TF2 is probably the last video game I'll ever put significant time into. For being a multiplayer, non-story driven game, it is still one of the best games I've ever played.
I am a little miffed that they never upgraded the console versions and I've never really played it on PC. But I'm glad they're still able to get life out of the game, considering they've been upgrading it (the PC/Mac versions) well past its shelf life. It's an inspiring example for other developers with games that aren't commercially viable yet still have a well-knit community.
I tried this game a while ago and i am surprised how versatile and fun an ego shooter can be.
The thing is, all these big ideas (Spy, Engineer) who are implemented are balanced and working. This is just possible because it is not a dead line driven development.
Most of the game industry is still working with hype and big releases, but the most successful ones are incrementally developed. World of Warcraft and Minecraft for example. Community feedback, frequently new content and constant balancing/bug fixing creates the best games.
TF2 showed this is not just possible for MMORPG's, the best genre games are yet to come.
I thought the same thing and never thought I would find another game that could replace it. Then Hi-Rez came out of nowhere and redid the one other shooter that could pull me away. Tribes. I haven't touched TF2 since I got into the beta.
Tribes is also free to play and I'm curious to see how things evolve compared to TF2. Currently there aren't any things such as 'hats'. In fact, you spend your experience to just unlock the basic classes. I doubt that strategy would have worked well with TF2 since a lot of their balancing comes from the various classes.
I am a little miffed that they never upgraded the console versions and I've never really played it on PC. But I'm glad they're still able to get life out of the game, considering they've been upgrading it (the PC/Mac versions) well past its shelf life. It's an inspiring example for other developers with games that aren't commercially viable yet still have a well-knit community.