The appeal of Team Fortress 2

[Liverandbacon]

You run, you gun, maybe you die, if you die you wait 20 seconds and repeat steps 1 and 2 all while hoping to avoid steps 3 and 4 again. There's nothing else to it, really. It's your standard run-and-gun, and I just don't see the appeal.

I see the problem right here. If you're playing it run-and-gun style, you're playing it wrong (or on servers where everyone is playing it wrong). The fun stems from working as a team in classes complementing each other's roles, and using superior teamwork for victory.

My advice would be to find a good server or good group of friends to play with, where people actually work as a team, and the game is suddenly a lot more fun.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Have you ever played it? If no, play it.
Did you like it? If no, then maybe it's just not your cup of tea.

Lots of people like it because it is exceptionally good at what it does. People all have preferences and your is just different from theirs. Live with it and don't let it get to you.

 

[SloLynx]

Hillarious coice acting, great achivements and new weapons, awesome series of "meet the team" and the best gameplay ever =)

 

[SnowCold]

You are kidding right?

Team fortress 2 has to be the most fun, best balanced shooting experience on the market right now.

No matter what kind of shooter you like there is a class for you, the maps are all awesome, the gameplay and teamwork are top notch and the community is the best I have ever seen.

Actually play the game dude. It is great.

Listen to this man! or Robin Walker will unleash his army of fanboys on you!

 

[LordWalter]

It's an exceptionally well-balanced shooter with great online support, but the real defining characteristic of Team Fortress 2 is the charm. Go watch the "Meet The..." videos on youtube like "Meet the Heavy" or "Meet the Spy". They're incredibly hilarious and quoteable and just add to the mystique of TF2. It's hard to put in words. It is more of a gestalt feeling of awesome rather than any specific portions.

 

[Ignatius87]

As other people have already mentioned, TF2 has a level of complexity that most other shooters don't due to the class system. Each class plays somewhat differently, and each one does something useful for the team. These classes are all very well balanced, each one having a "counter class" or at least a counter strategy. I also think a big part of the appeal is the atmosphere of the game. While most modern shooters are incredibly serious, gritty campaigns involving space marines and the like, TF2 has fun and does not take itself too seriously.

 

[Ph33nix]

I never really liked tf2 that much it was okay but not great not the second coming of Jesus like some people said.

 

[TotallyFake]

Don't bother. You'll get sick of it. The first 200 hours might be fun, but by then you've just lost patience for everything. Crits. Shit teams. Ridiculous scouts. Everything (seriously, 6v6 scrims in a 9-class game? wtf?!). Even the walls piss me off.

Bottomline is; it's WoW with no PvE.

Okay, I'm thinking I'm getting trolled here.

The FIRST 200 hours? 200 hours of fun from an entirely multiplayer game is fantastic value. I can't think of any game I've ever sunk that volume of time into. KotOR, Morrowind, heck Pokemon Blue have sucked masses of my time but only top about 100 hours each. Maybe I've played Baldur's Gate II for 200 hours, but I've been playing that every year or so since 2001.

And what's wrong with 6v6 scrims? They're significantly better than the 20vs20 clusterfucks of the larger games. Yes, there'll be some unused classes, upping the strategy and teamwork because you have to co-ordinate who plays what.

 

[ironmace2.0]

It just has away of being awesome. It is very balanced a wide range of classes so almost any gamer can come and play the style thay choose. And it has been said but it has free updates for the PC version.

 

[AxelMiller]

The reason it can be fun is becouse it is aswell as Left 4 Dead, not repetive. Even though its class based and after playing the same maps, its still fun cause its diffrent.

And of course the infamous Valve Humour.

 

[bitzi61]

I will probably get flamed HARDCORE for this but...

I played it for a while, got kinda bored of it, and now only go back once in a while to see if my half-assed skills are still up there...

Not to say it's a bad game... it's not, it's just not my total cup of tea..

 

[Jim Grim]

I'm pretty sure it has alot to do with the teamwork element. Kind of like in MMOs where everyone has their own job to do.

 

[Abedeus]

Because when you lose in a fair fight (not 20 vs 10 where half of the team is AFK), you are not sad.

It is awesome.

 

[Woodsey]

It's a lot of fun, well balanced and looks great.

I hardly play it anymore (I don't really do multiplayer games that much) but when I do it's a lot of fun, and it's charm is undeniable.

 

[Lordmarkus]

I play TF2 becasue it never gets old. I've played it nearly every day for a whole year now and it gets more fun every day. Though the things that really make it divine is the characters, the graphic and in particulur, the voice work.

Though I wouldn't consider it greater than God since nothing will ever beat Half-Life 2.

 

[Haro]

I don't even categorize it as a normal shooter. nothing else really compares to it from this generation of fps. Its not all about head-shots or remarkable twitch skills (though they can help quite a bit in certain scenarios)

it's all about teamwork, as well as strategy to a degree. you don't need to be another Patton to have to be able to succeed, but you don't need to be MLG-level either. just simply understanding class dynamics and working together accounts for a lot.

As for classes, what other game lets you use giant chain guns, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and other crazy gadgets as main weapons? I can't really think of any true fps that has that. Class diversity makes the game easier for new players and more interesting at higher levels. each class has it's strengths and weaknesses, no one player can completely dominate everyone else. Also, you don't have many elements for "cheap kills" like battle rifles (my opinion), spammed grenades (valve design philosophy), and noob tubes (without a doubt the most frustrating weapon of all time, no argument)

while fps have been going more and more for reality, tf2 goes in the opposite direction. It's characters are designed not only to be interesting and funny, but also recognizable. you know who's got the machine gun and who's got the flamethrower. it makes a surprisingly large difference.

Ultimately, I think TF2 is one of the best fps games around. by far. You don't hear many people hating on TF2. it actually balances out with relative frequency, and makes it a priority to update content pretty frequently. It rewards teamwork lucratively, and encourages new players by making them a part of a larger operation. It's also an fps developed for the PC, and is thus inherently superior to anything put out by a console by edict of the Supreme Being.

So yeah, play it. its what, 15 bucks? you don't need to subscribe for it, it can run on almost any machine. just get it already. you won't regret it.

 

[TheTygerfire]

So please, my fellow escapists, tell me what it is, exactly, that makes this game so damn popular.

It's a well made, fun, competitive, balanced game with a spot for every play style.

Being "out of touch with the mainstream" has nothing to do with your like or dislike of the game.

And by the way, "________, what's the point?" threads aren't well liked.

 

[AppleaDay]

The videos valve did for each character were absolutely amazing and give each class their own personality, which is what seperates playing this game from any other shooter to me. And each class has their own taunts/laughs that come out randomly during gameplay and usually are quite funny.