• News

Team Fortress 2 introduces Mannpower Mode beta for Smissmiss

Team Fortress 2 players are getting into the holiday spirit, now that it's Smissmiss time!

Ozzie Mejia

December 22, 2014 11:20 PM

1

Now that the holidays are here, it's time for Team Fortress 2 to join in on the festivities. This year, Valve's long-running shooter has some special (explosive) treats for all good girls and boys. Heck, they have treats for the naughty ones, too! It's all in the spirit of Smissmiss!

The biggest addition is Mannpower Mode, which is going into beta. This mode is a two-way CTF variant played on Foundry and Gorge, where random crits are disabled, but the mercs have many new tools at their disposal. Among them are the new grappling hooks, which are used with the action slot. Powerups are also making their debut, with boosts that offer enhanced strength, resistance, agility, extra crits, and more. Mannpower Mode will be a game mode all its own and will remain a part of the Team Fortress 2 beta servers as Valve works with player feedback.

The main TF2 game mode is also set to receive substantial updates. The Demoman, in particular, is getting a new Grenade Launcher and Stickybomb Launcher, while several classes can utilize a new shotgun. Meanwhile, new Festive Weapons and the returning Naughty and Nice crates will be available as drops, while Mann vs. Machine drops are being refined to include Australium weapons, like the Golden Frying Pan.

The full patch notes, featuring substantial Demoman balance tweaks, can be found on the Team Fortress 2 website.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?