can end their domination quickly.
The gameplay is fast, sometimes frustrating, and always laughter-inducing. So far, the only play style that I don’t care for is the 2Fort map, which is basically a souped-up capture the flag. No one has done this better than the Unreal Tournament games, and TF2 is actually no exception. I try to squeeze in at least one game a night, much to the detriment of my writing career.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is the other game that has sucked me in, but lackluster performance on my current rig has robbed me of some enjoyment. Combine that with the fact that one of my online buddies is an excellent (pro) player who likes to play on servers with a wicked skill level, and I find that I am more frustrated that satisfied by the experience. Although the game caters to my run’n'gun style of play, I have to run with my pack or I’m brutalized in an excruciating fashion. I will continue to play (even going as far as saying I would play competitively), but my real affection will remain with TF2.
As an aside, Half-Life Episode Two was unlocked late last night, so I’ll be working my way through the single player experience over the next few days. I’ll provide some thoughts on that as soon as I complete it.
Now I just have to find time to write!
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I was hoping you’d run a comparison of these two games on your site. I can’t find the funds or time to invest in both games and I am new to the genre. I was concerned I might choose the lamer of the two. If I recall, you are quite an accomplished team-based FPS player. Glad to know it was TF2 was a good purchase.
I went with Teamfortress 2. I only had the cash and time for a single game purchase this fall and it was hard to decide between The Orange Box (TF2), Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Unreal Tournament 3, or Hellgate: London. I worked it like this; Hellgate was gone because I defiantly do not have the time to commit to an MMO. If I did, it was the hands-down winner of my hard earned cash. I eliminated Quake Wars simply because it was so similar to Battlefield and other games I decided not to buy something so close to what I already own. This left the decision between TOB or UT3. I admit, this was a hard decision. What ultimately made the decision for me was the variety of intriguing games that are in The Orange Box. Not only did it come with the continuation of the Half-Life saga and the kickin’ Teamfortress 2, but it also had the mind-bending puzzle-maze game Portal. I’ve been intrigued by the promotional vids of Portal since last spring, so it was what tipped the scale. Hope that helped you a bit by at least seeing my thought progression.
Good choice on the orange box. You really get 3 games for the price of one. However, I beat portal yesterday (the day it came out), so you should really not count it as a full game. It was extremely clever, but not very long at all. They are more challenges available after the regular game play and called advanced rooms. Basically they are rooms you beat before but MUCH harder. Overall its a very fun and very addictive game, might be a good thing that its so short.
TF2- very well done and they fixed some early balance issues right away. I love when a dev team does this and doesn’t make you wait forever. Now this I think would be a super fun game to have competitions in. Every class has their place and are well balanced by another.
Half-Life 2 Episode two- What can I say, more of the same great kickassery as you’ve seen in the previous releases. In my humble opinion this is still of, if not THE best games of our time. I just wish that they weren’t so short and Valve would get them out faster. My biggest challenge now will be to try and work today without starting it up. If I so much as glimpse the title screen, then work day will be chewed up and spit out by it.
So Chris if you are still weighing these two out I’d say go with The Orange Box as you will get more for you money. The Quake game is pretty much like another point capture Battlefield game with different skins and equipment, but same idea.
Thanks Static. I bought The Orange Box the moment I learned about TF2 beta. I don’t own any of the games in the box so it was a deal indeed. When I learned about QW:ET I began to wonder if it would over shadow TF2. I was rooting for TF2 only because of the killer art direction. Am I the only one that would pay to a see a movie with the cast from TF2?
Have any of you seen teams composed of 90% scouts dominate the train yard map? I see it often, and played on a scout swarm as well as against it. It takes a steady hand and sharp eye to land a shot on a scout in an open space. Scouts have tactics that can take out sentry guns, HWG and avoid pyros. I don’t blame the class so much as the map. I think it ought to feature a cramped node near each team’s base. The A-B-C capture map features a closed quarter’s capture point on a high tower. It seems to deter the “scout swarm” tactic.
Best tactic for scout swarm: Two pyros and a heavy/medic combo. I haven’t seen a scout swarm survive that. It’s all spam, but that’s basically what it takes to blast through them.
And if you haven’t played the single player of HL2, you are completely missing out. Go play it. As Static says, it is the best FPS game of our time.
Portal was awesome. Attention to detail, mixed with humor and puzzles makes for excellent game play. Best boss ending dialogue and credit scene in any PC game.
I can’t wait for the mod community to make custom Portal maps, b/c there are so many things you can do with it. Trick jumping would be fun, as would fighting combine soldiers while trying to solve the puzzles.
I love, love, love playing medic on TF2. Ask Spank or Static — I friggen rule.
I also love playing engineer on Quake Wars.
So both of the games are worth it for me, especially if I get to play with such awesome peeps.
We just had some of the best TF2 action in a while. HunterRose, Static, Kate, and I “pwnt n00bs” on several rounds of CP_Granary this evening. It wasn’t pretty; Static ended up in first, myself in second, HunterRose in third, and Kate in first on the other team (victim of a nasty team switch).