Aliens Invade The Team Fortress 2 World Because Why Not?

[Steven Bogos]

Aliens Invade The Team Fortress 2 World Because Why Not?

Team Fortress 2's invasion update adds a whole suite of community-created maps, weapons, and of course, hats.

Does anyone else remember when football mode [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/team%20fortress%202?os=team+fortress+2]. Essentially, it seems there is no-where Team Fortress 2 won't go, so it shouldn't surprise you that an update centered around invading aliens has just been released.

The twist this time is that the invasion update [http://www.teamfortress.com/invasion/] is entirely community created, featuring a whole suite of space-themed maps, weapons, and of course, hats. The additional, bad-news panda twist is that most of the new content seems to be locked behind not one, but two paywalls.

First up, you'll have to buy an "invasion pass" from the in-game Mann Co. store, which will give you an "invasion coin" misc item. Killing players on invasion-themed maps during the invasion event while having the invasion coin equipped gives you a chance to receive "space cases" - a new kind of chest which requires a $2.50 key to unlock, and contains one of the new weapons/hats.

So, you're essentially paying for a chance to pay for a chance to get something you want. Ouch.

While the weapons and hats seem to be behind the paywall (for now), all players will be able to play on the four new maps.

If you're into this sort of thing, the update is live right now, and the invasion event will last for one month.

Source: Valve [http://www.teamfortress.com/invasion/]

Permalink

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Oh wow, this game is still around? But its not 2007!

Quick, someone contact RadioShack! TF2 has found the secret to eternal life!

 

[The Almighty Aardvark]

Okay, I've got to say. That moment with the Demo trying to figure out why the 3D glasses weren't working was just fantastic

 

[voltair27]

So that's what Valve has been up to instead of working on Half-Life 3.

Pity that Valve's company structure ensures that it'll never get into production.

 

[flying_whimsy]

So that's what Valve has been up to instead of working on Half-Life 3.

Pity that Valve's company structure ensures that it'll never get into production.

Considering all of the content was made by the community and not valve, it still doesn't explain what they've been doing. I suspect they've been building a yacht collection, building a robot army, or planning their own mars mission.

This was almost enough to get me to play the game again, but I'm not fond of the paywell being there. At least the maps would be free to play on. Somehow, though, I doubt they'd be as cool as I'd imagine an alien invasion in TF2 would be: you know, a sillier version of the alien abduction dlc in Fallout 3.

EDIT: For clarification, I've had TF2 since the orange box; I strongly dislike nickel and dime dlc in games I already bought.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

if this exact same thing was pulled by EA or Ubisoft, people would be losing their shit. Valve has such blind devotion though, that nobody seems to call them out.

they're going to run that good will account dry though. I've seen nothing but missteps from them beginning with the Left 4 Dead 2 controversy.

 

[Sinister Minister]

So that's what Valve has been up to instead of working on Half-Life 3.

Pity that Valve's company structure ensures that it'll never get into production.

So do you read the articles or do you just see something Valve-related and jump right in to make a remark about HL3?

 

[Aeshi]

So a bunch of reskins and cosmetics that add nothing new to the actual gameplay, 3 new maps and 1 copy-pasted one.

Colour me unimpressed.

 

[Scarim Coral]

So wait, the war against that Greyman and his steampunk robots has ended or is this sorted like inbetween the stories like the Halloween story?

 

[Victim of Progress]

So wait, the war against that Greyman and his steampunk robots has ended or is this sorted like inbetween the stories like the Halloween story?

In-between. Much like the Gun Mettle update probably took part before the Grey Invasion. Also, I hope this doesn't turn into another robotic bogaloo/end of the line wreck. User created content is nice. But you can't base your whole update around it.

 

[Bindal]

So wait, the war against that Greyman and his steampunk robots has ended or is this sorted like inbetween the stories like the Halloween story?

In-between. Much like the Gun Mettle update probably took part before the Grey Invasion. Also, I hope this doesn't turn into another robotic bogaloo/end of the line wreck. User created content is nice. But you can't base your whole update around it.

Not only can Valve, but they already that. Twice.

And because it's Valve, that's totally alright to do. Anyone else would be crucified to even CONSIDER it - and Valve gets praised.

 

[Thomas Barnsley]

I was envisioning a new kind of MvM with aliens when I read the title of this article. That would've been so cool! Hopefully actually aliens make it into the game somehow, maybe as random events like in Halloween maps.

New guns never really interest me, as I resolved long ago never to spend money on the game. So I do hope there'll be a little more than they're highlighting here.

 

[Janichsan]

Oh wow, this game is still around? But its not 2007!

Because every game that is older than 12 months instantly loses all appeal and must be stopped being played?

I might have some shocking news for you: there are even older games that still are "around" and have a massive player base.

 

[Dango]

At this point, TF2 is such a ridiculously bloated game. It would really benefit Valve to roll back the game a few... hundred... updates.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Yeah, I'm just gonna give this a thumbs-down. So many paywalls...

Seriously, Valve, if you're not gonna develop games anymore than just rename yourselves Steam entirely and leave it at that.

 

[The Enquirer]

if this exact same thing was pulled by EA or Ubisoft, people would be losing their shit. Valve has such blind devotion though, that nobody seems to call them out.

they're going to run that good will account dry though. I've seen nothing but missteps from them beginning with the Left 4 Dead 2 controversy.

The guns are actually all cosmetic, so while I'm not a fan of the fact they're charging 2.50 for a chance to get something you may way, they did just add maps for free. So I personally wouldn't be pissed. That said if EA or Ubi tried this the game would probably have a 60 dollar price tag, not free.

As far as I know they're working on competitive matchmaking, which would be awesome. Going to be hoping that pops up sometime before the years end.

 

[Jsan the Candyman]

I'm dissapointed. All the weapons are reskins of old ones. I haven't played TF2 this update yet, but I can already tell it's lackluster. They're adding community maps, which is nice, but nothing impressive. Hell, they're making the next Halloween update community based too. Bit disappointing.

This was almost enough to get me to play the game again, but I'm not fond of the paywell being there. At least the maps would be free to play on. Somehow, though, I doubt they'd be as cool as I'd imagine an alien invasion in TF2 would be: you know, a sillier version of the alien abduction dlc in Fallout 3.

EDIT: For clarification, I've had TF2 since the orange box; I strongly dislike nickel and dime dlc in games I already bought.

Quick counter point, the micro-transactions here are almost non-envasive, items bought from the store are worth less on the trading market, trading can get you items without buying them if you have the patience, and ALL gameplay features are avalible for free to anybody and everybody. Sure, you bought the game before it went free, so of course you felt screwed over. What did you get, a consolation hat?

 

[MonsterCrit]

So if you're not crate and item farming... this basically translates to free game mode and game maps. Sweet!.

 

[flying_whimsy]

Quick counter point, the micro-transactions here are almost non-envasive, items bought from the store are worth less on the trading market, trading can get you items without buying them if you have the patience, and ALL gameplay features are avalible for free to anybody and everybody. Sure, you bought the game before it went free, so of course you felt screwed over. What did you get, a consolation hat?

That's a good point, but I've hated spending hours trying so hard to farm a specific piece of equipment; especially since crafting certain things is simply another version of roulette (and I wanted that rainblower so much). Plus, some new weapons would have been really nice, especially given the theme.

I got a hat, a badge, and all of my weapons marked 'vintage'. My inner hipster is really conflicted about it.

 

[ShakerSilver]

Apparently all the new items are just cosmetics and item reskins, so all the content that actually affects gameplay (ie new maps) are free. The paywall is rather shitty for those that actually want to get them, but besides that I can't say it' really a bad update.