TOG - The Older Gamers

Raest · 18th July 2006, 08:05 AM

Since the days of TF over Quakeworld I've been anticipating TF2 since 1998
--------------------

Team Fortress 2

The most stunning announcement of the day came when Newell unveiled his third and final trailer, which he simply set up as the multiplayer component of Episode Two. With colorful, flat-shaded characters and a soundtrack that both could have come out of The Incredibles, the trailer seemed more like something that would come out of Pixar than a videogame studio. There wasn't much gameplay to speak of in the trailer, just a rundown of the game's character classes: the Spy (dressed the part in a suit and ski mask); the Medic (happily brandishing an oversized syringe); the Engineer with his wrench; and the rest, like the Scout, Sniper, Soldier and Engineer. As the trailer ran, a buzz began to run through the crowd as it dawned on everyone what we were actually seeing; by the time the trailer ended with a huge Team Fortress 2 logo, the crowd erupted with what was easily the most enthusiastic applause for any of the games in EA's lineup that day.

Following the trailer, Newell revealed that, indeed, this new incarnation of the long-believed-dead Team Fortress 2 would be included with Episode Two. The more lighthearted art style was a conscious and perhaps experimental choice to distinguish it from Counter-Strike or Day of Defeat, but it didn't sound as if the gameplay would be watered down at all, as Newell claimed Valve's desire with TF2 was to make the best class-based shooter. For our part, we still have plenty of Team Fortress and Team Fortress Classic fans here at GameSpy HQ, and even eight years late, the idea that we might actually see a Team Fortress 2 from Valve (TF co-creator Robin Walker is now a long-time Valve employee) only makes us smile.