Team Fortress 2 Graphics

Of course, the biggest different in Team Fortress 2 from its earlier versions and indeed from any multiplayer shooter yet released is its unique art design. In the commentary, Valve developers stated they were inspired by early 20th century illustrations for creating the visual look of the characters and settings. The highly stylized look of each character was made specifically so that players could easily identify what character each player was using and it works. It also works as a highly fun game element as well; graphics have evolved that having a photo-realistic look for games isn't really necessary anymore. We hope other game developers will consider expanding their art palette for upcoming games.




There's lots of other things we could discuss about Team Fortress 2; the way that the game lets you know who killed you in a match; the stats announcements that let's you know, say, how you played as a Sniper compared to your last round; how the gameplay types are not so cut and dried as capturing a flag or holding onto a control point..but we have to leave something for our review next week of The Orange Box, which will have the final non-beta version of Team Fortress 2 along with the puzzle shooter Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode 2, the next chapter in Valve's continuing story on the trials and tribulations of Gordon Freeman. We will just say that Team Fortress 2 looks like it will once again be the addicting experience that the original Quake 1 mod was 10 years ago, and that's saying something.