Montana Fragfest

Team Fortress 2 is a classic, one could say that the only way it could be better is to make it. . . . 2D? Well the guys over at Faucet (heh, get it?) have created an amazing 2D, multiplayer replica of our favorite 3D team-based FPS.

Check out version 1.0 (there are are often people playing on that) but not all of the features are there (no disguise for spy, or sentry for the engineer), but if you have enough interested friends start up a server in 2.9 beta. You can get more information or download it here.

Spore seemed really interesting to me about six months ago. As news spilled out about it I got really excited, it seemed like a really revolutionary concept and my mind was filled with little images of creating a civilization modeled after random internet creations and my own flavor of omnipotence.

As the game came to fruit, though, I lost quite a bit of interest. Now that it’s released, I’ve heard many mixed reviews from both professional reviewers and casual gamers. So I want the opinion of the people who matter: What do YOU think of Spore?

I’ve played a few multiplayer games in my day, and for some reason I’ve always had an affinity for the melee weapons in games. From the chainsaw in the Doom series to the light sabers in the Dark Knight series (but really, was there ANY other way to play that game?) to the knives in Counter-Strike, I’ve always loved the skill involved in killing someone though hand-to-hand combat. The popularity of melee weapons in games has lead to many important moments in games being decided man-to-man with only melee weapons being used. I have many fond memories of watching a Counter-Strike round come down to two men, and one of them always asking “Knife?” (indicating to the other that the final kill should be done in vicious hand-to-hand combat).

I’ve always respected the melee battle, and with my current interest in Team Fortress 2 why shouldn’t I continue the proud tradition of willingly killing someone with what the developers intended to be a last-ditch weapon? Read more »

Tonight I was gleefully playing some Team Fortress 2 on the Montana Fragfest server. The map was goldrush and we were on the first leg of the map, and our bomb cart was right near the end. The defense was putting up quite a fight and we were having trouble keeping the cart moving in the right direction. That is when my friend Bruce LeeRoy spouted out on the mike “we’ll have to Scout bomb it”.

What is it?

The scout bomb is a technique that didn’t necessarily appear with the map goldrush, but previous to gold rush you heard similar tactics such as the “scout rush”. A scout rush typically occurs at the map or round start where an entire team switches to scout in order to “rush” the capture points and get a quick win. How does a scout bomb differ from a scout rush you ask? Read more »

When playing a medic in Team Fortress 2 there are basically two ways you can be an effective Medic both you the Medic and the rest of your team need to understand these two types of play. As a medic you can either be a Heavy-Medic or a Team-Medic, and the difference is quite important.

The Team-Medic

This is the medic in the traditional sense of a team-class based game. You run around, helping the assault and healing teammates as they require it. In Team Fortress you are less effective in helping the assault, because usually your teammates are always getting injured and requiring your assistance. This means you run around healing teammates who are injured, boosting their health when they aren’t injured, and occasionally getting an ubercharge that you will expel on the most effective teammate around. When all your teammates die, you retreat until you find more bodies for the assault and begin the cycle again. You must pay careful attention to people calling “Medic!” because then you have a teammate in need and you must assist them. Read more »