The Unsinkable Team Fortress 2

Valve’s team-based FPS has outlasted a lot of competitors — but what comes next?

Everyone who plays Team Fortress 2 swears they’re a master Sniper, which is why I can never play one again. Not that I should play one — yes, I was once very good at clicking on heads, but at some point, my nerves became so jangly that I couldn’t go into the scope without mashing impulsively on the left mouse button.

In the name of not agitating my teammates on my first game back, I opt for the Medic, a class that I hope will not suffer for my lack of top-level technical skill. Moments later, I’m in the middle of a desperate defense in an area that I vaguely remember. All of my teammates are already half in the grave as they hold for dear life onto the objective and the air between me and them is about half incoming rockets. As I frantically try to keep everyone alive, I find myself flashing back on all of those Counter-Strike players who mocked TF2 for having characters who were too hard to kill.

In short, I found myself right back where I was the last time I played this game circa 2016 — panicked, frustrated, and surrounded by people who were probably aiming profanities at me. It’s online gaming the way it’s meant to be.