Team Fortress 2’s highly anticipated “Pyromania Update” should go live sometime today, bringing with it a slew of new achievements, new weapons to find, and even an entirely new game play mode. To celebrate the latest renewal of their perpetually popular shooter, Valve released the final episode in their long running series of Team Fortress 2 animated shorts, entitled “Meet the Pyro” (embedded after the jump):
Team Fortress 2’s new gameplay mode, entitled Doomsday, tasks players with launching a rocket carrying the monkey astronaut Poopy Joe into space. As per Team Fortress tradition, two teams compete by seeing who can launch the rocket first. Doomsday mode comes with a new map designed specifically for the new mode.
In addition to that, Valve has officially added a number of fan-made weapons into TF2 proper, including a pretty awesome set of gear for Snipers that decks them out to look like Jean Reno from The Professional.
In non-gameplay news, Valve also announced Source Filmmaker, a new tool which allows aspiring filmmakers to create their own machinima movies using assets from any game that runs on the Source Engine. The “Meet the Pyro” video released today was actually made using the program, which should give you an idea of just how versatile it is. Interested parties can sign up for the free beta here.
Oh, and remember that “big surprise” that Valve and Adult Swim were teasing? Well, it turns out it was… a hat. So much for all those rumors of a TF2 cartoon or a Half-Life 3 unveiling, but you have to admit: reading some of the bizarre rumors that came out of Adult Swim’s teaser was pretty good comedy, and I’m pretty sure this epic troll was exactly what the guys at Adult Swim were hoping for.
Rian Quenlin
… A hat? Wow, Heaven Forbid that Adult Swim actually makes something good for once.