TLDR; TF2 is one of the most fun team shooters I’ve ever played, both by myself or with friends. It succeeds where I feel a lot of competing “hero-shooters” fail and isn’t designed to be played with strict coordination between players but allows for that competitiveness should a team want to sweat a little. It gives a lot of breathing room for expressiveness and play styles both through its load-out system and a myriad of game modes. It does have horrendous monetization system where it feels like so much is pay-walled but the core gameplay is available for free. It is arguably pay-to-win but it is definitely pay-to-communicate. The game has largely been neglected by Valve and has only recently received necessary updates to make the experience better. Overall, its a fun game and if you’re willing to put a little money into it, it can really be a blast.

The Review:

I could write a book about TF2 at this point and that makes it particularly difficult to review the game in under 8000 characters; so here it goes.

The core gameplay loop of TF2 is team-focused, PvP matchmaking that includes game modes you’ve likely played (or heard of) in various other games; including Payload, KOTH, CTF, and many more. Teams compete against each using the tools at their disposal to complete objectives, often in more than one round. Occasionally, through regular play, gamers will receive “drops” in the form of weapons that expand their arsenal, giving them more options in play style. If players prefer PvE content, there is a game mode called Mann vs. Machine (MvM) where a 6 man team can face off against hordes of bots. There are also community servers that players can join to experience more content. That is the extent of the experience for F2P gamers.

If someone does spend any amount of money in TF2’s shop, they’re provided a lot more privileges and opportunities both in and out of game. Some of these pay-walled functions feel more predatory than others but probably the first one any gamer will notice is the inability to speak in-game. Unfortunately, F2P gamers can’t communicate at all in public matches. They are incapable of using VC or the in-game text chat. They can’t even call for a medic using the dedicated key. This makes communicating with your team nigh impossible and makes the game feel very much like you’re “on your own”. Those who’ve spent money will not have these roadblocks and will be able to communicate with their teammates; a feature available for free in so many other games including other F2P games. This feels archaic when you consider other games on the market today.

This is the first of many ways TF2 wants you to spend money in it. You might see players sporting cool looking cosmetics or weapons and wonder “how can I get that?” and, unfortunately, the answer is spend more money. I mentioned earlier that TF2 had “drops”. These drops aren’t limited to just weapons, they can also be cosmetic items or crates that can be opened using keys available in the store. The weapons that drop are random, and you can often receive duplicates. These dupes can be salvaged for materials that you can then craft into other items or weapons; albeit at random. The crates you receive are practically useless unless you intend to open them. While you may receive the crate for free, you’ll need to purchase a key ($2.49 USD) to open it. Crates function like crates in many other games, there is a set list of items you could pull and different items have different chances of being pulled. Yes, it’s gambling. From these crates, you could get very valuable items that could then be used, sold, or traded (a feature also limited to paying players). These items include weapon skins and cosmetics (hats) that could have stat-tracking features (strange) and/or unique visual-effects (unusual). Some of these items can have real value. I once pulled an a weapon skin that was both unusual and strange and sold it for $600; money I actually used to help pay for school. It is, however, extremely rare to pull anything worth more than the cost of the key to open the crate with most items being valued less than $1.

The MvM mode is also pretty predatory in micro-transactions. There are free opportunities to play PvE, however, if a player was hoping on receiving any rewards for their efforts, there aren’t any unless they're playing in the Mann Up game mode. Players can participate in “tours” which consist of multiple maps and matches that, when completed, grant items and crafting materials, some being worth a significant amount. Yes, it’s still gambling but not nearly as bad as crates. There are also opportunities for rare golden-weapons to drop that are highly sought after, should you be willing to pay for those specific tours. A tour can consist of as little as 3 matches and each map will cost $1 to play, every time. I’ve played the 38 tours of “Two Cities” ($152) as of writing this review and have pulled a single golden weapon, a rocket launcher, one of the more valuable weapons you could get. Some people go hundreds of tours in and get much less valuable drops, some never receive anything of value at all.

If you can look past the crappy monetization scheme, there are a lot of admirable aspects to the core gameplay in TF2. TF2 set the standard for what a “hero-shooter” could be. It has 9 unique and quirky characters, all of which are memorable and have important rolls in the overall team. I won’t list them here, but I will say that there is a class for everyone and for every skill level. That’s one of TF2’s biggest strengths, it’s ability to cater to anyone. This is bolstered even more when you consider that TF2 has a load-out system, unlike many of its contemporaries. This means you can play nearly any character and approach gameplay with a number of different styles, increasing overall expressiveness for the players. It also means that you don’t need to change your aesthetic every time you want to use a different weapon set. I often wear “all-class” cosmetics and can use them on any character and with any weapon.

The weapon choices have some options that are a bit… suspect. Widely enough, TF2 is one of the few games where default (stock) options are better than the various weapons that you can receive through drops or crates. Of course this is subjective as players will likely have preferences of weapons given the game modes they play but there are still options which feel like they are just useless, I’m look at medic’s primaries. I’m happy to report most of the weapons in the game have some significant value and or use case. They often synergies well with other classes and weapons, making some weapons feel insignificant on their own but powerful when used in coordination with your team. While team play is encouraged, it isn’t entirely necessary as, once again, TF2 caters to everyone.

TF2 also has a community lead development cycle. Currently, the way content is added to TF2 is through the Steam Workshop. Players who create mods for the game in the form of cosmetics or maps have a chance for it be added to the game once it’s voted upon by the community. Valve then adds those mods to the game officially on a seasonal basis. It’s not to say Valve isn’t involved at all but they have a history of neglecting this game that I won’t expand on here. I do recommend if you’re considering TF2 and spending money in it, look at Valve’s track record with keeping this game in a respectable state, it’s been bad… really bad.

I could go on and on about how in-game competitive is dead, how some weapons need re-balancing, how toxic the player base can be and how Valve doesn’t do enough to mitigate it, but I’d like to conclude on a positive note by saying that TF2 is one of the most fun gaming experiences I’ve had in my lifetime. TF2 is still kicking for a reason and worth checking out.

A beautifully somber walking simulator that recounts the story of the Finch family's misfortune through creative story-telling and strong writing. Worth the full price but is a steal on sale. I recommend this game to people who are new to gaming or interested in story rich experiences.