Update edit part 2: The improvements mentioned last time around seem to have just been a flash in the pan, something that happened by way of course rather the result of conscious action on Valve's part. Bots are even more rampant than ever and, on top of that are becoming dangerous as well with reports of harrassment, DDoSing, doxxing, and, in rare cases, swatting to those who stay outspoken about the aim-bot issue. Bots are flooding casual servers en masse making the game nigh unplayable for anyone thinking of just picking the game up, unless you feel like requeueing for an hour or more to find a workable server, and even then you'll need to keep constant vigilance to make sure bots are kicked as quickly as possible, lest they bring with them their own horde of fellow basement dwellers to ruin things for everyone else.

Probably in your best interest to steer clear of anything Valve has to actually maintain themselves, as they'll likely just brush it off as "treadmill work."

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Update edit: Things have massively improved as the "#SaveTF2" movement seems to have had an actual impact. The game is, once again, getting regular security updates and the bots, while not completely gone, have been massively reduced and gimped on the whole. One bot joining your server is not longer the herald of the end-times of any fun you might have been having, and people have become pretty quick on the up-take with voting out bots when they do join. Not everything is perfect, but with the changes that have been made, I feel confidant recommending this game once again. Still the most fun I've ever had online.

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It's Team Fortress 2. You've obviously heard about it time and time again.

You've heard about it as the funny hat game.

You've heard about it as that thing that came bundled with Half-Life 2 and Portal.

You've heard about it as, quite possibly, the pinnacle of the war class-based FPS genre.

With nearly 2000 hours on record over more than a decade of play, I can confirm to you that it is all that and more.

Though it has a steep learning curve, Team Fortress 2 is mechanically complex, easy to pick up, and deeply rewarding to master. Every kill you get in this game will feel earned and there will always be something new to learn about the mechanics and various playstyles of every individual class. I could sing the praises of this game for hours. But, my conscience will not let me praise it any further for fear of misleading any who might read this.

In its current state, I cannot, in good faith, recommend this game.

Valve has all but abandoned this game and joining any casual server will show you that. I understand that they, by and large, have moved on to bigger projects and better engines, but I'm not just talking about a lack of substantial updates for the past 4 years: if that was the only issue, I would still whole-heartedly recommend this game to anyone with even a passing interest in class-based shooters. No; This game has become absolutely lousy with bot accounts that will flood any and all servers en masse without even the slightest attempt to hide any of it, except spoofing their name to make them only that much harder to votekick. There is a large swathe of people who seem to be wholly devoted to ruining this game, and the lack of occupied time/server space to devote to doing it.

Valve has done next to nothing to remedy this aside from half-assed solutions that provided no relief and, in-fact, may have done more harm than good to the community at large.

And to make things clear, this game is not dead. I know I'm painting what seems to be a nigh dystopian picture, but open up the community server browser and find any half-decent server, and you'll find them full to the brim with nary a bot in sight. It is possible to enjoy this game, even in its current state and I'll likely continue to play it.

But that isn't enough for me to recommend it.

I'm sorry you got here so late.

You missed out on one hell of a ride.

Valve: either fix this or shut it down, but, for the love of god, stop leaving us in the dark.