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Friday, Neowindex US visited Valve and toured their offices.

New Map. New Gameplay. New Medic Achievements & Milestones

Goldrush is an entirely new level featuring a new gameplay style called Payload.

The level is split into three separate areas with capture zones inside of each major chapter. The teams are split between offense (blue) and defense (red) similar to dustbowl.

The goal for the blue team is to push the bomb payload throughout the level until it reaches the next capture point, eventually destroying all three of the red teams major bases. Blue pushes the level by standing near it, and the cart will move faster the more people standing near it, which is a concept familiar to anyone who plays team based multi player games. If no one has pushed the cart forward after 30 seconds, the cart will begin to move backward until it is pushed forward again. This makes for some very concentrated and hectic exchanges indeed.

Goldrush is a map specifically focused on pacing, so the player feels like they are part of an overall team focus instead of being a lone wolf. Each member of the team naturally has to focus on both the overall goal of either advancing or stopping the payload, but also on the local threats, like that heavy backed up by a medic. Goldrush has been designed taking all nine classes into account, which means there is truly a place for everyone and their favorite class to be useful.

New Unique Item System

This update will also mark the beginning of the most significant change Valve will be making to TF2 over the next year, beginning first with the Medic class. Players will be able to earn three unique items by earning some or all of the new medic achievements coming in this update. These new items will give the player new choices to how the play the medic class itself, as well as have a new impact and benefit to the rest of the team. I am sure many are curious, and Valve states that after this initial release they will quickly be adding unique items for the remaining eight classes.

Players earning one-third of the new medic achievements will be given a new syringe gun called “The Blutauger.” This new weapon will no longer be able to score critical hits against an opponent, instead it will draw health from enemies each time a syringe hits. It is especially helpful when used as a weapon to retreat away from the fight while staying alive.

Players earning two-thirds of the achievement will be granted “The Critzcrieg.” This new medigun uses it’s ubercharge not for invulnerability, but to give it’s recipient 100% chance to fire critical ordinance. Medics and the player they are charging need to be careful however because as much fun as it is to fire critical rockets as fast as you can, the other team will see what you are up to and try to put and quick stop to your plan.

The determined players who earn all 36 of the achievements will find themselves the proud owner of “The Ubersaw,” which takes damage done in melee attacks and converts it directly to Ubercharge. Four hits with this new weapon will fully charge whatever Medigun the Medic has equipped.

When you acquire a new item, you will get a screen indicating which new item you have received. You can then go to the load out screen to equip your new stuff.

The update will be released this Tuesday, April 29th.
So load up Steam on Tuesday, and make sure to get this free update for the PC version of TF 2.

When asked about the console versions, Valve was unable to give us a solid release date, but said they did plan on releasing this update as soon as they possibly could.

Screenshots and a detailed list of the achievements coming soon.

Please Note: The following preview of Goldrush for Team Fortress 2 is Part 01 of many exclusive stories we have planned in regards to our trip to Valve Software this past weekend. Be on the lookout for Part 02 coming very soon which is a detailed article about the actual experiencing of touring the office itself. Enjoy!