Team Fortress Classic is a modification of the game Half-Life that pits two teams of players against each other in various online scenarios. Although TFC itself is free, you're going to need the full version of Half-Life to play it. You're also going to need some spare time and a place to download it if your Half-Life CD didn't come with TFC like mine did. It can generally be found at any popular gaming site, just FYI.

Anyway, Team Fortress Classic is not one big online environment like some people might think. It is actually a large sum of individual servers run by players like you, each one running a seperate game of TFC. The server you join is up to you, of course, which creates some problems I'll discuss in a minute.

Once you get the Team Fortress update for Half-Life, you're ready to play. TFC uses all the settings and options you used in the original game, so you won't need to worry about resetting everything.

In terms of connecting, it is easy to get confused. Before I get into the actual game I'm going to give a few tips that will help you get in there in the first place. First, click on multiplayer and then customize. This will allow you to change your multiplayer ID by which all other players will know you. Then, exit the customize menu and click on Internet. If you see a blank list, don't panic...just click update. Your computer should cycle through a few thousand servers that are currently running. A few thousand may seem like a lot, but if you click on Filter you can shorten the list according to your specifications. I recommend at the very least filtering it so that it lists ONLY tfc games. That's right, the few thousand servers you see are actually ALL the half-life and half-life mod games currently running. Next all you have to do is click on a server. I recommend the ones that say "PUBLIC" somewhere in the title.

Alright, even if you're still confused, that's the best I can explain it...so sue me. On to the game. Once connected to a server, you will be prompted to choose a team or spectate. The spectator mode is rather interesting, as it lets you observe all the action going on without getting you directly involved in the bloodshed. You can choose either Blue or Red, although I highly suggest joining the team that needs you the most, not the one with the most points. A good way of knowing which team needs you the most is by selecting "Auto Assign," which will automatically put you on the deprived team.

Next you select what class you can be. This part is also interesting, since each unit is incredibly unique and has its own strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. You can be any of the following:

Sniper: My personal favorite, snipers have the unique ability to zoom in for extra accuracy and a rifle that can kill any class in one shot from a distance if used correctly.

Engineer: Armed with a wrench, these bad boys are responsible for building sentry guns that are great for defensive purposes.

Heavy Weapons Guy: Armed to the teeth with a gatling gun and armor that makes them comparable to a walking tank, these incredibly slow moving guys pack a mean punch. They are a favorite for new people, and I do NOT recommend using them. For one thing, everybody hates them. If you insist on playing this class, keep in mind this one thing: Mowing down snipers and other weak classes with a heavy weapons guy does NOT make you a good player. It just means they couldn't penetrate your silly looking heavy armor before what little they had was eaten by your bullets.

Spy: A very fun class to play. These suckers can disguise themselves as anything, including the other team...and if they get a chance to get close, they can kill anyone with a single knife slash to the head. The only thing that can uncover a disguised spy are Scouts and other Spies. However, a smart player will recognize the odd behavior of a spy and shoot them on sight, as they cannot fire anything but grenades without losing their disguise. Hence, a player wearing your color who isn't shooting or is throwing grenades at a friendly sentry gun might be worth checking out.

Scout: The fastest unit in the game, Scouts are armed with a nailgun and speed. Their main purpose is capturing flags and command points. They are hard for snipers to catch due to their speed.

Medic: Another fast class, medics are armed with a med pack and a super nailgun that fires at an increased rate. If their med pack touches a friendly, they can heal various conditions and health. If their med pack touches an enemy, it infects them with a contagious virus that can spread to the rest of the infected player's team mates. This virus slowly eats away at the target's health until he/she either dies or is healed by a friendly medic.

Pyro: Great when you want to help your team advance, but not that great for individual stats. The Pyro sports a flamethrower and a flaming rocket launcher that ignites anything it impacts. Pyros don't generally cause much damage unless a player lets them, and their fires don't last long. Fire, however, is a great way to weaken another player's health if you're not trying to kill them but you DO want your team mates to get past wihtout much trouble.

Soldier: Armed with a deadly rocket launcher and with armor second only to the heavy weapons guy, these guys are pretty annoying.

Demoman: These guys sport a grenade/pipebomb launcher. They have the unique ability to set a timed det pack. In certain scenarios holes and buried tunnels can be blown open by these bad boys and their det packs.

Once you have your class chosen, you can get into the game. Most servers will rotate through various maps/scenarios, so your situation is always changing. Now, here's where things get interesting.

Depending on who you're playing with, you'll either have people who make a good team or people who go for kills. Folks, the goal of TFC is to work as a team. People hate it when their team gets nowhere because you're off shooting people, and it can ruin the whole experience if you're the only team player. Really, the whole game is dependent on how helpful you are to your team, because your team is made up of random people who happened to join the server you're playing on. The only way to fix this is to play with friends, which can get repetitive.

All scenarios are Red team versus Blue team, but the goals are different from map to map. Some maps are capture the flag, in which both teams defend their base and try to capture the other team's flag. Others, and my personal favorites, are attack and defend. One team attacks and tries to move their flag uphill from command point to command point in an attempt to take a town or position, while the opposing team's task is to stop them.

Graphics are more choppy and less impressive than Half-Life itself, as are the sounds. I can say the graphics are good, but I can also say they are not AS good as the original Half-Life. This may be because of internet connections and other speed issues, but they're still not that good. Shadows are not very handy either, as they are hard to find apparently, but bunkers and windows still give a nice view, even if the surrounding terrain is cartoonish. Characters could have been done better too....for crying out loud, the heavy weapons guy looks like a guy in an oversized jumpsuit wearing one of those helmets the X-Wing pilots in Star Wars had.

Overall TFC is worth your time, you just have to make sure your team mates are team players. Wow, this was a long review...sorry about that. :)

UPDATE (3/13/01): An update for TFC is being released that will make the characters look MUCH more realistic/tougher and a lot less like the cartoonish characters I mentioned earlier. The terrain graphics, however, are not likely to improve. These new character models look very cool, so make sure you get this update!

Recommended: Yes

Operating System: Windows
CPU: Intel Pentium III
CPU Speed (MHz): over 600
RAM (MB): 64
Best Played With/Intended For: Multiplayer
Graphics Card Family: 3dfx Voodoo 3