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Team Fortress 2 reviewed, impresses Eurogamer
Eurogamer has gotten their grubby little hands on a copy of Team Fortress 2 and laid down the first review of the game. We'll leave the pleasure of reading the whole review to our readers, but we're pretty sure you'd like an overall summary. Well here it is folks: it's good. According to Eurogamer, Team Fortress 2 achieves the unenviable task of providing an accessible team-based shooter experience that will satisfy both newcomers and the hardcore alike. Eurogamer even notes that the need for voice communication is nearly rendered moot by intuitive map designs and classes that counterbalance each other. That's quite an accomplishment if true. Oh, one last thing before you head off to read the review, Valve will be releasing more maps in addition to the six that are shipping with the game. Sounds pretty good to us. Now, go read the review and dream of October.
Take a tour of the Team Fortress 2 maps
Alright, so we're beginning to understand the characters of Team Fortress 2, but what about their environment? In what sorts of places will we be wreaking havoc? A series of videos has been released giving a brief glimpse of each of Team Fortress 2's six maps: Hydro, Gravel Pit, Well, 2 Fort, Granary, and Dust Bowl. Unfortunately, all the videos are done in a grainy, almost black-and-white style that doesn't exactly mesh with YouTube. Hopefully we'll see some high resolution versions of these videos soon. Still, you can get an idea of the layout of each map and the game types available on them. We've embedded the rest of the videos after the break.
Team Fortress 2: Meet the Engineer
We love all of the Team Fortress 2 character videos. We're just going to abandon all journalistic integrity and say that. They are sweet. The latest video in the TF2 character series introduces the Engineer. We never would have guessed that the Engineer had a sensitive side, but he spends the entire video playing the guitar. Then again, that's the joy of being an Engineer, right? You get to set up turrets to do the killing for you, and that's exactly what you'll see in his video. We won't spoil the fun, but suffice it to say that the Engineer's facial expressions are priceless. Watch, laugh, enjoy.Oh, and if you haven't seen them already, be sure to check out the Soldier and Heavy videos.[Via Joystiq]
The Orange Box gets 99 achievements, 1000 points
Normally we're not that interested in the litany of Xbox 360 achievements uncovered by that community's strange, gaming junkies, but every once in a while something shiny grabs our attention and we become fixated on it. And so it was when we spotted the list of achievements for Valve's The Orange Box, which answered some very obvious questions that (we're frankly embarassed to admit) we actually spent too much time wondrering ourselves. Questions like: If the retail disc has five games on it, how many achievement points can they dole out? 5000? Will the achievements be divided evenly amongst the offerings? Does Gabe Newell read our fan mail? (This one is more of a followup to that last one) Will he ever respond? The list does answer two of those four questions with aplomb: The Orange Box has the standard 1000 gamerscore points available to you spread out across a whopping 99 achievements –the Half-Life titles get the lion's share of those achievements and, therefore, gamerscore points. As for the last two questions, we're guessing one of those eleven secret achievements contains a special message from Gabe just for us.
The Engineer tells his tale in Team Fortress 2 trailer
The Engineer tells how he solves "practical problems" in the continuing series of trailers about the psychopathic characters from Team Fortress 2. If for some strange reason you've missed The Heavy and The Soldier trailers, we've gone ahead and added their videos again after the break for your easy viewing pleasure.Now's a good a time as any to remind people that if you really need to play Team Fortress 2 (and you're a PC owner), all you need to do is pre-purchase The Orange Box on Steam and you can start playing the TF2 beta next week. Although we don't exactly know how, but we hope some of the humor from these trailers translates to the gameplay. Then again, we've gotten used to the possibility of well-designed trailers being more interesting than the games they are for.
Pre-purchase Orange Box on Steam, play TF2 beta next week
Valve announced today that those who pre-purchase this holiday's über-value The Orange Box on Steam will be invited to the Team Fortress 2 beta next week. Beginning Sept. 17, those who bought the game can download and activate the TF2 beta. If that's not enough, Valve will also toss in Peggle Extreme, a special edition of the game that'll have themed Half-Life 2, TF2 and Portal content.Those who purchase The Orange Box before Oct. 10 via Steam also get 10% off the $49.95 price on PC. Meanwhile, the console versions of Orange Box will both be the "next-gen price" of $60 -- although Amazon currently has the Xbox 360 version for $55 as part of a pre-purchase deal. The PS3 version was recently delayed. The PC and Xbox 360 versions of The Orange Box will be ready to peel on Oct. 10.
Orange Box: 99 achievements, 1000 Gamerscore
We've talked about this very topic in our Fancast numerous times and wondered how Valve would divvy up the achievement load and how much Gamerscore the jam packed Orange Box would include. Well, we finally have our answer via our friend DaKing240 who dug up the achievement list for The Orange Box and it looks like it is being treated as one game.The Orange Box (which includes Half-Life Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2) will offer up the traditional 1000 Gamerscore and spread the achievements across all the included games / expansions with an impressive 99 achievement offering. And after doing a quick run through of the achievement list, it looks like the Half-Life franchise will be getting the majority of the unlockable goods with the other games still getting a respectable chunk of the Gamerscore. Go ahead, take a look at The Orange Box's achievements to see if you're up to the challenge of earning all 99 ... we dare you.
Loads of new Team Fortress 2 vids
GameVideos has posted a handful of new videos of Team Fortress 2 gameplay. In all, we get to see the engineer, spy, sniper, scout, and soldier doing their thing. We noticed yesterday that the camera can pull away from the player in order to show off an emotion. Seeing these new videos, it has become clear that this is a player controlled action, so you can use it to taunt your living (or dead) opponents whenever you wish. Beyond that, the game plays out as you would expect. You have sixty seconds to prepare before each match, during which time you can select your class and figure out your strategy. The rest is pure mayhem. Our favorite video, embedded above, features the spy infiltrating the enemy base and laying waste to them with his butterfly knife. Everything we've seen of Team Fortress 2 points to good times ahead. Check out three more videos after the break.
Team Fortress gameplay video emerges
After several videos detailing the characters and style of Team Fortress 2, GameVideos has finally uncovered some actual gameplay footage. It is, in short, chaos, and a more wonderful chaos we could not imagine. Throughout the video, we get to see the soldier, medic, spy, sniper, and engineer in action. The game looks to be pretty much non-stop action, with plenty of opponents to go around. In perhaps the most intriguing moment of the video, the camera pulls out to a third person perspective as the engineer laughs at the poor soul he just bludgeoned to death. It doesn't look as though this has any more value than simply rubbing in your kill and pissing off your opponent. Then again, how much more value do you need?
PS3 game delay #3925: The Orange Box
Every time a PS3 game is delayed, a kitten is killed. Please, developers, help save the kitten population of the world and stop delaying PS3 games. It's getting silly. The latest game to fall behind its PC and 360 brethren is Valve's The Orange Box, as confirmed by Gamespot via communication with Valve's Doug Lombardi.The collection of five Half Life 2 related games will be released "a couple of weeks" after the PC and 360's October 9th date. There has been no reason given for the delay, but we put it down to the PlayStation 3 multiplat curse. Free cookies to the first game that comes out on all systems on the same day. Is that incentive enough for you, publishers?[Via Joystiq]
The Orange Box delayed on PS3
Gamespot reports that Valve's Doug Lombardi confirmed to them the PS3 version of über-value The Orange Box will be delayed on PS3 by "a couple weeks." The PC and Xbox 360 versions will move forward with their Oct. 9 release. Wonder if those poor Valve employees still won't be able to play BioShock until the PS3 version is done too. Valve overlords, have a heart and let them play, everyone seems to be getting stuck on these delays -- for real, no joke.Per the usual of all these PS3 delay announcements, Valve would not identify the reason for the delay, the game is being ported by EA. Lombardi also wouldn't talk about a specific date, he merely let the "couple weeks" quote float out there. Hopefully Sony can craft some message to explain these delays away, maybe it'll be the first memo by Karraker's replacment.
Halo Wars and TF2 videos on XBLM
A new day brings some new Xbox Live Marketplace content, and while we don't have any new demos to enjoy, there are some decent videos. The first video is the Halo Wars walk-through that was supposed to go up earlier this week. If you haven't already seen it on the intertubes, it's definitely worth checking out. The second video has also already been seen on the web, though it's probably worth watching in hi-def with some popcorn on the couch. We are talking, of course, about the Team Fortress 2 video featuring the soldier. We said it before and we'll say it again: comedy gold. Download both videos at your earliest convenience, but please, watch responsibly.
Valve not looking to leave EA (4 Dead)
After enjoying a healthy relationship with EA during development of The Orange Box, Valve will likely stay in partnership with the publishing giant for 2008's zombie apocalypse epic, Left 4 Dead. Valve MD Gabe Newell told Eurogamer that it would only be a "natural consequence" of the time spent on October's orange offering. "Everybody always tells us what a horrible monster EA is supposed to be and we keep waiting for the hair to sprout out and the fangs to grow." Newell, who's obviously never seen the ending to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," now shares a tree with Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, who earlier this month praised EA for the "freedom" (see: money) it provided throughout the creation of Crysis. Such freedom may hopefully and helpfully extend to Left 4 Dead, with Newell considering a free launch weekend for the first-person, undead person shooter. "It's definitely a game that requires you to play it - you can describe it until you're blue in the face, but five minutes of playing it is definitely better than watching a 30-second spot on MTV to try to get you to understand why Left 4 Dead is going to be worth your time and money."
Work at Valve? No BioShock for you!
We can hear the classic conversation now. "Can I have some BioShock? Pleeeease!" "Not until you've finished your Orange Box." "Aw, nuts!" In an interview with CVG, Valve's Gabe Newell made it known that BioShock has been officially banned from the Valve offices. Is it part of some company policy that employees must not touch a competitors product? Nope, BioShock was banned in order to assure that the team properly finishes up work on The Orange Box. In Newell's words: "We had to ban BioShock from our offices," adding, "Nobody gets to play it until Orange Box is done - that's our reward to ourselves as a company; everyone gets a copy of BioShock." Wow. We can tell you right now, BioShock is definitely a danger to anyone's productivity, so we understand the decision. Hang in there Valve! We know you can do it, and trust us, BioShock is worth it.[Via Joystiq]
BioShock banned at Valve offices
Do you think that the makers of one of the greatest first-person shooters ever are immune to the siren song of one of the other best first-person shooters ever? Valve head honcho Gabe Newell insists to CVG that they are not. "We had to ban BioShock from our offices," Newell said. "Nobody gets to play it until Orange Box is done - that's our reward to ourselves as a company; everyone gets a copy of BioShock."Newell said he hasn't played it either, but he's "really looking forward to it". We're torn about this news. On one hand, we're sad for the Valve employees, but on the other hand, we really want to play Episode 2. And then, on our third hand, we think they probably should have thought of this game-banning policy before they announced they were making games episodically. Wasn't Episode 2 supposed to be out in the mid 80s? Did the team get addicted to WoW or something?
TF2 Soldier video splits sides (with rockets)
Remember the Team Fortress 2 video featuring the Heavy? You know, "I am Heavy Weapons Guy," and "WHO TOUCHED MY GUN?!" and all that? Well, we're hesitant to say it, but we think this video tops it. Something like Patton with a little extra derangement sprinkled on top, the video features the Soldier class as he explains to the troops the very invention of war. Apparently it involves Sun Tzu and the collection of animals. In short, the video is comedy gold and should not be missed. Watch it now or forever be an outcast in gaming circles. Now where the hell is our Orange Box damn it? [Via Joystiq]
The Soldier talks to the troops in Team Fortress 2 video
Hilarious and slightly disturbing, The Soldier video for Team Fortress 2, the game bundled with The Orange Box, makes us laugh in that uncomfortable way. Not cute like "The Heavy" video, this clip of The Soldier is just a little bit darker. Team Fortress 2 through brilliant marketing is really turning into the game we've become excited about in The Orange Box. Sure it'll probably be just another frag-fest that the average person won't stand a chance in, but it's oozing with dark charm.The Orange Box continues to be the value bundle of the year. With Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 -- that's a lot of value in a little box, especially if you've never played Half-Life 2. We're definitely looking forward to seeing more of these clips, even if we don't think we'll stand a chance in an online match with the actual game.%Gallery-1634%
Video: design philosophy of Team Fortress 2
We are all about Team Fortress 2 here at X3F. While we certainly look forward to the classic gameplay, there can be no doubt that its luscious visual style is a big draw. The above video from Gamersyde shows off just how much work goes into all the environments and characters of Team Fortress 2. The team at Valve drew their inspiration from commercial drawings of the early 20th century. Hell, they even mention the work of Hayao Miyazaki as an influence. One of the overall goals of the design process was to make every character unique and easy to identify at a distance. With this in mind, the team set about creating unique color schemes and silhouettes for each character. There are also lots of technical elements discussed in the video. We're not really sure what a Phong highlight is, but if it makes Team Fortress 2 this pretty, we really don't care.[Thanks, DjDATZ]
The Orange Box gets a much needed makeover
Ever since we laid our eyes on the Half-Life 2: Orange Box cover art we have been a little perplexed by its simplistic design. The cover art featured a mostly orange background with white text explaining the contents and that was about it. We accepted the cover though and never made a fuss. But now it looks like Valve has had a change of heart and design philosophy. TeamXbox is reporting that Valve decided to re-design the Orange Box cover and now it actually features artwork! Indeed, it shows off beautiful Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal artwork! We're glad to see Valve add more art to the cover art and spiffy up the Orange Box, because it really looks good. Check out TeamXbox's supplied Half-Life 2: Orange Box cover viewable after the break.
TF2 devs play cross-platform, but you won't
So, Shacknews posted a lengthy preview of Team Fortress 2. At first, everything was normal, no different than what we expected. Multiple classes, fun gametypes, cool maps, protestations that the Medic is fun to play: everything was copacetic. According to the review, Team Fortress 2 will not feature cross-platform play. That's all well and good, except Valve -- developer of the PC and Xbox 360 versions (EA UK is handling the PS3 version) -- "regularly play cross-platform multiplayer games." Why then, are we denied such pleasure? According to Valve's Doug Lombardi, it "introduces more problems than it is worth." He further notes that Valve would only implement cross-platform play in a title that was designed for it from the start.Ah well, looks like we'll have to be satisfied with fragging fellow 360 fanboys.[Via Joystiq]
