The Sandvich is the Heavy’s first unlockable. It tastes as good as it looks and heals 120 health. Like in real life, the decision to eat a Sandvich must not be taken lightly; The Heavy is completely vulnerable during the four second eating process, and his loud, happy sounds of vigorous chewing will draw enemies like tiny ant cowards to a picnic. OF DEATH. On the bright side, the Heavy’s Sandvich supply is unlimited, so his only real concern is being caught short while enjoying this delicious edible device. The Sandvich is a great tool for a Heavy defending an area, as it gives him the ability to replenish health between enemy waves without having to abandon his post. Similarly, an offensive Heavy without a Medic can step back from the front line and grab a quick snack before resuming his rampage. Beware, however: the Heavy must set aside his shotgun to take the Sandvich, and enemy Snipers are much more dangerous for a Heavy wielding only a minigun.
TF2 Arena keeps the class diversity of Team Fortress 2 while focusing goals around combat between two teams. Where other game modes lean towards a broad overall strategy for the team over a number of lives, Arena concentrates on the specific tactical choices the teams make in a single fight.
Arena features smaller maps that play out in shorter periods of time. The round ends once one team has no players left in the arena, or when the central capture point has unlocked and been captured. Rounds tend to be very fast and highly competitive, with an emphasis on your team’s class makeup and your plan to counter the opposing team’s class choices. Arena mode is great for smaller matches of three vs. three players, while still comfortably supporting huge knockdown twelve-on-twelve brawls.
Health pick-ups are limited in TF2 Arena (some levels don’t have any Health packs at all) so being careful is a good strategy for any class. As well, with so little health available, having a Medic or a Health dispenser-building Engineer on your team can be a crucial element to success. With their reconnaissance abilities, the Scout and Spy play a far more vital role in Arena than in other game modes. Knowing the location of the enemy team can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. The Soldier and Demoman will find many areas in Arena specifically designed for them to get a vertical advantage. Traditional Heavy/Medic pairings will still be highly useful as the anchor to a good Arena team. However, commit too far in this direction and the enemy can quickly overwhelm you with Snipers and Spies. In Arena, water is as scarce as Health. This makes the Pyro a much deadlier class, as any enemy player he sets on fire with his flamethrower or flare gun will be unable to put out the flames. Igniting enemies quickly, then retreating to safety, can be an effective strategy for the Pyro.
The first release of TF2 Arena comes with five playable maps. Two never-before-seen maps (Lumberyard, Ravine) have been built specifically for Arena, and a further three (Well, Granary, Badlands) have been remade with Arena’s unique play style in mind. Additionally, with the Lumberyard map, Arena takes TF2 from its familiar desert backdrop to a new Alpine-themed environment. Great care was taken to ensure the art style kept to the unique look and time period of the TF2 universe, while still feeling like a departure from the usual maps players are familiar with.
Lumberyard has an unbalanced structure, with one half of the map climbing up towards a large mountain peak, while the other dips down into a valley. A series of rooftops at the map’s center serves as the key battleground area, with lateral flanking being the key maneuver at ground level. When the capture point becomes active after 60 seconds, multiple entrances open up into the central control point, which becomes the focus of the fighting as the match nears its end. Lumberyard is one of the few Arena maps without water, and contains only a single health kit. The kit sits on a log above a deadly pit, making it a great ambush spot for Pyros, Demomen, and Soldiers to send unwary enemies to their deaths.
In contrast to Lumberyard, Ravine has a far more open ground level with emphasis on control of four key choke points. A series of canals in Ravine’s lower level provide an excellent opportunity for stealth kills and flanking maneuvers. Like all arena maps, the capture point in the middle becomes active after 60 seconds.
The middle capture point fighting area for each of these three existing maps has been extensively reworked and customized for TF2 Arena play.
August 18, 2008, 3:45 pm – Valve – Product Release
Pacific Storm Allies, The long-awaited sequel to Pacific Storm; arrives on Steam with an unforgettable mix of real-time strategy and blistering arcade combat, recreating World War II’s most heated battles.
Save 10% off the regular price of $9.99 when you buy before August 25th.
August 19th DLC is ready to be announced! This week we’re hopping into the wayback machine and setting the dial for the early ’80s. We’ve got a pair of tracks each from two of new wave’s most influential and altogether awesome bands in Duran Duran and Devo! And as a special aside, the Devo tracks are new recordings from the band, made special for Rock Band! Each track goes for 160 MSP ($1.99).
Also this week we present a track from the Janitors, “Get Your Rock On,” which is featured on the American Mall soundtrack. That song will go for 80 MSP ($0.99).
You’ll be able to snag all of these tracks on Xbox Live Marketplace on Tuesday, and the PlayStation Network Store on Thursday.
TRACKS:
Devo – “Girl U Want” (new original recording) – 160 MSP – $1.99
Devo – “Through Being Cool” (new original recording) – 160 MSP – $1.99
Duran Duran – “Girls on Film” – 160 MSP – $1.99
Duran Duran – “Rio” – 160 MSP – $1.99
The Janitors – “Get Your Rock On” – 80 MSP – $0.99
All tracks are masters.
To discuss the week’s DLC check out the Official discussion thread Apples has made in the Community’s Greatest Hits forum:
The unlockable for the Heaviest pugilists out there is the K.G.B. Any time a Heavy kills an enemy with the K.G.B he receives five seconds of guaranteed critical hits. This crit-boost can be used to punch and kill further enemies, extending the boost time. Alternatively, the Heavy can switch to another weapon and use the boost to take out an enemy at range. The Heavy’s slow movement speed, and the K.G.B’s slower swing speed, make it a risky prospect.
Spyalectical Materialism: Kill or assist in killing 10 cloaked spies.
Permanent Revolution: Kill 5 enemies without spinning down your gun
Heavy Industry: Fire $200,000 worth of minigun rounds in a single life.
Communist Mani-Fisto: Kill an enemy with a critical punch.
Redistribution of Health: Heal 1000 damage with med-kits in a single life.
Rationing: Kill an enemy with your shotgun while you’re out of minigun ammo..
Vanguard Party: Be the first on your team to start capturing a control point in a round.
Pushkin the Kart: Get 50 caps on payload maps
Marxman: Kill 10 enemies in mid-air with the minigun.
Gorky Parked: Kill 25 enemies while you’re standing on a control point you own.
Purge: Kill 15 enemies capturing a control point you own.
Lenin A Hand: Help 5 teammates get revenge on their nemeses.
Five Second Plan: Kill an enemy in the first 5 seconds after you exit a teleporter
Photostroika: Provide an enemy with a freezecam shot of you taunting while invulnerable.
Konspicuous Konsumption: Eat 100 sandviches
Don’t Touch Sandvich: Kill 50 scouts using Natascha
Borscht Belt: Kill 10 heavies with The K.G.B.
Iron Kurtain: Take 1000 points of damage in a single life.
Party Loyalty: Kill 50 enemies within 3 seconds of them attacking your Medic.
Division of Labor: Kill 20 enemies with a Medic assisting you, where neither of you die.
Red Oktoberfest: Earn a domination for a Medic who’s healing you
Show Trial: Kill an enemy with a taunt
Crime and Punishment: Kill 10 enemies carrying your intelligence.”
Class Struggle: Work with a friendly Medic to kill an enemy Heavy & Medic pair.
Soviet Block : While invulnerable and on defense, block an invulnerable enemy Heavy’s movement
Stalin the Kart: Block the enemy from moving the payload cart 25 times
Supreme Soviet: Get ubered 50 times
Factory Worker: Kill 20 enemies while being recharged by a dispenser.
Soviet Union: Get 25 enemy kills where you either assist or are assisted by another Heavy.
0wn the Means of Production: Remove 20 stickybombs by killing the Demomen who produced them
Krazy Ivan: Kill 100 enemies while both you and your victim are underwater.
Rasputin: In a single life, get shot, burned, bludgeoned, and receive explosive damage
Icing on the Cake: Get 20 kills on players that you’re dominating.
Crock Block: Survive a direct hit from a critical rocket.
The Heavy’s second unlockable, Natascha, slows enemies with her bullets. Anyone damaged by her will move slower for an instant, encouraging them to find cover or turn and face the Heavy, mano-a-tiny-itty-bitty-mano. Unfortunately, Natascha is slightly weaker than Sasha, so she takes longer to finish off a victim. As a result, Natascha’s great against fleeing cowards, such as Scouts & Medics, and less great against anyone actively trying to kill her master. Heavies that like to jump around corners and surprise groups of startled enemy crybabies will also find her very useful, although they should look for a Sasha-wielding enemy Heavy before they leap
Badwater Basin is a Payload map focusing on more open spaces and less chokepoints than Gold Rush. (A) Right out of the gate is a multi-level area where the Blu team needs to control the high ground while moving the cart through a tunnel below. This open area has few natural choke points, allowing Scouts, Soldiers, and Demomen to move creatively through the space, forcing the Red team to rapidly respond to choices made by Blu. (B) As the track winds its way into tighter spaces, vertical control becomes more important. Each successive checkpoint requires the Blu team to take control of defensive positions above the track, usually occupied by Red Engineers. (C) Eventually the track winds down into a large basin which the Blu team must assault from all sides in a final push to destroy the Red base.
Unlike Gold Rush, where the track is split into three separate stages, Badwater Basin uses a single large stage with several checkpoints. As a result, the Blu team is highly encouraged to push the cart hard after beating their way through the Red defensive line.
August 13, 2008, 6:45 pm – Jason Ruymen – Product Update
Updates to Unreal Tournament 3 have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The specific changes include:
Unreal Tournament 3
Fixed overlay mesh showing up on hidden sniper rifle when un-zoomed
Added motion blur menu option for PC (defaults to off)
Fixed zero extent collision bug in octree code (finding nodes in Z axis)
The chief executive of JPMorgan says he can understand some of the grievances of the Occupy movement, describing some of Wall Street's actions as "a total disgrace."
More than 50 protesters opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime stormed the Syrian Embassy building in Cairo on Friday, smashing windows and tearing down the Syrian flag before dispersing, embassy officials and a witness said.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has suddenly shifted his attitude toward the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, as violence spreads across northern Nigeria.
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