This was the third game I ever wrote a review for, back in 2011. I needed to let people know how much I liked it, because it was the first multiplayer FPS that really captured my attention and made me fall in love with its intricately crafted gameplay, artstyle and sense of humour. 13 years later, it remains my most-played game, but things have certainly changed.

The last real update TF2 got was in 2017; that is fair, a game cannot be updated forever. But Valve left it in an awful state - with unfinished content (we miss you, comics), terrible curation for community-made items and a matchmaking system slapped in place of quickplay, which has never worked well and only managed to kill off the vast majority of community servers. All of these issues - although they contributed greatly to the degradation of the game's identity and its overall quality - were nothing compared to the bots.

The truth is simple: you can't play casual TF2 anymore. I stopped trying months ago - it's all bots running cheating software who will at best kill you all the time, at worst just kick you from the server instantly. Combined with the terrible matchmaking, it's practically impossible to find a match without bots. The best case scenario is that there will be enough people to votekick them, so you can start playing after a few minutes; that's not what usually happens anymore.

Valve has deliberately neglected TF2 and chosen not to address the bots or cheaters in any way, straight up admitting they don't want to do it, because it requires extra work. Yet they are perfectly fine with continuing to collect microtransactions from anyone foolish enough to spend money on an unplayable game. For the past 7 years, they've treated it as nothing but a money-making machine operated and fuelled by the community. Instead of preparing for the game's end-of-life scenario and actually letting the players keep it alive themselves, they've allowed it to become a shadow of its former self, kept on minimal life support to preserve the illusion that spending money on their games is not a complete waste.

Would I recommend TF2? Years ago - without hesitation. Now? Absolutely not. If you're a potential new player, there's nothing for you here. If you're a returning veteran, stay away and remember the game for what it once was. Don't ruin your memory of it by looking at its rotting corpse crawling with mechanical maggots.

This was the third game I ever wrote a review for, back in 2011. I needed to let people know how much I liked it, because it was the first multiplayer FPS that really captured my attention and made me fall in love with its intricately crafted gameplay, artstyle and sense of humour. 13 years later, it remains my most-played game, but things have certainly changed. The last real update TF2 got was in 2017; that is fair, a game cannot be updated forever. But Valve left it in an awful state - with unfinished content (we miss you, comics), terrible curation for community-made items and a matchmaking system slapped in place of quickplay, which has never worked well and only managed to kill off the vast majority of community servers. All of these issues - although they contributed greatly to the degradation of the game's identity and its overall quality - were nothing compared to the bots. The truth is simple: you can't play casual TF2 anymore. I stopped trying months ago - it's all bots running cheating software who will at best kill you all the time, at worst just kick you from the server instantly. Combined with the terrible matchmaking, it's practically impossible to find a match without bots. The best case scenario is that there will be enough people to votekick them, so you can start playing after a few minutes; that's not what usually happens anymore. Valve has deliberately neglected TF2 and chosen not to address the bots or cheaters in any way, straight up admitting they don't want to do it, because it requires extra work. Yet they are perfectly fine with continuing to collect microtransactions from anyone foolish enough to spend money on an unplayable game. For the past 7 years, they've treated it as nothing but a money-making machine operated and fuelled by the community. Instead of preparing for the game's end-of-life scenario and actually letting the players keep it alive themselves, they've allowed it to become a shadow of its former self, kept on minimal life support to preserve the illusion that spending money on their games is not a complete waste. Would I recommend TF2? Years ago - without hesitation. Now? Absolutely not. If you're a potential new player, there's nothing for you here. If you're a returning veteran, stay away and remember the game for what it once was. Don't ruin your memory of it by looking at its rotting corpse crawling with mechanical maggots.