Whilst we here at UltraNinjas endeavour to bring you chaps reviews of the newest stuff as soon as we’ve had a chance to absorb them properly, there are occasionally a few games that slip by the radar. Sometimes this is due to us being loaded with an insane amount of titles at the same time, occasionally it’s due to supply, and quite often it’s due to Jay. Can’t think of an appropriate reason, but let’s blame him anyway.

One such title was Team Fortress 2, which was included in the Orange Box from which we reviewed pretty much everything else. A multi-class team-based multiplayer shooter with a rather awesome toon graphical style and plenty of map and game types to keep you plugging away. Problem is, you all know this by now don’t you? Thus, let’s take a look at why I love the game so much.

See, I am not really a big fan of either massive multiplayer experiences or twitch shooters, hence my penchant for TF2 is more than a little odd. The fact that I have ploughed some hundred plus hours into it and have enjoyed some of my greatest gaming experiences along the way shows that it’s top of the class. Some two years after release the community is still packed, there are mods flying about like nobody’s business and games are still regularly full to capacity at any time of the day.

Part of this is that the game offers plenty of ways to enjoy yourself and to create your own little niche in by offering so many different classes to play. Whether it be running around after a heavy as a medic plying them with ever-healing rays or camping out in a spot as a sniper and popping enemies as and when they appear, each different type of character has its unique quirks to be explored and mastered. Some are slightly trickier than others of course; as a demoman I usually spend most of my time lamely scattering sticky grenades around and detonating them at the wrong point, and I must be the world’s most unsubtle spy of all time.

Still, you end up wanting to put time into every class anyway as you still have lots of fun trying to help your teammates out during the various game modes. My personal class of choice is the flamethrower-wielding Pyro, whom is not only bloody handy as an attack option when paired with a medic, but also acts as an annoying little sod who can hang around their own base and set fire to any member of the opposing team who consider themselves to have got away undetected. Working together as a team of two Pyros with a single medic can make for sexy results folks, believe me.

Getting a decent team balance is pretty crucial at times, hence you quickly get attached to whichever total randoms you happen to be playing with. Whilst going guts-for-glory is all well and good, and whilst going sniper is pretty fun, it’s the likes of the engineers and scouts who do a lot of the legwork for comparatively little glory. During one particular Capture The Flag type mission a few weeks ago our blue team’s arse was continually saved by the forward-thinking engineer who’d planted a massive turret in our safe room and built himself a little dispenser to keep him healthy as he carried out any repairs. No one had noticed him head down there and no one really noticed until the game was over what he had done, but without him we would have lost the game.

It’s that sense of team unity amongst the utter chaos that really makes TF2 so great, and it makes hours fly by. During these hours great things tend to occur, like getting a headshot on a scout as he’s jumping about midair, or firing an arrow into the groin of a Pyro just as he does his arm waving taunt thinking he’s captured one of your team’s points. The other thing that adds to this is that it’s a pretty easy game to drop into as a newcomer, and after a few games of each type you’ll already have a pretty good handle on what you need to be doing. Getting good, though, will take time as ever.

Still, that time you do spend improving is greatly enjoyable, and there are plenty of different maps and game types to get yourself stuck into. Personal preference sees me headed to 2Fort more often than not for a capture-the-flag type affair between two enemy strongholds separated by a mote in the middle, whilst the payload levels where one team has to escort a bomb through along a heavily defended rail track are also great fun. Add into this that the game has a wealth of user-created contend and you’re onto an ever-evolving product.

An additional bonus is that Valve are now chucking updates for the game our way, with each class getting their own upgradeable weapons and items to unlock or just be given at random. The Pyro, for example, gets a new flamethrower that’s deadly when used behind enemies’ backs, but loses the backblast ability that allows them to send incoming rockets and arrows back toward their shooter. The heavy, meanwhile, gets a new mini gun that, whilst inflicting reduced damage, slows down opponents and makes them easier to pick off. Nicely balanced indeed.

Hence, it’s something that if you’ve not picked up yet you really, really must. Now. Right now. Fire up Steam, get your credit card ready and buy it. You might not be into multiplayer games that much and you might hate twitch shooters, but hey – I did too, and I am so set in my ways that if this game can change my opinion then it can change yours. Make it happen.