Team Fortress 2's 12th Scream Fortress event quietly begins

It feels like the days are long gone when people would anxiously wait by their PCs for word on the next Team Fortress 2 Halloween event. The annual Scream Fortress event would be a treat for all TF2 players with Valve going all-out to get into the seasonal mood. Scream Fortress has since been left to the community, but this year's event feels... sad. Yes, I'm referring to "this year's event," which is to say that Scream Fortress XII has officially kicked off... with barely a word from Valve.

There's no announcement from the Team Fortress 2 website. There's no word from the Team Fortress Twitter account. Even the superfans at ValveTime haven't made a peep. But yes, Scream Fortress XII has begun.

What does Scream Fortress XII entail? Let's check out the most recent Update Notes to find out:

Scream Fortress XII

Featuring 4 new community maps: Megalo, Bloodwater, Hassle Castle, and Moldergrove
Added the Wicked Windfall Case
- Contains 22 new community-created cosmetic items that make up the Wicked Windfall Collection
- Has a chance to give one of 6 new community-created Halloween-restricted items as a bonus item
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
Added 19 new community-created Unusual effects
- 8 new effects for Unusual hats
- 11 new effects for Unusual taunts
Added the Scream Fortress XII War Paint Case
- Contains 15 new community-created War Paints that make-up the Scream Fortress XII War Paint Collection
- Has a chance to give a taunt Unusualifier as a bonus item
All players who launch the game will receive a Soul Gargoyle if they don't already have one
- Grants access to Merasmissions and Halloween item transmutations
- Tracks Merasmissions completed and souls collected
All Halloween Contracts have been reset, allowing them to be completed again
Added new Contracts for this year's featured community maps
Completing a Halloween Contract will give players a classic Halloween item and the chance for a Wicked Windfall Case or Scream Fortress XII War Paint Case
Continue last year's event by collecting the souls of dead players for your Soul Gargoyle by killing enemies, doing map objectives, or collecting the Soul Gargoyles that spawn in the maps
All cosmetic and taunt Cases will grant Halloween 2020 Unusual effects instead of their normal Unusual effects during the event. This does not include Crates.
Join Halloween matches by using the Special Events category in Casual
Scream Fortress XII runs through November 7th, 2020

None of this is to say there isn't anything exciting in this year's Scream Fortress. That's because the TF2 community is among the most creative in all of gaming. Heck, the Megalo King of the Hill map has a freakin' Ghost Train! Look at this thing!

On top of Megalo (which has a Ghost Train, I remind you), players can look forward to Bloodwater (a remake of the Badwater Payload map), the King of the Hill map Moldergrove, and the haunted Hassle Castle. Plus, there are countless Halloween goodies from the past decade to collect. All of the previous Scream Fortress maps are playable, as well.

The lack of fanfare for Scream Fortress is that much sadder considering that it comes just days removed from another Valve property, Left 4 Dead 2, getting its biggest community update in years. The Last Stand not only got more publicity, but Valve fully celebrated the update's release with a free weekend and prominent placement across Steam. Meanwhile, Team Fortress 2 gets to play in its own little corner, forgotten by its Valve overlords.

This year's Scream Fortress will continue through November 7. Even if it's not what it used to be, it's still one of the greatest Halloween events in video games, so come out and play. Merasmus is waiting.