Valve's Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is now over a decade old—an eternity in terms of video game development. TF2's basic gameplay structure remains surprisingly relevant, but the implementation and mechanics detract considerably from the experience. Many modern PC games, and especially those of the team-based first-person shooter (FPS) genre, have since improved on TF2's formula by streamlining gameplay and creating more compelling reasons to return match after match. Although TF2 is free to play, the presence of microtransactions can also be overbearing.

TF2 is the famed multiplayer FPS first released by Valve in 2007. Its debut precedes that of Valve's other, more-realistic multiplayer FPS, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), by five years. In addition to CS:GO, modern titles such as Blacklight: Retribution, Overwatch, and Rainbow Six Siege all owe at least some of their success to TF2. Team Fortress 2 still receives content updates, including the Jungle Inferno update from 2017 that added several new maps and items. Unfortunately, Jungle Inferno did not go as far as CS:GO's Panorama update, which overhauled that game's menu and some maps for the better. I hope that Valve plans a similar update for TF2.

Getting Started With Team Fortress 2

As mentioned, TF2 is free to play for anyone. However, players have the option to upgrade to premium TF2 accounts by making any purchase in the game's virtual shop. Premium users get 300 backpack slots for storing items (free accounts only get 50); access to all item types; and full crafting, trading, and gifting capabilities. Everything else is the same between the two account types. You can download the game via Steam for Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. As with many other Steam games, TF2 supports Steam Achievements and Steam Trading Cards.

The main menu's icons use a blocky style that matches the game's overall aesthetic, but the layout is scattered. For example, the Find a Game option is all the way in the upper-right corner and doesn't stand out. The bottom bar is chock-full of generic icons, which just add to the clutter. This doesn't necessarily affect the experience long-term since you learn where you need to go to actually get into a match, but it's not very enjoyable to use. Especially for newcomers, the poor organization of elements may cause them to miss important features.

Although there are both casual and competitive match servers, note that TF2 is not huge on the esports scene. Its ranking (59) is far below that of CS:GO (2), Fortnite (5), Overwatch (9), and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) (11) according to Esports Earnings rankings page.

Multiplayer Matches and Characters

Matches are mainly broken down into casual and competitive affairs, with additional options for Mann vs. Machine (a six-player, player versus environment match type), community servers, and training exercises. Core game modes include all the classics you might expect, such as Attack/Defense, Capture the Flag, Control Points, King of the Hill, and Payload. For this review, I spent most of my time in Control Points and Payload matches, in which you respectively fight to control several points on the map and try to advance a cart into enemy territory before time runs out.

You select a character after you join a match and can switch at any point during a respawn. TF2's cast of nine playable characters in TF2 breaks down into three classes: Offense, Defense, and Support. In matches, players are split into two teams: RED (Reliable Excavation & Demolition) and BLU (Builders League United).

For comparison, Overwatch recently simplified its lineup of 29 heroes into three categories (down from four): Damage, Tank, and Support. In addition to the larger pool of playable characters, Overwatch's heroes are more nuanced in terms of individual abilities. As a result, effectively attacking and defending against enemies requires more strategy, thus making the game more engaging.

The character you choose should depend on your current objective. I spent most of my time in the game as a Scout (Offense) and Heavy (Defense). Scouts move quickly and utilize a shotgun as a main weapon. Of course, this player class does not do a ton of damage, but you can certainly take out a lone enemy at a capture point or keep enemies at bay if you stay mobile and accurate. The slow-moving Heavy class, by contrast, can both deliver and soak up tons of damage. The Heavy class is most useful for defending points or breaking through ranks of enemies. I had the most fun playing as the Pyro class and using the flamethrower. It may not be the most effective choice, but in casual modes, that's not really important.

Multiplayer Gameplay

In casual matches, teams are typically made up of 12 players each, which makes it difficult to coordinate and keep track of everyone else's movements. There are no limits on the number of players who can play a given class in casual matches either, which can lead to team imbalance. The result is more chaotic gameplay than other titles. That said, in the matches I played, some basic strategies emerged. For example, medics and engineers tended to congregate around areas of high value, such as control points or the payload. Competitive modes feature smaller team sizes and class limits, however, which should encourage more teamwork.

If you are just starting out, you will likely die several times during a round. Respawns take 15 seconds, which seems like an eternity in-game, but at least you have the option to change your character class while you wait. You can also switch through the perspectives of other players or check out the match scoreboard. This should all sound familiar to anyone who has played a multiplayer game in recent years. These elements show how many of TF2's core elements live on in modern games.

TF2's multiplayer community did get a bit on my nerves during gameplay. I muted voice channel audio almost immediately after joining, but even the text chat was filled with garbage commentary or just annoying players. For example, during the warmup period for one match, a player repeatedly asked how to use taunts in game via the voice chat, subsequently realized that no one cared, and then took his plight to the text chat. There is a perfectly good controls section in the Settings menu a button click away, so this chatter was wholly unnecessary.

This problem is common for most multiplayer games. Unless you are playing with friends or happen to find a cohesive team, it's best to disable voice chat and ignore text chat. Trust me, you won't miss anything important, especially since TF2, in my experience playing casual matches, doesn't require or encourage the level of team coordination that other games do.

Mechanics and Sound

Simply put, TF2's mechanics don't feel precise. Movement is slippery and it's difficult to deftly avoid enemy gunfire or to land exactly where you want when jumping from a platform, for example. Weapons also lack weight and are cumbersome to aim. As with in Fortnite, eliminating a TF2 enemy player is a matter of luck rather than skill. Essentially, if you see an enemy player and get your weapon aimed first, you are likely to come out of an altercation alive. The gap between TF2's weapon handling and that of CS:GO's is immediately evident, for example, despite both being Valve games.

The game's sound design is fine, but not exceptional. Weapons generally sound clear and distinct and player chatter fills the environment. The music matches well with the game's action and themes, too. Chat from other players sounds a bit garbled, but that's likely a result of those players' using poor quality microphones and headsets.

Progression and Microtransactions

Progression in TF2 is very similar to that of other multiplayer games. You earn points for performing well in matches and your rank increases after you earn a certain number of points. As your rank increases, you unlock items. You can also get rewards by completing contracts, which are preset achievements you work towards during matches. These are similar to Battlefield V's Assignments mechanic.

TF2 has a robust item and cosmetics shop. You earn and unlock some items through gameplay, but other items cost real money. Purchasable items include weapons, cosmetics, bundles, maps, and taunts (short animations you can use to annoy enemies). Most cosmetics are applicable to all character classes, but some weapons are only for specific groups. Cosmetics can vary wildly. For example, at one point I unlocked a hat styled after the titular character in the Octodad indie game. The most expensive package I saw (a range of cosmetics and items for each class) cost a whopping $249.99.

I do not think microtransactions should have a part in any game, but the industry obviously disagrees with that opinion. That said, microtransactions are at least tolerable if they are purely cosmetic. Team Fortress 2 does let players buy weapons with different abilities than those available to players by default. Granted, these weapons may not entirely disrupt the flow of gameplay, but it still leads to concerns over weapon balance between classes.

Additionally, there are other mechanics for breaking down and crafting items you collect and trade with other players. You don't need to delve into these mechanics, but if you play long enough, you'll likely collect enough items in your backpack to construct something useful.

Graphics and Effects

TF2's characters and environment are marked by a blocky, cartoon aesthetic. Map layouts feel distinctive, but the environments and character models lack detail. For example, I played several matches in desert locations and had a very difficult time distinguishing between them. I ran through a couple of the other maps in offline mode to get a feel for them, and while the surroundings and themes are certainly different, the setting still felt overwhelmingly desolate. For example, the Lakeside map includes palm trees and the all-important lake off in the distance, but the playable environment was devoid of style. The same is largely true of the more recent Mercenary Camp map, though it admittedly looks better than most other maps.

Part of the problem is a lack of interactivity. Sure, a few map objects are destructible, but otherwise, there's not much to occupy downtime. Some examples of good interactivity include the chickens that run around a few of CS:GO's maps and the destruction effects within Overwatch's maps; when you fire at bags of popcorn, for instance, individual kernels fly everywhere.

TF2's character designs haven't held up either. Playable characters look monotonous compared with those standards set by more recent games. Overwatch's heroes, for example, are distinct, vivid, and visually compelling. Although TF2's character customizations are comparable with those in Fortnite, the latter's designs look more natural in terms of expressions and movement.

Comparing TF2 to Fortnite and Overwatch is not exactly fair, given the time gap between the releases of these titles, but the stark difference is indicative of how much progress has been made over the last decade or so of video games. These issues don't break the game, but players owe it to themselves to spend time with games that have higher production quality.

Team Fortress 2 PC Requirements

Team Fortress 2 is not a taxing game and you don't need to buy a brand new gaming desktop for the best experience. Recommended specs only specify an Intel Pentium 4 3.40GHz or AMD Athlon 64 3400+ CPU, an AMD Radeon X800 GTO or NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GPU, 1GB of RAM, and 5GB of disk space. The Dell Inspiron 5675 gaming PC I used for testing houses a Radeon RX580 GPU and Ryzen 1700X CPU with 32GB RAM.

As expected, I had no issues running the game smoothly at the highest detail levels. I measured in-game frame rates using FRAPS and found that my PC kept the action consistently around 100 frames per second (FPS). That said, sometimes the game kicked me back out to my desktop when I was joining a multiplayer match, making it difficult to return to the active window. Setup times for matches are also longer than I am used to for other modern multiplayer games, even those such as PUBG or Fortnite, which involve several times more players.

Time for Team Fortress to Retire

Team Fortress 2 is one of the defining titles in the team-based FPS genre, but relative newcomers to the genre, most notably Overwatch, outclasses it in gameplay, visuals, and the enjoyment factor. Even Valve's other multiplayer FPS, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, has remained more relevant, given its recent visual overhaul, transition to a free-to-play structure, and new battle royale game mode. There's no need to start playing TF2 if you never have in the past, and current players should make the jump to newer (and better) titles.