Image from Steam
Team Fortress 2 was released by Valve in 2007, originally, as a part of the Orange Box compilation. Despite the fact that it’s almost 7 years old, the game is still popular among PC gamers.
TF2 is a first person shooter with a twist. Rather than having one playable character and a wide array of weapons, TF2 flips the script. There are nine different characters to play, each with their own specialty. There are some classes that are self-explanatory, like the medic, sniper or pyro. Other classes, like the rocket-launching soldier, bomb-blasting demoman and sentry-building engineer are a little more complex. The gameplay itself is pretty typical. It’s typical controls and objectives — capturing a flag, taking over a base, etc.
The art-style is delightfully cartoony. The deaths are unrealistic and that’s what makes the game fun. Stabbing somebody tends to launch them 20 feet away for some reason. Getting shot with a shotgun makes characters explode. TF2 will point out your spleen, lungs and mangled arms on the screen after you die.
Another thing that makes TF2 so popular is that the characters aren’t just player controlled dummies. They have personalities and backstories that keep the players engaged. We know small things about the characters. We know that the RED-team demoman and BLU-team soldier were once friends. We know that the RED-team spy has been having affairs with the BLU-team scout’s mom. We know the medic has an affinity for birds and music. This is all because Valve constantly reveals personalities through comics and the very popular “Meet the Team” videos — through this, fans are able to contribute more to the community.
The artistic fanbase for TF2 is gigantic if you search around on Tumblr or deviantART. TF2 even has its own “-chan” board (like 4chan or 2chan.)
The game is free to play now, though Valve keeps engaging updates coming. They had new weapons, game modes, and of course — hats. Hats are hands-down the most important part of TF2. While you play random items “drop” into your inventory, most of the time the items are weapons, but if you’re really lucky you’ll get a hat to put on your character. Hats can also be made by smelting a long chain of weapons, but it takes forever to do this.
Nobody really knows why hats are so important to players. Some see it as a status symbol. If somebody has the cool and rare “Anger” hood for the sniper, people will assume that they’re a better player. Some people just think the hats are funny, like the pyro’s “Triboniophorus Tyrannus” (which is a brain slug from Futurama).
After transitioning to a free to play game, Valve opened up a store where you can buy weapons, hats and paint cans to recolor your hats for a few dollars. Kotaku reported that to help tsunami victims in Japan, Steam had a hat sale. Players spent $430,543.65 on hats. Virtual hats. Almost half a million dollars was spent on hats. Just let that sink in.
TF2 is downloadable through Steam and is buyable through Orange Box for Xbox 360 and PS3. (Though nobody plays the console versions anymore.)
Want to take me down in TF2? (You probably can’t.) Or maybe you want to confess that you’ve spent a bunch of money on hats? Comment below or e-mail me at isdahrae@terpmail.umd.edu.
