Well, so far the Engy Update might not have changed gameplay in general on a relevant scale. But certainly it has changed the way people play the class. And from within the diversity of (new) ways to play Engineer a new school of engineering gameplay appears to become prevalent. I’ve dubbed this type the “Play-It-Safe Engineer”. The introduction of movable buildings has created a lot of new strategic possibilities to the Engy. On maps with dynamic gameplay (A/D, PL, 5-CP) he is finally (...)

Engies and Spies: An eternal love story. A love story where, you know, the relationship has reached the point at which murder has become perfectly reasonable. In principle nothing has changed between Spy and Engy with the Engy Update. Yet I feel that circumstances have made the Engy more vulnerable to his arch enemy. It’s quite obvious in the case of the Wrangler. There you are, holding a remote control, squinting and trying very hard to identify through the bloody shield what’s going on in (...)

Anybody still here? Have been quite a while, I know. I’ve been busy with a project connected to work, but quite frankly I also didn’t exactly have any great ideas what to write about. Okay, I would be lying if I said I had any great idea now, but there are a few things whirling inside that grey mass that claims to be my brain. So let’s see if I can get some of these things into a shape coherent enough to share with you. I’ve predicted the changes applied by the engy update could have a huge (...)

Over the last weekend I’ve tried to obtain all the new weapons so I can live up to my journalistic responsibility to you, my dear half dozen readers . This included some idling as well as some good ol’-fashioned achievement whoring, but eventually I’ve got them all together. So now it’s time to offer some first impressions on the new toys Valve has given the Engy with his class update. Short Recap: The Frontier Justice Replaces Shotgun. No regular crits. Mag only holds half the ammo of the (...)

As expected shortly after the 100th wrench was dropped the Engy Update went live! With that the seventh class update was applied, concluding the update round for the last remaining class. Of course the update went live in the middle of the night and I was far too tired to give it a glimpse. Especially since all I could have done was to look at the new maps, since getting my hand on the new weapons was likely to be a more lengthy process (or so I thought). So this morning I took half an (...)

Okay, I admit I was too tired to wait for the 75th wrench to drop and went to bed before the next update news were released. Don’t think I’ve actually missed much. Maybe my still sleepy eyes failed to register a 3rd unlock. All I saw was the introduction of another PL map, Hightower. At least I think it’s another PL map. The respective blog entry managed to be very confusing on that, talking about a new PL map as if they had not already presented one I came to believe was called Upward. I (...)

Very late last night the 50th Wrench was dropped and soon afterward the Engy Update pages revealed the 2nd unlock of this class update. It’s called The Wrangler and replaces the pistol. The Wrangler acts as a remote control for the sentry; with added bonus. While using the Wrangler the sentry no longer acts automatically (comparable to a plane’s autopilot: the human pilot flies the plane or the autopilot, but not both at the same time ). Which already manages to confuse me in regard of (...)

Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, the wait is (almost) over; the Engy Update is approaching fast. Yesterday the pages for the Engy Update on the blog went live; finally making the update official. Of course the revelation of the pages were preceded by a mystery of actual golden wrenches dropped on a small number of players, a number which slowly increased in the evening. Finally the Engy Update page shed some light into that mystery. Over the next four days 100 people will receive a numbered (...)

Of course this shape looks suspiciously like a wrench. I know I’ve cried wolf before, but it appears the engy update is finally drawing near. In the recent blog Valve has published another comic, dealing once more with the (fictional) history of TeamFortress and the conflict between the Mann-brothers spanning many decades, this time shedding light who three generations of engineers have been involved with it. More backstory is revealed [1], we see glimpses of Saxton Hale and the (...)

So here I was, expecting the Macupdate actually  being the prelude to the engy update. Okay, that assumption was probably quite naïve to begin with. Valve released the game on a new platform, and maybe they were (for once) smart enough not to rush into other things, but instead waited to see how this new branch is doing, if any problems occur or bugs pop up needing fixing. Also that update was released just before E3, so I guess the guys of Valve had other things on their minds as well. (...)