Team Fortress 2

System: PC
Publisher: Valve
Price: $20 for standalone, $50 as part of the Orange Box

Considering my mediocre reflexes, relatively underpowered PC, and general aversion to graphic blood and gore, it's surprising that I enjoy Team Fortress 2 as much as I do. It's a great team-based, multiplayer shooter, and if you can get past the downfalls of TF2's online community, you'll be in for a great ride with this game.

While the controls are pretty much the same as any other PC shooter (WASD + mouse controls), the best feature of TF2 is the class-based gameplay. You have nine different classes to choose from (Scout, Soldier, and Pyro on offense; Demoman, Heavy, and Engineer on defense; and Medic, Sniper, and Spy on support), each with specialized abilities. For example, the Engineer can build gun turrets and teleporters and the Medic can heal other players and even become invulnerable for a short time. Even though the classes are split up into offensive, defensive, and support roles, you can use them in any capacity you want -- one of the most popular Engineer strategies is to toss up a turret in a forward location and let it get some quick kills for you before you drop back and set up another installation.

The different maps and game types offer up a great variety of content, and the fast-paced action will keep you glued to the game far longer than you even realize. TF2 is the poster child of all "just one more game" entertainment. Time just flies while you're trying to blow your opponents to tiny bits while keeping your own hide whole. And Valve continues to add more maps and game types. They've even started rolling out class-specific achievements and items. Getting an upgrade to your flamethrower or melee attack is a lot of fun, especially when you have to earn it by setting 50 Scouts on fire and pummeling other Heavies with your ham-shank fists.

Because TF2 is a multiplayer game, there is no single player aspect -- unless you want to set up your own server and play with stationary bots. This is one of its greatest strengths, but also its greatest weakness, in my view. Working with a team is generally fun, until you get some whiner who complains that your team is so much worse than everyone else he plays with and "What the [expletives deleted] do you think you're doing?!" Even the good-natured players will often let loose with profanity-laced language in text and voice chat (which are both provided in-game, no Teamspeak required). The worst things I've seen are the custom spraypaint graphics that some players use. I'll not mention the disgusting things in those.

Speaking of graphics, though, the game is drawn using a cartoony style very similar to the animation in Disney/Pixar's "The Incredibles." (The music, when it plays on menu screens and in orientation videos, also seems like it's derived from the movie.) The game is rated M for violence and blood, but it is very cartoonish. It may just be that I'm not running the game at the maxed out settings, but the worst I ever see when I get fragged is a spray of orangish blood (quite a lot of it) and some random, non-disfigured body parts. (The game even lets you take screenshots of your most memorable deaths and uses little signs to note which of your body parts you're looking at. "Your foot!") The game may be a little more disturbing on high-end machines, but dropping the graphics settings should cover up much of the more visceral deaths.

Even though the game can get frustrating (being on the receiving end of eighty-five headshots within a single ten minute game, for example) and the player community ranges from the most cordial and polite to the most vulgar and obscene, TF2 is a great game. If you can get a good group of friends to play with, you'll enjoy it all the more.

Score: 9.0
Great game, if you can handle all the other dorks who play.