Yesterday was the first official day of Valve's buildup for the Engineer update. Of course, I took the day off to recover from Earf Day shenanigans, and I'm somehow the only person on staff who's willing to talk about Team Fortress 2 even though I don't play it any longer. I know, right?
So, let's take it from the top -- otherwise it would just be weird. During this week, players have a chance to randomly craft a golden wrench. It turns its victims to gold, guys. For every 25th wrench created, Valve will reveal more info on the update, and at the time of writing, we just hit number 50 (of a total 100).
Also revealed on day one was "Frontier Justice," a new shotgun. Now, onto today's breakthroughs: there's a really cool-looking Payload map, "Upward," and "The Wrangler" -- taking the place of your pistol, this weapon gives you direct control over sentry guns, among other things.
Point your eyes toward this page right here to learn more, young one.
Contest:
8:30 PM on 07.06.2010 | 
Neato.
Also, both unlocks are cool.
The problem with The Wrangler is that in Highlander, you're not going to have much use of directing it yourself. A Scout using Bonk and a Demo lobbing Grenades while the Scout distracts it, you can take out the obvious threat, the Demo, and then the Scout. However, once you stop to repair, the Sentry has three second downtime, and a lot can happen in those three seconds. There will be times it'll be used, and times it won't.
The Frontier Justice is obviously going to be used way more than the regular Shotgun. Competitive play has no random criticals, so that downside is really more of a "not a big deal" (I mostly play on no crit servers anyway, so I'm not depressed). The main problem is the half magazines, but the crits balance that out nicely.
You get crits for every kill and assist your Sentry got, after it goes down. And then you get bonus crits when it is destroyed. It's not hard to see that this thing will most likely be seriously overpowered.
VALVe has been doing a lot lately with the "no random crits" things in weapons (Axtinguisher, Eyelander, FJ). I'm curious to see what the second round of class updates will bring us, other then more hats.
Since we have one upgrade (Frontier Justice), and one side/upgrade (Wrangler), tomorrow will probably be a little more disappointing, but this seems like it could be the best update yet.
Also, I want one of those Wrenches!
I still want throwing wrenches.
(You had to bait me into it, and after I just finished Mass Effect 2.)
Gotta get a golden wrench...
ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL.
*ENGINEER DIES*
THIS FORM IS FRAGILE. RELEASING CONTROL.
It's just a picture of the engie's grandfather Radigan. They had one of him holding the Frontier Justice also.
Here
However, there BETTER be a new sentry.
Otherwise I'll be sad.
I guess we'll have to wait and see. Some of Valve's updates have been obviously overpowered (Backburner +50 hp) while some were a lot more subtle (Targe).
while i am happy of my move and will never look back, inside i hate valve a little bit for shitting on all their 360 customers; now even if they do update the 360, who gives a shit, its been 3 years ffs, fuck u gaben
PS3 is going to be THE CONSOLE (right after PC) to play Valve games in future.
It's all about being more open, like a Mac.
NUH UH
Still no wrench. Manbeard is getting long and needs a trim. Eyes are bleary from lack of sleep. Whenever my lids close, I see a tableau of dancing, singing golden wrenches. Before long they mutate, taking on cruel faces. The singing turns to mocking. and I wake up screaming. Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm at my computer checking on my idling progress. Finally, after long dry months, I've acquired a Cloak and Dagger, Eyelander, Direct Hit, Natascha and Boxing Gloves. Delivered from below on silky leather wings, no doubt. Thank goodness I also found those seven Razorbacks...
Because Sony SURE didn't pay Valve anything for stronger support of the PS3...
Valve lied the shit out of their customer base, my respect for them has gone down the drain, fuck u gabe.