The complete guide to Team Fortress 2

Posted at: Tuesday 9th October 2007 by Josh Blodwell

Team Fortress 2 is Valve's latest FPS and it's set to be just as fiercly competetive as Counter Strike. Don't go into the game unarmed - check out our full guide to TF2's gameplay and character classes, courtesy of Josh Blodwell

Control Points

Control points are designated areas on the maps which your team must capture or defend. As in other games such as Battlefield 2, the more members of your team standing on a control point, the faster you'll capture it. If an enemy player makes his way onto a control point, the capture will stall until the enemy is killed or retreats. Some maps lock control points from play, focusing both teams to concentrate on specific areas on the map.

Intelligence Briefcase

The intelligence briefcase serves as a ‘flag’ in the game’s Capture The Flag (CTF) mode. At the moment, the only CTF map is ctf_2fort. In this level, both teams must fight their way through their enemy’s base, access the control room, grab the intelligence briefcase and return it to their own control room.

The player who carries the briefcase leaves a trail of paper, which remains visible for a few seconds after they pass. If the carrier is killed or enters his team’s resupply room, the briefcase is dropped to the floor. Although a team can’t recapture their own briefcase, it will return to their control room if it’s allowed to stay on the floor for 60 seconds.

If your team’s briefcase is dropped, it’s a good idea to take an assault team, supported by a medic, to guard it until the 60 seconds is up. To make the intelligence easy to find it has a large timer roundel, which will remain above it until it’s returned or picked up.

The position of the briefcase is always shown in your Heads Up Display (HUD). A compass shows the direction of the case, and an icon displays its current status: a house for when it’s safe, an exclamation mark when it’s being carried, and an inverted arrow when it’s lying on the floor.

Resupply rooms

Each map in TF2 contains at least one resupply room per team. These rooms are inaccessible to the opposing team, and if no medics are available or you’ve run out of metal to upgrade a turret, then a trip to the nearest resupply room can save your life. Inside each of these safe havens is a cabinet, which instantly refills your health, ammo, and metal supplies. You can also use resupply rooms to change class without needing to commit suicide. These perks are restricted when the game enters the sudden death round...

Sudden Death

At the end of an unsuccessful round - where no team has won outright – TF2 enters Sudden Death mode. As the name implies, there’s no respawning, no health pickups and the lockers in the resupply rooms will not resupply you.

At the start of the round you may change class, while you remain in the resupply room, so it makes sense to choose a robust class. A heavy, soldier, or medic are strong survivor classes for the task.

While your chance of getting kills, or capturing Control Points is higher as a fighting class, Engineers are extremely useful in Sudden Death. As long as the Engineer constructs structures away from the front line, preferably choosing to hold a rear Control Point, surviving isn’t too hard, and if you play the role of repairman, and stay wary of spies, you can create an invaluable safe haven for players. There’s only one important thing to remember as an engineer in Sudden Death – build a dispenser first. If you forget, finding metal to build structures, or to upgrade and repair your sentry can be highly problematic.