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Team Fortress 2 review
by Kyle Weber

This is a painful game to review because I've put 650 hours into this game and I actually agree with a lot of the points made by the positive reviewers.  The music and atmosphere is very well done, the game has a rich history and a lively community, the core classes are well-balanced, and much of the gameplay has been polished into a bright sheen.  How can I give this game a negative review given my personal history and these positive elements?

Well, the reality is that the core matchmaking and gameplay has gotten steadily worse through the years to the point where, today, I wouldn't recommend the game to anyone unless they are interested in the history or just curious about trying the game.  The basic challenge is that Valve clearly no longer wants to put any time or energy into managing the game, resulting in:
* No updates for an absurd length of time to the gameplay or lore (either in the not-so-recent past or in the forseeable future).  While the core characters are pretty well-balanced at this point, the game gets boring when months pass without any new maps, guns, or features being added.  
* A growing spambot/cheating problem.  Gone are the days when aimbots and spammers were culled due to improvements to either the Valve Anti-Cheat system or better moderation.  Instead, these problems are endemic, to the point where a large portion of games are ruined by these items and a good proportion of even satisfactory games are spent trying to get the other team to kick their aimbot so they don't walk away with an easy victory.
* To deal with the spambot problem, you now have to pay to use the core text/voice chat functionality, which is pretty necessary to perform basic gameplay coordination and is a pretty basic F2P feature.  Okay, you can go Premium for $5 to fix this, but given the issues above this is another strike against the game.  (Also, yeah, I was F2P for that entire time, but this wasn't an issue until recent updates).
* Matchmaking is completely broken.  While joining a game originally lead you to a decently full server about to start and a lively game, half the time you now join a game that is being plagued with auto-aim bots, that's half empty, or that's about to end.  Again, this is something that even Valve's other major F2P property (Dota 2) can figure out even matching players by skill level, so the lack of care here is further indicative of Valve's lack of investment.  

Given all of these issues, I don't think the game is very interesting or fun to play any more.  While existing fans of the game may want to continue playing for their own reasons, my rating reflects my judgement that this game just isn't worth the time anymore.  Not recommended.
«Game over at last!»

Other reviews17

its okay but too many slurs in game chat 
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
A hit of old times. I remember the vanilla «Team Fortress 2» when I played it in the summer of 2009. At the end of 2020, I installed it to see what had become. The game isn't obsolete and is just as lively to play. The reason is the cartoonish graphics and dynamics of the game. Also the lore of each character and the awesome music by Mike Morasky! Cases and hats are certainly not my thing, but I approve of the new modes. «The Mann vs. Machines» was great for me. Overall, I recommend it. The game is immortal.
«Blew my mind»
12/10 - A MASTERPIECE!!! The best multiplayers first person shooter ever made!
«Can’t stop playing»
This was the best multiplayer FPS out there when it was released.

But it's been a long time and honestly I have no idea what happened in the interim.
TF2 is 13 years old at the time of writing of this review, and the game is showing it's age.  The constant evolution of the game over the decade plus it's been around has made for a higher quality gaming experience, while at the same time turning the engine into a creaking structure buckling under it's own strain.

TF2 is a staple of Steam multiplayer games running on the Source engine.  It's original design philosophy is a case study for game designers of all stripes, and the art style of the game is beautiful and unique.  The characters are all interesting, with fun voice acting and lots of personality.  Hearing the characters banter with each other was a mindblowing bit of immersive storytelling at the time.

The extended "lore" developed around the game, from bricks of Austrailium , the introduction of MANN CO, and the high value of gravel, is fun and unique.  The comics, stories, and short form videos are all gems.  And the Saxxy award winning community videos are amazing.

The game is on the old side, though, and it has it's flaws.  But it's free to play, so if you can find a server not crawling with aimbots and hackers, it's worth playing a few rounds of this classic.
«Liked before it became a hit»
tf2 is the best game ever created 
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
creative way to do multiplayer fps
Stress reliever,
or stress inducer.

Good times.
An amazing online multiplayer class-based FPS by Valve.
One of the best online experiences on PC.
«Can’t stop playing»
I have far too many memories with this game to ever truly part away from it. It's always been a classic and always will be.