Hello, everybody! Let's continue reviewing with something a little, or, more correctly, a lot more popular. Team Fortress 2, probably the most popular First-Person Shooter for the PC, released an update not too long ago. Updates are extremely common with TF2, and has already happened with the Scout, Pyro, and more. However, the newest update, the Sniper vs. Spy Update, is extremely different in how: a) This is the first update affecting two different classes at once, and; b) The two classes updated are part of probably the strongest rivalry between any two classes in TF2. I'll delve into the specific weapons updates of the two classes, with a description and opinion, followed by summaries of whether or not the weapons will affect the game as a whole, all of the classes, and/or the specific rival class. Finally, I'll decide if you should keep your old item or switch to the new item.
*****I WILL NOT BE SAYING WHICH CLASS HAD A BETTER UPDATE (AS SUCH=FLAME)*****
Let us begin with the Sniper.
He leans against the weak metal shielding at the top of his fort, watching gunfire zoom past him like flies after a hobo. A gulp, cracking of his knuckles, and a deep breath. The gunfire stopped; now he has a chance. This stupid sniper at the other fort on 2fort has been driving him crazy long enough. He swears those 30 headshots against him by the same player were lag-enduced, but everyone else knows he's lying. Now, he wants revenge. The sniper peeks into his scope to charge up his shot. Carefully, he tiptoes around the metal shield just enough to reveal a fraction of the rival sniper's head. 'A little bit further, and this headshot will be mine,' the Sniper thought to himself. He peeks around the corner just a little more, planting his targeting reticle directly on the back of the other sniper's head. 'Now!' he thought, and as his finger pulled the trigger, he suddenly felt a staggering, burning pain in his back. "AHHHHHH!" he screamed. "NOT...again..." were the snipers last words before he collapsed on the ground, dead. The Spy behind him laughed and recloaked himself, off to find his next victim.
This is a typical situation with the Sniper; he always seems to be the prime victim of backstabs, especially in 2fort. When you're engaged in a sniper war, you simply can't be worried about Spys, or else you'll get sniped in an instant the moment you get distracted. The first unlockable weapon I'll cover, the Razorback, is extremely helpful to a stationary sniper who needs protection from Spys. This is a shield that covers the Sniper's back, with a 10,000 volt battery taped to the bottom. If a spy backstabs the sniper, not only will the sniper not take damage, but the spy will be "shocked" for a few seconds before he can backstab again. The Razorback disappears after one backstab. Presumably, this would give the sniper enough time to either run away or fight back. However, the Spy could easily just take out his pistol and blow his head off. It's a little bit bittersweet, and sometimes you can't decide if benefits outweigh disadvantages, and especially if you should use the SMG or Jarate instead of this.
Personally, I can't tell you a time when this has helped me in-game. If a Spy sees me with the Razorback, they simply take out their Revolver instead to shoot me in the head (no rhyme intended, although it does sound cool). Honestly, I think the SMG is much more useful to the Sniper. The Razorback will not affect the game or the other classes. However, it will affect the Spy, but not in a drastic way. The spy won't have the instant one-kill option, but if your back is turned, a player can do just about anything with a gun. All things considered, only use the razorback if you're on 2fort. Otherwise, keep your SMG.
The Sniper's next item is the Huntsman, a wood bow that is an alternative to the primary Sniper Rifle weapon. The Huntsman prime positive point is that it takes less time to charge. Well, that's fine and dandy, until you learn the range is decreased, the shot isn't instant, there's (obviously) no scope, you can't shoot underwater, and it doesn't even do as much damage as the Sniper Rifle overall. Sure, you can pin people to walls and have more lucky shots when enemies happen to walk into the arrow blindly, but that doesn't seem to make up for all of the disadvantages. What's good about the Huntsman, however, is the fact that your vision isn't so reduced, like if you were to look into the scope of a Sniper Rifle. There's a lot going on in this game, and the ability to see everything around you helps you dodge shots, watch for incoming enemies, and overall keep you alive. This may benefit some people, but at least for my sniping styles, it doesn't outweigh the disadvantages. However, unless there's something flying right by my head, this won't really affect the game all too much, including the individual classes and the rivalry against the Spy.
The finally Sniper's weapon is the Jarate, or the jar-based Karate, replaces the Submachine Gun as a secondary weapon. This is the one unlockable weapon released in this update that I can see as useful. Often refered to as "urine", the Jarate is a real team-player item. When thrown, players take 35% harder non-crit shots. When you have two heavy-medic pairs and a demo man running in to capture your last control point, a well-thrown Jarate could be enough to save your team. There are even more useful uses, one of which is that fire is extinguished when thrown at a team member, and cloaked spies are revealed. For one jar of pee, there sure are a lot benefits.
No doubt, this can affect all aspects of gameplay. A well thrown Jarate can save your team, or at least help out in a big way. It affects many different classes and statuses of players (like on fire or cloaked). Most noticeably, the Jarate definitely affects the Spy in how it destroys his invisible cloaking. Although it may be discreet, this jar of urine could be a game-changer, and further strengthens the Sniper vs. Spy rivalry.
Now we are onto the Spy. This discreet class is the worst enemy to the Sniper. When a Spy gets in a base, a Sniper that is busy in combat has no chance to defend himself as long as the Spy doesn't draw extreme attention to himself. It's understandable how the Spy is the Snipers rival, since the Spy loves to destroy a busy enemy, distracted with another task.
The Spy's first weapon unlocked is The Ambassador, the primary weapon replacement to The Revolver. This pistol has its ups and downs. The focus on The Ambassador is accuracy. You can be as far away from an enemy as a sniper with a sniper rifle would be and your shot can still hit. Best of all, every headshot with this new pistol is a critical hit. However, after this crit headshot, there is a cooldown period where the accuracy completely sucks. Compared to The Revolver, this pistol is a good amount slower and weaker. Basically, you're sacrificing strength and speed, for accuracy. Is it a fair trade? I suppose this appeals to the specific person, right? This isn't really much of a gamechanger, although with the rivalry, it could be an interesting spy vs sniper sniping competition.
One of the stealthy Spy's new PDA slot weapon is the Dead Ringer, which, upon taking damage, makes a clone of you appear. Meanwhile, the real you appears right next to the clone, fully cloaked. When the enemy kills of your clone, feels accomplished, and starts taunting, you just easily step behind them and backstab/taunt kill/any other method of killing. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I can't tell you how many times I've fallen for this, even after obtaining the item and learning exactly what it was and how it works. The most sneaky part of this weapon is that kills, dominations, revenges, and even achievements are falsely logged, making the killer of the clone really think that the spy was exterminated. Of course, an aware enemy would should the immediate area in fear that it was actually a clone. However, this may be enough time for the Spy to sneak around and score the kill.
In my opinion, especially in the heat of battle, this has the possibility to make a difference on all ends. All enemies are susceptible to this trick; especially newbies. In the case of the rivalry, the Sniper that feels accomplished that he killed a Spy that was about to backstab him might have gotten a little too cocky with his excitement in this achievement, although this might be a little bit of a farfetched scenario. It wouldn't be fair to especially stereotype experienced snipers like this, however.
The final unlockable for the Spy is the Cloak and Dagger. This handy device also goes in the PDA slot. What makes this item special is that it replenishes your cloak gauge even if you're cloaked when you stand still. Unfortunately, this drains faster than your usual Invisibility Watch. However, this is not a problem when you use this item for one purpose; spawn kills. Sure, this could be a cheap method, but it's hella effective. You stand in an inconspicuous place where enemies come out, and as soon as an enemy you can catch up to appears, run up, backstab, run back to the hiding place, and let your cloak replenish, all the while keeping your cloak meter high. Unfortunately, there is no recharging through ammo and weapons with this item; you'll just have to ride it out and be patient. However, the best part is, even if the battery dies while you're in a bad position, you'll still remain partially cloaked, which may be the difference in keeping you alive.
Whether you're sapping sentries and backstabbing the engi who built it, or standing in one point and, in essence, spawn killing, this item is all too useful. In the Sniper vs. Spy rivalry, this isn't exactly going to make much of a difference. It would still be basically the same situation, except that the Spy would remain cloaked more often. As a whole, opportunities for the Spy greatly increase as far as location and timing go.
Probably one thing you, the reader, may want to hear is whether you should use the Dead Ringer or the Cloak and Dagger. My answer to you is to pick whichever suits your strategies the best. Are you the kind of Spy who takes risks and runs right in, possibly to get rid of that annoying sentry that's been sitting in the corner way too long or to knock off that pesky Sniper dominating you for far too long? In this case, the Dead Ringer is probably best. It's almost like a second chance if you mess up (or if you get hit on purpose as a distraction). Or, when you play Spy, do you play it safe, stand still, find a good spot, and bank on it? For you, the Dead Ringer is best. Personally, I prefer the Cloak and Dagger, because I generally prefer to run right in and take risks. However, the choice is yours.
And there you have it. Before I leave you to flame me [I'm joking, I hope :X], I would like to offer one last opinion. Which class, the Sniper or Spy, will have the better advantage against eachother in this epic rivalry? Note that I'm not saying which class had the better update overall. I believe, all things considered, the Spy has this down. The Spy may not have a better offense, but the extra precautions given by the Dead Ringer and the Cloak and Dagger help ensure that the Spy will take care of the Sniper in almost all situations.
Don't forget to vote on what I should review next! If you have a suggestion or a regular comment, you can anonymously (or not anonymously) leave a comment down below, all of which will be read and taken into account. And with that, this RevYuu is over!
-Zack
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? E-mail me at revyuu@gmail.com. All mail will be read and responded to, and is much appreciated!
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