Somewhat recently my current favorite online multiplayer game, Team Fortress 2, received a large update. There were two major things added in this update the first is a new gameplay type called Payload and it’s associated map Gold Rush. Payload is an escort mission similar to the hunted in TFC. The difference is instead of escorting a player you escort a giant bomb that moves along a track. There are always a ridiculous amount of deaths once you get close to the target which is frustrating but it’s a fun map and payload has some definite potential.

The second major part of this update is the more interesting one. The Medic class recieved 36 new achievements and for every 12 achievements you unlock you get a new weapon that can replace one of your current weapons. The Blutsauger replaces the Syringe gun and sucks health from enemies but doesn’t get critical hits. The Kritzkrieg replaces the medigun and rather than making your opponent indestructible it causes all their attacks to be critical hits. Finally the Ubersaw replaced the normal saw and adds to your ubercharge each time you hit an enemy. Sounds pretty cool right?

There’s two problems here, first, a lot of people are playing medics now, it’s not so bad after about two weeks but when the update first dropped every server I joined was at least 80% medics. I’d like to see multiple new character updated drop at once just so people might mix it up a bit while trying to unlock the new stuff.

Second and most importantly, I haven’t managed to unlock any of them until tonight. I only managed to get that one after spending an hour farming the achievements on a map designed solely for that purpose. I just don’t have the time to play enough TF2 to unlock some of the achievements. Finally managing to unlock at least one of the weapons was nice but I really  wasn’t having much fun doing it. At this point I’ve pretty much given up any hope that I might get the Ubersaw.

2007 was a big year. I graduated college, got a crappy job, got an awesome job and had a few ups and downs. It was also the year I returned to gaming. In 2006, aside from the occasional round of CS:Source, or Mario 3 Battlemode, I didn’t do hardly any gaming. I’m not even sure if I bought any games that year. This year; however, I got 3 video game systems (Wii, DS and 360) and more games than the past five years combined (30+). All that and there’s still a rather beefy list of games I didn’t get around to checking out. Here’s my top 5 games played in 2007:

1. The Orange Box (PC)
   Portal and Team Fortress 2. Enough Said. I’ve already talked about TF2 and gave a brief mention to Portal. Combined together in one box this package is almost unbeatable. Portal was short but the most inventive game I’ve played in a long time. TF2 has already replaced CS: Source as my go to game on the PC. A great value and a great time!
2. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
   This is easily the best game released for the Wii to date. The controls are great and use just the right amount of motion without feeling tacked on. The gameplay is fun and I constantly find myself saying “just one more star”. There’s also tons of variety in levels, I haven’t found a level yet where I thought the game was overly difficult or broken. Although Two player co-op is somewhat disappointing.
3. Rock Band (360)
   Despite only owning the game for six days last year it’s easily one of the best. Guitar/Bass is a bit easier that GH3. The drums are wicked fun to play (despite my lack of coordination). Singing is fun when you have someone who can sing. The track list is better than GH3 despite having less songs. There’s just something undeniably awesome about getting a bunch of people together and rocking. The downside, It is a huge pain in the ass to carry around all that crap; My original guitar was defective and I’m waiting on a replacement; and I can’t use the same characters for different instruments.
4. Guitar Hero 3 (Wii)
   Before Rock Band there was Guitar Hero 3. I bought this game twice, just to get a second guitar for multiplayer. Even after Rock Band it’s still a blast. (It’s also much more portable) Despite the Wii version getting screwed over with mono sound, no DLC (until later this year), and crappy online multiplayer, I’m still happy I got the Wii version. It’s waay more portable and GH3 (and Rock Band) are meant to be played with people in the same room.
5. Paper Mario (Wii- VC)
   Initially I was going to put Super Paper Mario here. The dialogue was great, I had fun playing it and have no regrets buying it but realistically it’s not top five material. It was waaay to easy. Less like a game and more like a story with a lot of walking and jumping. It did get me interested in it’s great granddaddy, Paper Mario. So Paper Mario came out six years ago, I never bought an n64 so it’s new to me. Anyway back to the game, It was a lot of fun but I’m still disappointed I got a fish instead of getting to ride Yoshi around.

Close but not quite:

• Metroid Prime 3 (Wii)
  I like the game so far especially the controls but haven’t had a chance to play much of it yet.
• Halo 3 (360)
  It’s pretty looking and I hear the multiplayer is good but this is another game I haven’t had much time to play with. I plan on using this game to learn how to play console FPSs.
• Bioshock (360)
  Supposedly one of the best games this year, I want it and I want it bad but I don’t have to time for another game right now.