Returning to TF2

After being told a few times that Team Fortress 2 is one of the best games of the decade despite being released in the previous decade, I decided to hop back in for a bit. I assumed nothing has changed since a) TF2 at its core has not changed much despite all the updates it received, and b) TF2 has not have any major updates since I left 2 years ago.

I dropped into the middle of a Snowycoast game as a Soldier. I’ll be honest, I am never that familiar at any maps post-Two Cities Update and Hydro, so I can’t really get to my usual shenanigans of sneaking behind enemy lines and killing them all. Which doesn’t matter anyways, since apparently my Soldier skills has atrophied to nothingness. Seeing as my teammates are dying left and right and my failure to kill enemies aren’t helping, I went back to playing Medic.

We didn’t win.

I stayed in the server and picked Upward for the next map. Started on BLU, and I picked Medic again, bringing along my Botkiller. I spent my time waiting for the server to fill Square-Dancing with some random Soldier. Really should’ve picked up Conga or something.

The Upward game went well, since I have another Medic wielding the Quick-Fix backing me up and a decently reliable Heavy. But what is nice is how everything just comes back to me. What to do, how to move, and not to stand within a Sniper’s line of sight. My Syringe Gun aim is somehow worse than my previously abysmal aim two years ago, but I am not an aggressive enough Medic for that to matter.

However, what struck me the most is how comfortable returning to TF2 is. It’s like going home after being abroad for months. The bed is still there, crickets still chirp at nights, the sofa still feels the same when I flung myself into it, and my mum still complains when I do that. It is still the game I fell in love with years ago.

It also struck me how instinctive teamwork is on TF2, as compared to my last two teamwork-oriented game I play. It may be because I am way more familiar with TF2, but to me, the way TF2 is designed makes it far easier for you to know what is needed. That will most likely be its own article, once I got a few things sorted out. In short, in TF2 it’s easier to know what the team needs because there are only nine classes and not a bunch of heroes, and also TF2 is a bit more forgiving due to its larger team size. It sounds so Captain-Obvious-ly it’s bloody dumb, but I promise when I actually talk about it in the article it’ll not sound that stupid. I hope.

And lastly, it has been so long since I enjoyed playing a multiplayer PvP game alone. I only ever had that with two games, TF2 and Paladins, but TF2 is always my favourite of the two. I am fine with co-op, but PvP is rarely my jam.

I don’t think I really have much to say.

It’s just good to be back.