TF2: It's NOT Brotherhood of Arms

So about six years ago, after Team Fortress Classic was released, Valve said the next big thing in their Team Fortress line would be Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. It isn't hard to find screenshots of this project right now. Since there is only the one screener of Team Fortress 2 - which is the one that looks like rejects for the Incredibles - all other screenshots of Team Fortress 2 are of the scrapped Brotherhood of Arms project. (By the way, as soon as newer "real" TF2 screeners become available, I would expect these BoA ones to go the way of the dodo).

Clearly, they decided to go another way with the animation - this is obvious and overstated. While I am sure that both had the hallmarks of TF2, I'm glad they didn't go with the Battlefield/Wolfenstein theme. Maybe they are going just a little too silly for everyone's taste right now with the caricature-like exaggeration. But I think it would have been worse tog et any more serious, any more true-to-life military than TFC. Even that was sort of skirting with being less than fantastic - and I mean that in the sense of "not related to fantasy"

IMHO, the best genre for TF is Sci-Fi. Only in a futuristic setting do EMPs come across as less than cheesy. Only in the future could there be an item that heals major damage instantly upon usage.

All in all, it's about walking that fine line between the fun of suspending disbelief, and seeming real enough to take seriously, and feeling the action enough to be jolted and moved by it. We'll see if they can pull it off this November or December.