Xboxist

Team Fortress 2 Gets Another Large Update With Advanced Replay Features

Valve's Team Fortress 2 is a very, very unique game - not just in the general sense, being one of the pioneers in its graphical style and the successor to the game that basically created the genre of class-based shooters - but also because it's one of the very few games to see continuous large updates actively being released three years after the game came out.

In fact, the most recent major update for TF2 came out just under a month ago - called "The Hatless Update" (a pun on the fact that it didn't include any cosmetics, unlike the ones before it), it brought about a multitude of new features including a coaching system (allegedly included so it can be perfected for Valve's upcoming DotA 2), advanced training features as well as numerous optimizations and bug fixes.

And now, Valve have brought over one of the most anticipated features of TF2's open beta - the advanced replay editor, introduced in The Replay Update. However, as you would have come to expect from Valve, they went a long way to polish the editor before pushing it out for the final release.

The new update basically redefines the whole way you'll be saving and editing your replays. It moves away from the format of "demo" files and to a new system where the server sends you a replay of your last actions on demand. This replay can then be edited using an in-game set of tools, converted to a video format and uploaded directly to YouTube.

The editor is a bit rough around the edges, but it's still packed with plenty of useful features. You're no longer limited to seeing the action from your own perspective, as the server-recorded replay ensures everything is visible, no matter how far you were from the action. The built-in effects editor lets you easily apply various post-processing filters to the replay before you've exported it to a video format for more advanced editing.

And if you thought Valve had forgotten about achievements in their recent updates, there's something that should cheer you up in this update too - there are 8 new achievements for you to hunt down, all of them linked to using the new replay editor (with a few requiring you to get a number of YouTube views, so make sure you upload some really interesting things and not just every random kill you get!)

Last but not least, there's even a special new hat for those who build up 1,000 views on a single replay, as well as an unlockable taunt for your characters.

It's obvious that TF2 still has plenty of life left into it - and if the current trend is to be of any indication, it's going to keep receiving those free updates for quite a long time. Some may question Valve's moves with the in-game store, but in our opinion, anything that prolongs the game's life without harming gameplay is a good move.