Team Fortress 2: my favourite class, the Pyro

I’ve been helping my mate Ash out with some web stuff lately and in return he bought me The Orange Box.  For those who don’t already know, The Orange Box is a set of six games from Valve.

• Half Life 2
• Half Life 2: Episode 1
• Half Life 2: Episode 2
• Half Life 2: Lost Coast
• Portal
• Team Fortress 2

The one that demanded my attention was Team Fortress 2.  I saw Ash playing it a while ago and loved the whole look of it.  Having recently upgraded my computer, it was one of the first games on my list of games-to-buy.

Having played for a short time now (a total of 3.7 hours) I can honestly say I dig the shit out of this game (and not in a gay way).  It’s very fast-paced, there are a LOT of small goals to shoot for in the form of achievements (so you always feel like you’re getting somewhere, even if you’re losing each game) and there is a great selection of play styles to choose from in the form of classes.

You can get up close and personal with the Pyro, blazing a fiery trail through the other team while bouncing their rockets and grenades right back at them.  Your flame thrower comes equipped with the ability to emit a compression blast, capable of flinging other players around and putting out team mates who have been set alight.  Or you can just use your flame thrower to shoot bursts of flames at your team mates, in the hope they might catch alight, thus being revealed as an enemy spy.

You can infiltrate the other team as a spy, disguised to look exactly like a teammate to them, allowing you to destroy buildings and backstab key players. The spy is also capable of moving around the map entirely undetected, unless you accidentally bump into someone (you can run through teammates, but you bump into players of the opposing team.  This is a key factor in spotting spies).

You can work as an engineer to fortify your teams position, providing the crucial support your team needs to gain a foothold in a tricky game.  Engineers have the ability to strengthen the current position and the front line with a combination of automated turrets and teleporters that enable players to reach the front line in no time.

You can protect your fellow team mates as a medic, healing them in a tight spot and even deciding the game occasionally with a carefully timed invulnerability.  Even better, why not team up with another medic to become a nigh unstoppable chain healing duo?

You can play as the soldier, blasting foes away with a well aimed rocket blast.  Gaining access to tricky areas is no problem for the rocket jumping soldier.  If you come across an enemy Pyro who enjoys spitting rockets back at you, feel free to break out the ol’ Shotgun and outgun him from outside his flamethrower’s range.

Additional classes include the Heavy, the Sniper, the Demoman and the Scout.  All of the classes offer a very unique style of play and should afford a huge level of replayability.  I have so far played primarily as the Pyro (which I’m told is the best class for beginners) with a brief stint as a Spy and a Demoman.  The game is one that seems deceptively simple on the outside, which means new players can jump straight in and enjoy themselves immediately.  At the same time however, there is a lot of depth to the game just waiting to be explored by the more enthusiastic players.  As an example, one of the achievements I earned last night is called “Pilot Light”.  How do you get it?  You need to wait for an enemy soldier to rocket jump, and then set them on fire while they’re in the air.  It’s that kind of crazy shit that will keep this game fresh and fun for me for a long time.

If you’re looking for some examples of how fun this game can be, check out Ash’s regular feature “TF2-uesday“.