New TF2 Mod Proves Why Valve Should Make Team Fortress 3 Already

Valve has some of the most iconic games of all time under its umbrella, with titles like Portal, Half-Life, and Left 4 Dead cementing their place in gaming history long before they took over the digital landscape with Steam. One of the most enduring of their titles has proven to be Team Fortress. Initially starting out as a mod for Quake before growing into its own unique beast, the 2007 sequel, Team Fortress 2, has become an undeniable piece of gaming culture that has generated countless hours of gameplay over the last two decades.

Despite the success of the game, there has never been a direct sequel, only refinement through updates and patches. There have been plenty of rumors about a third game in the series that have never materialized, leaving room for developers to make their own mods based on the game as is. The latest of these, Mann Versus Zombies, proves there’s still a lot to do and experiment with in the franchise — and might be the ultimate proof that the series deserves a third entry.

A New Modded Take On Team Fortress 2 Proves How Good TF2 Still Is

Team Fortress 2 debuted nearly twenty years ago and remains as fun as it has ever been. The lean refinements of the gameplay and the ubiquity of the cast have made it one of the enduring games of multiple generations of players. Despite that, there hasn’t been a formal follow-up to the game, and there seems to be no plans to do so. However, that has left room open for modders to tweak the gameplay. This includes a recent release, Mann Versus Zombies.

The mod, designed by a team known as Bradworks, effectively brings the Zombies mode from the Call of Duty series to the Team Fortress 2 space by pitting a team of players against an endless horde of the undead. As the battles continue, players earn cash to upgrade their equipment and repair the barricades. This is the only way the players (which can range from a single-player experience to an eight-person co-op) can hope to stand a chance against the hordes, which become increasingly fearsome as the game goes on. Mann Versus Zombies can be wishlisted on Steam at the time of writing, highlighting just how easily the Team Fortress 2 characters can fit into different styles of games and still feel like TF2, with this title almost serving as a crossover with Left 4 Dead. At this point, though, it’s worth wondering why Valve hasn’t released a new entry in the series.

Team Fortress 2 Mods Prove How Good TF3 Could Be

Valve has a famously high standard for its game releases, with plenty of high-profile franchises that reshaped gaming even as they’ve largely avoided making sequels. Outside of small VR-minded spin-offs or customizable sandboxes, the likes of Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Team Fortress 2 all have lacked a direct sequel for years. Despite constant rumors, these games have remained the fixed stopping point of these franchises while Valve shifted attention more towards shepherding digital platforms like Steam into an industry standard. However, it feels like it’s time for some new blood in the older franchises, and Team Fortress might actually be the ideal series to bring back.

A new iteration of the series could give players plenty of new tweaks on the refined experience of Team Fortress 2, potentially adding new character classes, weapon types, and map designs. It could reestablish the series as a forerunner of the hero shooter that eventually led to games like Overwatch and Marvel Rivals, taking lessons from generations of games that were influenced by Valve’s work to create a more fully fleshed-out shooter experience. It’s hard to imagine a potentially better launch title for the Steam Machine than a new entry in one of Valve’s most iconic franchises — especially if it were released as a Steam exclusive.

While a new Half-Life would be a massive announcement or a fresh Portal would be exciting, the multiplayer possibilities present with a new Team Fortress might blow both out of the water. It could reestablish Team Fortress, a long-enduring series, as a genre-defining shooter. It could incorporate plenty of new game modes to keep things fresh, all the while using its clear, cartoon-y art style to its advantage to stand out against more realistic shooters. Mods like Mann vs. Zombie highlight how the underlying Team Fortress 2 engine still holds plenty of potential, so seeing Valve actually experiment with that franchise again could be an especially exciting development. Especially with Team Fortress 2‘s twentieth anniversary coming up, it would be the perfect way for Valve to celebrate the history of the game and its enduring popularity — as well as give the Steam Machine a killer app — by finally releasing Team Fortress 3.