LO1 Game Analysis: Team Fortress 2

LO1 Game Analysis: Team Fortress 2

In this analysis I will be looking at Team Fortress 2 in terms of genre, narrative, production process, characterisation, gameplay, target audience and platform. I will be commenting about their use to create the overall game experience.

Team Fortress 2 is a 3-dimensional online war game, of the first-person shooter genre. It is actually unlike almost all other first-person shooters because it has a unique cartoon art style which makes it more fun and light-hearted than your average gritty, realistic FPS. In this way it doesn’t show conventions of the genre. In comparison to other FPS titles, it is more “casual” because of the more abstract art style and because anyone can enjoy it without having to be really good at it.

The story in TF2 is that there are two teams, Red and Blu, and they are constantly battling it out. There is a variety of online maps and game modes in which the basic idea is to defeat the other team. The objective of defeating the other team to win the game informs the gameplay in the way that you can choose from a multitude of weapons and you have to shoot as many enemies as possible. There are nine different characters (“classes”) to play as, and they all have different attributes and weapons. None of them have their own story, but the art style and their brief dialogue makes them all appealing to an audience. The interaction only ever amounts to firing the weapon and jumping, however! The story, or rather, lack of story, appeals to a target audience looking for shoot-em-up fun in the way that the game isn’t too serious or detailed and just provides entertainment.

The game was developed and published by Valve Corporation. The art style is designed to enhance gameplay as it sets it apart form all other FPS games and gives it its own appeal. The 9 different classes also enhance gameplay as instead of just choosing weapons, you choose a character which has his own pros and cons, such as speed, jump height and weapon range. The physics are not realistic as you can literally blow people sky high with your weapons, fall from a great height and not die, “rocket jump” to a great height, etcetera. This enhances gameplay as it makes it crazy and larger-than-life, perfect for creating the fun that the audience are looking for.

The characters are relevant to a casual, fun-seeking target audience as they aren’t too serious and might make you laugh in places with their screeching sections of dialogue and infuriating gestures. The characterisation doesn’t match conventions of the FPS genre as the characters aren’t serious and gritty at all, again setting it apart and making it more entertaining than other titles. Most of the characters are physically strong as they will involved in combat for the most part, except for characters like the “spy” and “sniper” who rely on being more stealthy, and the “medic”, who has to heal his team while avoiding combat. The characters aren’t strong in terms of background and storyline, but this isn’t necessary in a game like Team Fortress 2.

The challenge present in the game is avoiding being killed by the enemy team, whilst getting as high a score as you can by completing the objective and killing enemies as many times as you can. The challenge engages the player because you always re-spawn after death, meaning the game doesn’t get too boring or frustrating and you always get another chance. You notice your skill level improving quite quickly. The amount of maps/levels also engages the player because the environment changes enough to keep interest. Key to the game’s success are they simple controls - click to shoot, WASD keys to move, scroll wheel to cycle through weapons. Also, the responsivity and range of characters make the game successful. The gameplay is simple and enjoyable and this engages with the narrative as it too is simple, not too detailed, but doesn’t need to be. The gameplay is the important thing. The gameplay doesn’t ever “evolve” from what it was at the start, but there are enough maps and characters to give the game a really good replay value and keep you entertained for hundreds of hours.

I would say that the target audience for Team Fortress 2 is both casual and hardcore gamers of ages 15-30. The indicators that the game is for this audience are a light-hearted graphical style, an easy-to-learn control system that doesn’t require a steep learning curve, but also a highly competitive aspect for the hardcore players, as well as modes specially “for advanced players”. The game directly appeals to the target audience because it just looks like great fun straight away from the cartoon art style and inventive maps. This is then cemented by the experience when they try the game. The game doesn’t target the usual FPS audience as it isn’t so gritty and adult-targeted, meaning that people who might stay away from FPS games might play Team Fortress 2. It has a unique audience that might not be targeted by other games.

The game is available on PC, Mac and Linux via Steam, as well as Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. However, the most popular version and its largest fanbase is on Steam. Team Fortress 2 is probably best suited to Steam platforms (PC, Mac and Linux), as it can be played on a range of specifications, and is portable anywhere on a laptop. In addition, the simple keyboard-and-mouse controls are easy to get around and accessible for anyone.

The game uses Valve Corporation's own Source game engine, which was finished in 2004 and has been evolving since then. Valve is a large company, owning Steam and having developed many games, giving it the resources and money to be able to make its own game engine.