Together We Stand, Divided We Fall
Being the day between day one, the announcement, and day three, the release, naturally Tuesday is Mann vs Machine Day Two. Today we are given a peek at another map, some of the abilities available to each class and a peek at the new upgrade interface. Sadly, Archimedes is still not yet available for purchase.
UPGRADE!
Each MvM map will contain Upgrade Stations that will allow players to spend Credits earned by killing the robot enemies. During lulls in the barrage of robots, we will be able to upgrade our weapons. We will be able to increase clip size, firing speed or damage done, for example. On the Day Two page we are given a taste of what an upgrade station will look like and a hidden page—accessible by clicking on the grenade launcher hanging in the booth—shows us the uprage interface for the Demoman.
We're Going To Need Guns.
As you upgrade your weapons, you will gain class-specific abilities. Based on the screenshot and the list of abilities, we will not be limited to our stock weapons as some had speculated. Mad Milk and Jarate, for example, are non-stock secondary weapons and along with their normal abilities, when upgraded will cause enemies to slow—an effect one might expect when adding liquid to robot. Other upgraded abilities of note are the Sniper’s upgraded headshots causing explosive damage, Heavy bullets passing through multiple targets and Spy being able to sap groups of robots.
MOBILE BUFFS
When we set out to battle the metal onslaught, we will have small personal buffs in the form of Canteens. The canteens, noticed by many players in the MvM trailer, will be awarded to players after finishing their first mission. What that mission is is a bit ambiguous on the update page. It could just mean your first round of MvM, or it could mean a certain achievement that you will need to accomplish. Once you grab your Canteen you can equip it in a misc slot to bring mobile bursts of invincibility, critical hits, or ammo refills. You can also activate teleportation back to respawn and Engineers can speed up their building upgrades. There is two remaining corners of a missing Canteen picture, indicating there is at least one more ability for us to bring with us into battle.
AND THEN…
While it doesn’t look like a lot, Valve is describing an entirely new game here. Instead of developing a new game, they are giving us wildly different gameplay—an official mod if you will—pitting our beloved mercenaries against new enemies. This mod is free, nonetheless. They are showing off the dynamic abilities of TF2, which has its own roots deep in the mod community. There was not a lot of side action around today’s update news, but that just means we have a lot to look forward to tomorrow with the release of Team Fortress 2: Mann vs Machine. Which, of course, Icrontic will be playing heavily.
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