Team Fortress 2
Release Date Developer Publisher 10 Oct 2007 Valve Valve
I surprised myself by returning to TF2 during quarantine. I think it may be subconsciously how I cope with sickness, given how much TF2 I played when I had swine flu back in 2009. But, just like riding a bike, I was able to pick it back up quickly and had plenty of fun playing it again.
Since TF2 has been out for over 15 years, I don’t think I have many fresh takes on the game. It’s a pivotal shooter that pioneered many common formats in the genre like payload mode and distinct classes (while it may not have invented them, it still standardized them in shooters today).
I also ended up reading the Team Fortress comics for the first time, which were released free in tandem with updates to the game. They’re exceptionally witty, given they’re effectively advertisements, though they’re also fairly gory and gruesome, too (though that feels on brand with the game).