Team Fortress 2 - hands-on

For fans of the original game there's an eerie sense of d%26eacute;j%26agrave; vu when playing the 2Fort map in Team Fortress 2. Even if you'd already been told it was a remade version of the popular Team Fortress Classic map, or realized simply by looking at the map's name, its layout already exists as a semi-familiar strategy map in the back of your mind. There's that central bridge across the moat, treacherous to cross and half-concealing the alternate entrance to the enemy base. There are the snipers perched along the barricades, the supplies outside the spawn room- strategically it remains almost completely unchanged. Especially the part with the snipers, as we've come to learn over and over again.

It was in this state of half-already-knowing-what-to-do that we found ourselves sitting with the co-creator of Team Fortress, Robin Walker, as he explained the basics of capturing the flag and pointed earnestly at the HUD furniture displaying the direction of the objective. Feeling more confident than was appropriate, given the fact that we were playing with a flock of Valve employees in the next room, we chose the role of Scout and was promptly mown down by a Gatling gun.