Topic: TF2 gets new maps; unlockable loadouts

[idolminds]

Story

According to PC Gamer, the items will become available as gamers earn class-specific achievements. As the Medic will be the first class to receive specialized achievements, it will also be the first to receive new items.

One of the two Medic-specific items will be the Overhealer, which permanently doubles a target's health capacity. To balance this, Valve is considering increasing charge time for an Uber when it is equipped. Another possibility is that the company may remove the Overhealer's Uber capability altogether.

Currently, the plan is to allow gamers access to the Overhealer when they earn about half of the 35 Medic-specific achievements, with the other as yet unannounced item unlocked after the criteria for all the achievements have been met.

Sounds...interesting. A little more variety in how you can play the classes is welcomed, as long as they don't unbalance everything. Kinda makes you wonder what they will do for the other classes. What loadouts can the spy have? Or engineer? For engineer I'd like to see a small turret that can be mounted to walls and ceilings. Not as strong as the regular turret, but still useful for setting ambushes.

Goldrush, the second of the two forthcoming maps, sports a new escort-oriented gameplay mode. In it, the Blue team must escort a mining cart from one side of the map to the other. The more Blue are around, the faster the cart moves. However, it stops dead in its tracks if even one Red is in the vicinity, with the ever-moving point of conflict is said to make a solid defense rather tricky.

Now that sounds fun.

[gpw11]

Awesome, I was wondering what the new gameplay elements were going to be and this sounds good.  I feared it would be the inclusion of grenades, but this looks like it could breath new life into the game.

[Ghandi]

The cart gametype sounds pretty cool. Good luck getting the inevitable bunch of idiots to work together, though.

[idolminds]

Speaking of new maps, Shacknews is reporting that Valve will release CTF_Well either tomorrow or sometime next week if its delayed. Still, pretty good news. Theres a huge lack of official CTF maps. Which is messed up since Well was originally a CTF that they converted to CP.