Xbox Live Verdict: Team Fortress 2

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This is a coming of age story. Team Fortress 2 began life on the Xbox 360 naïve and inexperienced. The inability to set up dedicated servers, combined with an overly ambitious 16-player limit meant that most matches were plagued with lag.

While the PC version of the game prospered, numbers on Xbox Live dwindled. But it was still yet to enter its rebellious phase, making things even more difficult. As players discovered server hacks in the PC version, they migrated to Xbox Live and made the game even worse.

For about a year after its launch, it was common to walk into a server with invincible players, the gravity turned off, bases you couldn't capture and enemies that could spawn turrets inside your base. There was outcry, but somehow a patch never materialised.
However, despite all this, Team Fortress 2 has survived to maturity, and it seems as if many of the hackers have grown bored and moved onto other games.

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You'll still find yourself bumping into the occasional glitcher, but it's nowhere near as frequent. Plus, because many of the hardcore players who stuck with it have decent connections, there's much less lag these days, too.

We never quite had a full appreciation for this FPS until now. When it's running smoothly, you can fully appreciate the Pixar-style animation and superbly designed characters.

The numerous character classes and their individual nuances come with a steep learning curve, but this repays with a stack of depth. It's certainly not hard to find a character you'll grow to love. We tend to favour the back-stabbing spy and his ability to disguise himself as a member of the opposing team - pulling off a sneaky assassination is immensely satisfying.

Playing as a medic is also entertaining, particularly when compared to the ineffective medic classes in other games. This one runs around with a healing ray gun that can heal from distance. For a game with nine different classes, it's remarkable that they all feel worthwhile and balanced.

There are two notable quirks about the TF2 community. The first is that no one plays ranked matches. This is probably a consequence of too many players using hacks and glitches. Thankfully, there's still a good competitive spirit in the player matches and no shortage of games to join either.

The other quirk is that players tend to group off into those that have Xbox Live headsets and those that don't. Don't try joining a pro-microphone team without one, you're likely to get kicked for fear they'll lose their competitive edge.

It's only fair - after all, this is a game where team chatter is vital. Many players can be seen using the NXE's party chat system for clearer communication.

Team Fortress 2 really is an excellent game. Valve has struggled to support it in the same way as the PC version, but the foundations were solid enough to keep players coming back. Even if you only tried this terrific FPS once and then went back to Halo, there's never been a better time to give it another go.

Ben Talbot