25 January 2008
Ferry

Team Fortress 2 on PC receiving new maps, weapons and modes in February 2008

Valve will release a “large-scale modification” for the PC version of Team Fortress 2 in February 2008. This will include: two new maps (Badlands and Goldrush, the first map for an entirely new game mode) and new weapons (like two new items for the Medic). Valve are promising to gradually roll out new, unlockable weapons for every class. These will be alternative versions of their current loadouts that, once unlocked by earning a certain number of achievements, you can pick and choose from on a new ‘Loadout’ menu.

“The unlockable weapons balance major advantages and disadvantages to fundamentally alter the role of that class. The first Medic unlock, for example, is called the Overhealer. Instead of temporarily buffing people’s health to 50% above their normal maximum, it permanently boosts them to double their standard health. The downside is that it’ll be dramatically worse at building Ubercharge - in fact, Valve are toying with not letting it Uber at all. — No details on what the second unlock they’ll be rolling out in this update will be, beyond the basics: it’ll be another Medic healing ray, and it’ll change the way the class plays all over again. The first is earned by acquiring half of the thirty-five new Medic achievements, the second for acquiring them all.

The new game mode is showcased in Goldrush: the map that will ship alongside Badlands in a little over a month from now. One team must escort a small mining cart through a series of Dustbowl-like map segments. The cart moves faster the more Blue players are near it, but stops entirely if even one Red player is in range. Blue have to escort the cart all the way to Red’s headquarters within a certain timelimit”, writes CVG.