In October of 2007, Value released their hit fps game Team Fortress 2. And since then it has become one of their most popular games of all time. But why is that? What made TF2 so special during an era where there was an abundance of other FPS games out on the Market? I believe that one big factor to people finding interest in the game is how the characters are presented, and for this blog post I will talk about that.
Characters
Team Fortress 2 has 9 classes each with its own pros and cons. For example, Heavy is slow on his feet but has high health, and the Spy can disguise himself as enemies players and instakill with backstabbing but has low health.
However there is quite a lot more to the characters than their class, each character has a distinct personality and background, they have a number of quotes they shout during gameplay, and they even have various taunts players can mess around with.
Meet the Team
To help give players an idea of what the characters are like, Valve released a series of shorts know as Meet the Team.
Each short revolves around a different class from the game and what they are like as people. This is honestly a genius move in my opinion, as they help promote the game to more people and make the characters more unique compared to other FPS characters. While animation based on video games can be hit or miss, these are absolute hits in my book.
Interestingly enough these were made with a proprietary tool Valve developed known as Source Filmmaker, and you can download it for free on Steam with many assets from TF2.
Extending the Lore
In May of 2009, Valve began to release comics based on TF2. Some of the comics would be for major updates, while others were made to tell a longer-form story.
But most importantly we got to see more development for the various classes. We learn about the families of characters like Heavy and Sniper, we have a comic all about the director of the Meet the Team videos, and we even get to see more minor characters get their time to shine.
While the continuity is fairly loose with the comics, it is still incredible to see the writers take a game with little to no story, and create a story about it.
Conclusion
Overall the characters of Team Fortress 2 really do wonders and help make the game stand out from other FPS games. During the games prime, the video game industry was bombarded with gritty FPS games that while still solid didn’t end up making the genre feel less special as a result. But thanks to a colorful and interesting cast of characters Team Fortress 2 manages to feel way more like a game made by people who cared then by a business looking for a quick buck. And even if I don’t the game as much as I did back then, I can still appreciate it.
Thanks for Reading, also if you have any suggestions for games I should cover in the future, please comment down below and I’ll consider it for a future blog post.
I think team fortress 2 and valve in general are a great topic of discussion, especially in context of this class. We covered a bit about user-generated content and how that can help build a community around your game. Valve did a particularly good job of harboring a community around TF2 by embracing the communities desire to contribute to the game. Even allowing content creators to get paid for their work by curating user created cosmetics and weapons and selling them via the in-game item shop. That had never really been done before to my recollection.
If you’re interested in game design and want an in-depth understanding of the design decisions that went into TF2 and other valve games, most valve games have an interactive “developer commentary” mode that lets you walk around a level, listening to valve developers talk about different design choices while highlighting and pointing them out in game. I highly recommend it.
Ah, TF2 is truly a nostalgic blast from the past. I remember playing this game with friends almost daily for hours. It truly is a wonderful game and quite strategic when you get a good group, but it is also fun to play with randos!
As a pretty big gamer myself, I have never heard of these games. I am more interested in Call of Duty or Apex Legends. Even though this game does seem pretty legit and fun to play I think you have a great idea with your blog and the extra things you have added. Really nice work you have here with your blog as a whole.
I remember playing this game in middle school and I will say that this was one of my favorite games growing up. I love how they have a big variety of characters to choose from. I like how they just don’t have one type of characters they have different finds to a heavy guy then to a spy who can go into disguise himself. I look forward to seeing what you will be talking about next week.
Oh my gosh. It’s crazy because all week I have been trying to remember what this game is called and here it is! Thanks so much for writing this lol. I remember playing this on steam because it was free probably over 10 years ago. I loved the option of choosing a specific character that had specific actions. The game seems so simple now, but back then it was like the greatest game to me.
A few years ago, I was really into Team Fortress 2. If I remember correctly, it was right when I first started exploring PC gaming. For me, what really introduced me in to the series is that it was one of the most popular free to play games on PC. When I bought it, I really didn’t have much of an idea about what I was doing, but as I got more into it I started to really enjoy playing it. I think that one of the main factors that kept me interested in the game were the characters and the storylines behind them. I think that you nailed it right on the head when you said that people were more into fps shooters where it didn’t feel as special but in this game you got a sense of personality from the characters and it made it more immersive.
Team Fortress 2 is a titan of FPS games, its been out for 13 years and its still beloved. The characters really do sell this game, when all 9 characters have different voices, personality’s, gameplay, and lastly cosmetics because we cant mention TF2 without hats. Jokes aside I think TF2 is a game that’s not only amazingly fun but also one that has inspired so many games. A massive example in my mind is Apex Legends. Though they are slightly different in the FPS genre, It feels like Apex took the idea of characters and unique personality’s of each from TF2. Which is honestly a great idea, having a unique cast of characters really does amplify the enjoyment factor to me. I loved playing TF2 and I love the games it helped inspire so I have many things to thank TF2 for.