It's actually really funny how Valve told us that this would be the scariest update yet. Scream Fortress has never been scary. TF2 is such a goofy game that I don't ever see myself trying to play competitively. The only time things get serious is when you're on a killstreak and you really don't want to die. That or someone your playing with is really annoying you.
And I wouldn't have it any other way. I would only do matchmaking if I was playing with good friends, because otherwise the game will become a competition rather than a friendly kickabout. Sport was always ruined for me at school due to 'those guys' who thought they were at Wembley rather than a muddy school field. It's not like sport is supposed to be a recreational activity or anything...
Whilst the 'Mann Vs Machine' mode is probably my favourite mode of the game, the moment things start getting too serious I drop out. Whilst the team-based, wave-battling format is unique to TF2; this is ultimately a videogame. I play videogames to have fun. People yelling at each-other for not going back to get the money, not Ubercharging at the right time, or leaving the Engineer to take out that Sentry Buster all by himself isn't fun. This is why I don't really like multiplayer games in the first place, and only love TF2 because all of the communication is done for you via colourful cartoon characters with hilarious accents spewing one-liners.
I always look forward to 'Scream Fortess 2' because it comes with brand new content and freebies. This year, you're given a minature gargoyle that keeps count of 'souls.' Every time you complete an objective or kill an enemy then you gain 'souls' which levels up your gargoyle. What does levelling up your gargoyle do? I don't know, but you bet I spent all day doing it.
Whilst playing the game, you may suddenly get a 'contract' from Merasmus, the evil magician. This gives you a very specific objective, and you're given the space of a few hours to achieve this objective. Achieve it, and you get a Halloween Costume, a gargoyle crate, and a load of souls. There's also a host of new maps to toy around in. And, whilst the new maps are alright (certainly not as lazy as the 'Mannpower' maps) they don't feel nearly as good as other years.
I would rather just one new map but with lots of polish and a unique gimmick behind it. I always thought that was Valves thing: not making much, but making sure it's damn good. It's the difference between Andy Warhol and Leonardo Da Vinci. That's what I previously loved about Scream Fortress. Yes, you would only get one map, but it would be a damn good map with a unique gimmick behind it. First there was the Headless Horseless Horseman, then Monoculous, then Merasmus and the Wheel of Fate, then Helltower with the two brothers, and last year BONUS DUCKS.
Here there's...nothing really. One of the maps re-cycles The Wheel of Fate, but that's it. These maps aren't really going to be any fun once Scream Fortress is over. The previous map's stand by themselves, but the others are just going to feel like empty gimmicks. There's no new sound effects or gameplay elements or even new voice acting. One map goes completely overboard with re-cycling elements. There's the Headless Horseless Horseman, and multiple Monoculous's appearing. It feels amateur to me. Not as special.
As much as I love Merasmus, it does feel like he's being strung out a bit. Last year he owed the Japanese Mafia money, and this year it's the Russian Mafia. It just doesn't sound as funny. I still laugh when I replay the 2014 map because it just seems so odd that an evil wizard would be in trouble with the Japanese Mafia of all people. In fact, whilst I got a few chortles from the new Merasmus lines, the dialogue as a whole seems less funny. Plus, it's not going to last because Merasmus only speaks during contracts - and the contracts are exclusive to this year. Meanwhile, Scream Fortress 2014 with all it's hilarity will remain in TF2 forever...or as long a someone keeps a Halloween server running.
I will say that the re-skin of 'Gorge' looks great. I feel as though this map was supposed to be the official one, but then Valve gave up working on it and decided to throw in some community made maps to pad the update out. The map just needs a unique quality to it, and then it'll be perfect.
I also miss the old format where you'll be playing on a Halloween server when at random a present will drop. Find it in time, and you get a Halloween item. Now, you find a 'gargoyle' that gives you a large dump of souls. For some reason, Halloween items have become much harder to get. I don't understand this since Halloween items are non-tradeable and are only visible during holidays or the full moon. They're effectively worthless unless they're 'strange' so I'm not sure why Valve have suddenly become all protective over them. The option to craft Halloween items is most welcome however, considering that my backpack is filled with these relatively useless items.
The contract format is great fun when you find the correct map and everyone keeps voting to extend the map. It's infuriating, however, when the map isn't available. I feel bad for all the gaming websites hosting halloween servers when no-ones going to visit them considering contracts only work on official Valve servers. I also feel bad for myself because it means there are times where I can't complete a contract and so I have to find another server to collect souls on for a while until the map I want is available. If you're going to be this stingy on servers, Valve (which is never a good idea during a major update) then perhaps it might be best to introduce a 'waiting list' system that lets you play another match elsewhere before a pop-up box informs you that a space is now available in the map you want.
There's also the typical case of the item sever being down, or Steam itself just shutting down for an hour or so. This is to be expected after a major update, but considering that Valve claimed this was the biggest Scream Fortress yet, I feel like they should have anticipated the volume of incoming players beforehand.
What I hate most is that in previous years you could not hit your opponents whilst bosses such as Merasmus and Monoculous were around. It meant that you had to stop fighting the other team and actually work together towards the objective. Now, however, you can continue your killstreak whilst completely ignoring the boss. This results in everyone continuing to fight each-other whilst the proverbial elephant in the room lays waste to the entire team. It's an apt metaphor for...something.
Though, this does make the chat window more hilarious. Someone complains about being killed, and the other responds: "Sorry. I was aiming at the boss and you kinda got in the way." But it also results in everyone hurling abuse at each-other because some players sign an unofficial ceasefire whilst others don't. It also results in people who sign the ceasefire to kill those who haven't signed the ceasefire - which results in members of the other team thinking that this guy also hasn't signed the ceasefire and carnage ensues. Valve: please just bring back invincibility during the boss.
So overall: it's still 'Scream Fortress 2'. It's still a time when everyone briefly goes back to this great game and has a party before returning to whatever other games have just come out. And it's still fun. It's just not as fun as previous years...
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| SO. MUCH. STUFF. GOING. ON. |
