Team Fortress 2 and its enduring popularity
It is a testament to the game itself, that I picked up Team Fortress 2 (TF2) in 2014, seven years after its release. For a game to attract new players that late into its life cycle, it has to be doing something (or many things) right.
It’s easy to forgive yourself
Perhaps in another piece, I can discuss what alienates me from any First Person Shooter(FPS) game having an army/combat fatigues aesthetic. Whatever the reason, I’ve never played a Call Of Duty-style FPS game. When I was younger, I did play Quake III Arena, which still had a violent sort of aesthetic, but what really appealed to me was the different abilities that came with different weapons. The differences between an SMG and shotgun aren’t as interesting as the difference between a Railgun and a Rocket Launcher. I only had the demo version though, and it would’ve taken me a while to venture out into multiplayer mode, if I had access to the full version. At that age, I just preferred to play against bots instead of face the reality of playing against real people who would probably be better than me.
Enter Team Fortress 2. The unique art style, characterisations and personalities of each class, are almost comical in their contradictions. These are battle-hardened mercenaries rendered in a cartoon-y style, with funny dialogues and interactions, and a slight, but important undertone of nastiness.
This isn’t to say that Team Fortress 2 is better than Quake III Arena in any way, but only that the aesthetic makes TF2 more accessible to even casual FPS players, who might later find that they really like the genre. TF2 undercuts the menacing nature of an FPS game with it’s overall tone, but it doesn’t lose it entirely, allowing newcomers to the FPS genre to feel more comfortable playing as sometimes-goofy mercenaries that can still feel powerful in-game.
Art & Aesthetic
While the art and aesthetic are responsible for a more inclusive feeling, they merit a whole separate section for everything else that they bring to the game. You play as either the RED or BLU team, with each team having its distinct aesthetic. RED is more organic (and, well, red), while BLU is more industrial-looking (and blue). A brilliant analysis of the art direction in TF2 compared to Overwatch (here) by Xavier Coelho-Kostolny, articulates all of the things that make TF2’s art coherent and consistent, thus making the game easier to play. I found that Coelho-Kostolny verbalised many of the problems I had with Overwatch’s visuals, given that I was so used to the easy visual aids used consistently throughout TF2.
The strong personalities of each character class are also a great strength of TF2. The combination of the character design, voice acting, taunts, and even the weapons each class uses all contribute to the player’s image of the class. Some games forgo this so that the player can fill in the blanks with their own personalities for each type, which is another valid route to take. But when characterisations are done this well, they are a solid asset to the game overall.
Take the example of Scout. His character design immediately says sprinter, but not tough. But is he the quiet, deadly and fast type? Or maybe he’s cocky and energetic? It only takes a few words out of his mouth for the player to become familiar with this loud, brash, cocky and fast kid - who likes to get up close to shoot his enemies at point-blank range with a shotgun.
Deathcams & Dominations
When I say TF2 is more accessible to newer players, it is not to say that the game holds your hand through the tough parts until you’re good at the game. Every time a player dies, they are presented with a freeze-frame (called the Deathcam) of the player that killed them. This lends an interesting dynamic of implicit player communication — some players taunt right after they kill someone particularly challenging, because they know that’s what the defeated player will see on their Deathcam. Although the default taunts available are pretty simple, there are increasingly ridiculous versions available for purchase if you really want to rub it in, TF2-style.
If you get killed enough times by the same player, they are now “dominating” you. You get a special “domination” bonus for dominating a player; and a “revenge” bonus for taking down the nemesis that is dominating you. The game pushes you to test this dynamic by displaying a special icon over your nemesis. This also adds an extra layer to player-interactions in-game, which adds to its overall fast-paced, competitive nature.
Team balance dynamics
It has always been interesting to me as to how a game with nine classes and countless weapons continues to maintain balance in gameplay (well, mostly).
In an interview with GameInformer soon after the game released (which means the interview is now in the archives because it was years ago), designer and co-creator Robin Walker had an interesting observation.
…These are guys who are fantastic Counter-Strike players, and so on, and all they want to do is medic-up people. They run around healing the crap out of people and being the guys who win games.
Even elite FPS players can be attracted to a class like Medic, because the Medic’s gun can charge up and make players invincible for a short amount of time, using the ability called the “Ubercharge”. These players are all about the clutch moments in a game. Like Walker says, when they play a class like Medic, they’re “being the guys who win games”.
Medic’s physical weaknesses now become the challenge of playing an otherwise extremely powerful class. “Popping the Uber” (Granting invincibility to the player you’re healing) at the right moment can be the difference between a win or a loss, and staying alive long enough to do that despite your low health is the challenge. In TF2, there is true power even in playing a support class, and it doesn’t take long for experienced players to identify that and hone in onto it as a strategy.
That is not to say that playing Medic is a one-shot solution to victory. The game is, after all, Team Fortress 2, and often demands that players account for the objective in combination with the capabilities of the teams at battle to make their way to victory. A support character like the Spy (who can turn invisible and backstab players) can singlehandedly alter the course of a match if the opposing team isn’t very good at spotting spies. Honing in on the opposing team’s weaknesses and playing the role to attack it is often the strategy that needs to be employed. The only exception is in professional / competitive tournament spaces, where there is a different dynamic to teams given that the weaknesses are less obvious.
Extra lore — Comics, “Meet the…” shorts
Lastly, there is a ton of extra world-building to add on to the game. The comics that expand on these mercenaries and their lives have their own following. Valve also released a series of “Meet the…” shorts a few years after the game was released. These short films introduce players to each character in a way that is iconic of Team Fortress 2’s unique mixture of menacing and just plain silly.
All in all, Team Fortress 2 has a decided focus on the team — whether it is through game balancing, or a focus on characterising the individual members of the team — combined with a unique art style and a high skill ceiling that make it almost endlessly replayable.
