The largest update to Team Fortress 2 ever has been released!

In celebration, Valve are making it a free-to-play weekend (starting now) for TF2 as well as making the full game 50% off ( = $10 USD) at the Steam Store during the period.

To recap, here are the upgrades the Sniper and Spy class are getting:

Sniper

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The seventh and final preview of the tomorrow’s Sniper/Spy dual update to Team Fortress 2 is upon us, and Valve come bearing gifts.

First off, it looks like the sharp shooting Aussie is getting that jar of pee that we all thought was an April Fool’s joke over a month ago. Could be bad news for Spies and Pyros:

Jarate - The Jar-Based Karate

Jarate is a thrown jar that splashes upon impact. When splashed on enemies, they take 35% more damage for a period of time. Jumping in water will wash off Jarate. Jarate is also able to short out Spies’ cloaking devices. When used on teammates, Jarate will extinguish any fire effects.

Also revealed are 35 brand new achievements for the Sniper class. As a fellow TF2 geek pointed out, some of these seem to be inspired by the ‘Meet The Sniper‘ video.

And finally, in celebration of all the hard work towards bringing TF2 fans these free updates, Valve are making this weekend a free TF2 weekend starting tomorrow. So if you or your buddy haven’t experienced what all the fuss is about, now is the time.

A list of the new 35 achievements and a funny web-comic for the Sniper found after the break.

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After accidentally leaking the “Meet The Spy” video (above) on YouTube this weekend, Valve felt it should award itself with a “Fail” achievement. And so they did:

If you take a look over at the official Team Fortress 2 website, Valve have not only released the official “Meet The Spy” video (don’t worry, the one above is the “official” one), but they have also revealed 34 new Spy achievements to go along with the upcoming Sniper/Spy dual updates that go live this Thursday. I’ve listed them after the jump.

Note: “Fail” achievement is for Valve only. Neener!

And in case you missed it, Day 1, 2, 3, & 4 coverage of the TF2 Sniper/Spy updates.

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Someone over at Valve has a sick sense of humor.

While many TF2 Snipers were eagerly awaiting news of something that would replace his “weak ass melee weapon”, the Kukri, with something far more useful, instead they get stabbed in the back, Spy style. The image above, taken from the official Team Fortress 2 website, shows our Aussie face down with his nemesis standing next to him, mocking him in a way only a person of his seedy profession would: by smoking a cig in his victim’s honor.

The crossed out text originally reading “The Sniper Update” is instead changed to “The Spy Update”, thus revealing the shocking finality of it all. Yes, begin the Spy Updates.

Today’s update to the Team Fortress 2 website, which was, as far as we can tell, originally intended for the Sniper class, instead reveals updates for his arch-nemesis: The Spy. Irony seems to be ever present here, as yesterday’s revelation yielded the Sniper class would be getting something to finally thwart those cigarette toting backstabbing bastards. Perhaps the ensuing overzealous Sniper mobs angered the gods with their uncontrollable laughter, orgy-like celebration, and idolatry of golden calves? Or maybe Valve just couldn’t wait any longer to tell us what they have in store for their Spy class?

Read more to find out.

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I can hear a thousand spies screaming “bloody hell” right now…

Valve have updated the official Team Fortress 2 website and bestowed upon its lowly internet masses knowledge of the next upgrade (downgrade?) to the Sniper class for its eccentric, yet lovable, multiplayer first person shooter Team Fortress 2. From today’s update to the website, it looks like the ol’ Aussie is getting a Spy countermeasure of sorts. Valve explain best:

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Valve have released more details regarding the upcoming update to the Sniper class for Team Fortress 2. The update now adds a new game mode ‘Payload Race’ as well as a new map ‘Pipeline’ to go along with it. Also revealed are two new Arena maps: Sawmill and Nucleus.

In case you missed it, Day 1 of the Sniper Update was covered here.

More details and screens of the upcoming Sniper Update after the break.

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(cue Billy Mays’ voice)

Are you sick and tired of consistently missing those headshots only to get raped a few seconds later by an overreacting wounded pigeon? After failing to raid an enemy base, do your fellow <insert color here> teammates bitch at you for never helping them out? Tired of being labeled “useless”, “camper”, “frag stealer”, “frag whore” and any other insulting combination without proof to the contrary? How about simply the dire need to redecorate that drab wall you keep staring at 99% of the time?

Have no fear, the Huntsman is here!

With a simple pluck of the bowstring, you can literally paint that faux town red (or blue, or whatever color those wankers bleed). Show off your interior decorating skills by (re)arranging your recently obtained trophies as artistic decor. These arrows are strong enough to hold up even the fattest of bodies (cue image of HWG with an arrow in his head dangling like a rag doll above a lonely Natascha).

Give fleeing prey something else to fear other than your teeny-tiny laser dot. Quite simply, nothing puts fear into an advancing team like witnessing a battlefield of corpses riddled with toothpicks.

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Valve has been hard at work on a new Team Fortress 2 patch, which should be going live within a few days time. This is not only good news for PC users, but for those who purchased The Orange Box for the Xbox 360 as well because Valve is also working on an update which will include all the goodies that were included with the PC version.

The patch for the PC will see the Teleporters being able to be leveled to 3 with the cool down decreasing as the character levels. Spies will be have the ability to recharge their cloaking skill when they pick ammo up off of the ground. Dispensers will also be able to level up to 3 and will not only heal faster, but generate metal faster as they level. Valve has also added a particle system and has upgraded the HUD to show stats such as death by critical hits, players that are over healed, and providing more information to medics when they are being hailed by other players.

In addition to these new changes and additions, gamers who have not had the opportunity to play Team Fortress 2 can now get the game for $10.00 over on Steam. If you have loads of money to burn, you can also get the complete Valve package for $99.99 which includes: Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic, Day of Defeat, Deathmatch Classic, Half-Life: Opposing Force, Ricochet, Half-Life, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Half-Life: Blue Shift, Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life: Source, Day of Defeat: Source, Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Portal, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, and Peggle Extreme.

Left 4 Dead will already run you $49.99 so spend the extra $50 and get not only a good deal but a enough games to max out the memory on your PC.

We will be sure to let you know when the patches for both versions of Team Fortress 2 are to be make available, so you may wanna check back with us.

(Thanks VG247)

Valve has just updated the Team Fortress 2 blog with a whole lot of information for fans to salivate over, including a few changes to some class skills, information on the next weapon pack, and even some good news for Xbox players. First up, it looks like the Engineer and Spy classes will be have to change their gameplay style a bit with some new tweaks to their abilities. Teleporters and dispensers can now be upgraded much like the turrets, but instead to cool down faster and deliver health and metal quicker, respectively. The Spy’s cloaking device can now also be recharged by picking up ammo packs. Valve stressed that these two classes will be getting their own class achievements and upgrades in the future. Speaking of class packs though, Valve also mentioned they’re now setting their sights on upgrading the Scout class next; so be on the lookout for that sometime in the nearer future. Finally, the company also announced that they would be bringing all the updates they released for the PC over the last year to the Xbox version as well.

That’s a lot of good news for TF2 fans. Hopefully we’ll see some of these new additions show up sooner rather than later. Of course, then I’m sure we’ll have nothing Spies, Engineers, and Scouts running around every server once they do.

Those modders certainly are an efficient bunch. The full Left 4 Dead game isn’t even out yet, and someone’s already fused it together with Valve’s more recent online game, Team Fortress 2, to create the mod shown in the video above. Basically it allows you to play through TF2’s Dustbowl map as if it were a level in Left 4 Dead, complete with random zombie hordes, various weapon pickups, and numerous shouts of “Reloading.” I think I’d prefer the dark corridors of a subway tunnel, but this is still a pretty cool idea. If you want to give the mod a try for yourself, you can download it through this link.