Team Fortress 2 Halloween Update is live

The baby boomers have It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. We have the Scream Fortress Halloween update for Team Fortress 2, and Valve is keeping the tradition undead this year with its fourth annual freaky holiday extravaganza.

Scream Fortress featuring the evil ghost magician (that is, the ghost of an evil magician, not an evil magician who uses ghosts (although we think he does that too)) Merasmus went live today, and it brought with it special alterations for control point and Mann vs. Machine matches.

Or should we say, Mann Vs. Zombie?! Yes, we should, since the new Wave 666 mission for MvM's Coal Town map pits the mercenaries against one wave of more than 800 zombified mercs instead of the usual staggered hordes of robots. Control point players, meanwhile, will find themselves cursed (or potentially blessed) by Merasmus' Wheel of Fate spells whenever they capture a point.

All players will be able to get the usual load of Halloweeny kit, including shifting paint colors, ghostly companions, and flaming footsteps, as well as two exclusive achievements. The event runs from today through November 8.