It’s not often that I’ll come out and say this, but if you play FPS games, you should play Team Fortress 2 (or TF2.)

TF2 is a great game because it’s the one I keep coming back to.  I’ll play other games, but the large-scale team-based gameplay keeps me coming back.

Valve just released another content update for the game on the PC and they’re planning on keeping the content coming.

So here are my 5 reasons you should play.

Team Fortress 2 requires teamwork, or you won't get very far. (Pic from teamfortress.com)

1. It’s a part of the Orange Box.

TF2 is part of the Orange Box, which can be had right now for $30. A quick summary of reviews shows that the Orange Box is well worth it, with a very solid 96.4% average from 38 reviews.

A quick note: for the PC it’s probably the greatest collection of games you can buy right now for $30. There’s TF2, Portal (which is fantastic), Half-Life 2 and Episodes 1 & 2.  I’ll talk about my love for all things Valve in another post. (Right now I’m also playing another great game by Valve, Left 4 Dead.)

Back to Team Fortress 2.  There’s a very important part about why I think so highly of TF2.  Valve supports it.

2. Downloadable Content (DLC) for free.

There has been DLC made available for free to PC users. (Eventually console users will see the content in a massive patch Valve said.)  That DLC keeps remaking the game over and over by adding new maps, game play types and it even goes so far as to change the characters.

This may not be news if you’re playing it right now, but if you’re not it has to be the reason you consider playing it.

3. Class Updates that change the game.

Just released were updates to two classes (the engineer and spy.)  I’ve got the details at the bottom of the post.

It’s just the latest in developments that the design team has made to the game.  So far three of the nine classes have been given new weapons, the Medic, Pyro and Heavy.  All three have changed how the class is played and doubled the amount of weapons available to the class.  The fourth class that will get a revamp is the Scout.

One of the main goals we’re focusing on for him has been to provide tools that make him useful in maps like Dustbowl & Goldrush. If you have any ideas for what you think would work well, post them over on the Team Fortress 2 Forum and we’ll take a look. (Valve Blog)

The DLC keeps making fresh a game that at its core was already great.

4. Great class balance.

TF2 has great class balance, which is important when you’re playing with as many as 32 players on the same server and anyone playing can pick any class.  The added weapons contribute to the balance by varying the specs that people can use.

There’s also the fact that in these updates Valve is also including new maps and gameplay types.  There are multiple gameplay types including your classic capture the flag, but there are also variations on the capture motif.

5. Creators have comic wit and use it.

My final reason you should check it out: The game and its creators are hilarious. There are videos, check the site.

UPDATE 6. Steam & content protection done right.

After posting I immediately thought of the other reason I love TF2.  When you install the game, it registers with Valve and to play you have to be using Steam.  Some people won’t like that the game phones home, but in this case there are good reasons that it doesn’t bother me.  Steam allows me to download and install games that I own, any time and on any computer.  There are no install limits.  I appreciate Valve protecting its content in a way that gives value to the consumer.

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I definitely want to urge you to check the game out, for 30 bucks it’s hard to pass up.  If you’re already playing then you can travel to my most played servers.  Most of the time I play on the [Q] Servers: Gold Rush #1 (76.74.155.132:27015) and #2(76.74.155.133:27015)

My steam tag is Subway.

Have questions about something? You can email me at matt(dot)schuler(at)woodtv(dot)com. And for more, shorter updates, check out my Twitter by clicking on twitter.com/mattschuler.

Patch Notes:

-The Engineer’s teleporters can now be upgraded to level three. It will recharge faster the higher level it is
-The Engineer’s dispensers can now be upgraded to level three. It will give out metal and heal faster as it is upgraded
-Spies will be able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground or from health cabinets
-Some changes to the second part of the first stage of Goldrush to give the attackers more of an advantage
-Any weapons that fire bullets (shotguns, sniper’s machine gun, heavy’s minigun, etc.) can now break apart the Demoman’s stickybombs
-The icon on the HUD for a person calling for Medic will now give more information to the medic (if the target is low on health, on fire, etc.)
-Added an achievement tracker that will allow people to choose specific achievements that they are trying to get
-There is now a custom icon for death messages when the player was killed from a critical hit
-Added a new particle effect for when a player enters the water
-Added smoke to the feet of a rocket jumping soldier
-Players will now have some particles swirling around them so other players can see when they are overhealed