Every Tuesday I like to take some time to focus on the hardworking and dedicated “YouTubers” within the gaming community. This week features another one of Valve’s Team Fortress 2 films which features the introduction of a 3rd AI controlled robotic faction. One of my fellow contributors Michael posted about the addition of TF2’s new game mode a few days ago, so I won’t harp on the details, but let’s just say it’s a refreshing change of pace for a game that is now almost five years old.
After spending the last five years locked in an eternal struggle, I didn’t think anything would bring both the red and the blue teams together. But I guess the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t, and nothing brings people together like a common enemy. As was stated in Michael’s post, the Mann vs. Machine update will be adding a TF2 themed horde mode where up to five friends can come together to fight against waves of AI controlled bots.
This isn’t something Valve has casually thrown together, in fact they’ve been secretly leaking information about this game mode for some time, through Easter eggs hidden in the game’s virtual world and it’s codebase. Rumors have been spreading for a while now, but it wasn’t until this video appeared on YouTube a couple of days ago that these rumors began gaining some traction. YouTube user Dr. Face put together a pretty compelling account of all the clues into one video which shows that Valve began leaking information into the game as far back as 2010.
Normally a five year old game wouldn’t get an update like this; it’s more typical that we would see a sequel of some sort. But TF2 isn’t a normal game and Valve isn’t a normal company. Since going free-to-play last June the game has gained even more popularity, and become even more lucrative for Valve. So while other titles would be floundering, it looks like TF2 is just getting started.
