Pressing Start brings up the game's main menu, at which players can swap teams or classes, among other options. As mentioned, the d-pad can be used to swap weapons, but so can the L and R Bumpers. Because of this, one of Team Fortress 2's main objectives is to provide more than one path to perform certain actions. Even the most hardcore of console gamers would agree that controllers are rather unwieldy when compared to the PC's venerable mouse and keyboard tag-team. Not even the process of pointing and clicking is that streamlined. Once the PDA has been opened, the d-pad is used to select an option, a blueprint appears on the ground, which can be moved around by the player in order to select the best position for a turret or another structure, and the R Trigger is used to build. In the Engineer's case, these include a wrench, shotgun, pistol, and PDA with which to select construction options. The d-pad is used to bring up each class's available weapons. A simple menu system on the PC, yes, but what about with a controller? Just as simple in fact, simpler. The Engineer class, my favorite out of the entire bunch, makes use of a simple menu system in order to perform actions such as building a turret. Central to Team Fortress 2's success on a console will be its control scheme, and I'm happy to report that it controls quite well. The map is beautiful, with train engines and smoke stacks breathing heavy gobs of the black stuff, a sunset wavering in the background, and solid action that never drops below 30 frames per second. Trains randomly run through this area, and it was to my delight that my battle against a Heavy, formerly known as a "Heavy Weapons Guy," was interrupted by the latter being smeared across the tracks by a steam engine. Two forts situated at opposite ends of a train station are separated by two wide strips of water, which are in turn separated by a sliver of land. The Well is, as many TF and TFC players know, a classic map that has been expertly overhauled for TF2's old-is-new-again experience. As my Soldier stepped into the "Well" map, I had a pleasant sensation of deja vu.
Readers, I've found it, and it has a name: Team Fortress 2, arguably the best segment of Valve and EA's forthcoming Orange Box package-and I'm happy to say that, with up to 12 players in a game, TF2 runs like a dream on the Xbox 360. It was one of the best years of my life, and I've searched over seven years for a comparable experience. Young gamers tore through C++ and Visual Basic assignments as quickly as possible-or neglected them altogether-in order to wage massive Capture the Flag games on classic maps such as "2fort." I have only the fondest memories of staying after school until as late as 4:30 or 5:00 every weeknight to game with a computer lab stuffed to its electronic brims with excited gamers. Deathmatch sessions were popular for a time, but it was when our class discovered Team Fortress Classic that the real fun began.
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