BLU team and RED team arguing over who is better for the fourteenth time of the morning.

Team Fortress 2 is a masterpiece and has remained a very popular game since its release over a decade ago. You won’t find another shooter game that has so much personality, customizability, subclass options and incredible gameplay like Team Fortress 2. And that’s the problem, there won’t be another shooter game like TF2 until Valve finally learns how to count to 3 and releases Team Fortress 3.

No need to worry, though. We’ve compiled a list of class-based shooter games that are similar to TF2, or even better in their own way. These will hold you down until Valve learns what the number 3 is. 

10. Team Fortress Classic(PC)

The Heavy class of letting his minigun rip into unfortunate bystanders.

Of course, we need to start this list with the origin of the Team Fortress franchise- Team Fortress Classic. Released in 1999, Team Fortress Classic was originally a mod for Quake created by a small team of developers. Valve became very interested after discovering this project and hired the team to recreate the mod for Half Life, one of Valve's most successful games. This laid the groundwork for the release of Team Fortress 2 years later.

Team Fortress Classic established a very balanced formula for class-based shooter games and objective-based . All 9 classes or mercenaries are unique with their own strengths, purposes, counters, and playstyle. So, there is no do-it-all character that overpowers every other class. All mercenaries must play their role and work as a team to win the game or end up losing. Team Fortress 2 works off the same blueprint but it does so with much more personality and customizability. 

Although the game was released 20 years ago, Team Fortress Classic’s servers are still online and active. Even after all those years, TFC has managed to maintain a very small, dedicated player base. According to steamcharts.com, the game has an average of 60 monthly players with a peak of 110-150 players every month. 

9. Rogue Company(PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBXS)

Three of the Rogues prepared for anything.

Released in 2020 by Hi-Rez Studios, Rogue Company is a third-person, class-based tactical shooter. The game is free-to-play on all available platforms. It features cross-platform play as well as cross-platform progression, a useful feature for anyone who bounces back and forth playing on multiple consoles.

Inspired by Counter Strike, Team Fortress 2 and other team-based shooters, Rogue Company offers multiple objective-based game modes. As well as the classic and simple deathmatch. Rogues (classes) begin each round of the gamemode in an aircraft hovering above the map. Once the pre-round timer runs out, the players must skydive down to map to face the opposing team.

There are currently 24 playable Rogues with more Rogues coming soon. Each Rogue has a passive ability, an active ability, a perk tree, and different weaponry and equipment.You can purchase and upgrade perks and weapons at the start of each round or when respawning, depending on the game mode. 

All of the Rogues fall under one of the following six roles and their traits -

Breachers: offensive, teamfight initiators, destroy obstacles and enemy equipment

Defenders: defensive, protect objective and other teammates, set traps of enemies

Duelists: 1v1 specialists, burst-damage oriented, powerful secondary weapons

Intel: utility, reveal enemies’ position for yourself and teammates

Sniper: long ranged, fatal 1-shot weapons

Support: healers

8. Apex Legends (PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBSS/iOS/ANDROID/NINSWI)

Mad Meggie with her precious chain and shield ready to wreck havoc.

Apex Legends, a free-to-play, hero-based battle royale game, was released back in 2019 by Respawn Entertainment.  Apex Legends had a very successful launch with 50 million players in the first week and has remained one of the most popular games to this day. The game features casual and ranked battle royale modes for 2 player teams and 3 player teams. Season 9 introduced 3v3 deathmatch while Season 12, the current season of the game, hosts a 9v9 control point mode.

There are 20 Legends to choose and play from, all of which fall into one of the four self- explanatory class types: Offensive, Defensive, Support, and Recon. Each Legend has at least an active ability and an Ultimate ability. Only a few Legends have a passive ability, such as Bangalore’s Double Time that gives her faster sprinting speed when taking gunfire.

7. Valorant (PC)

A lineup of a few of the agents of Valorant.

Riot Games, the studio behind League of Legends, surprised the world in 2020 with the release of Valorant. A free-to-player, first person game that is a mix of a hero-based shooter and Counter Strike inspired tactical gameplay mechanics.  The game features casual and ranked 5v5 game modes with a roster of 18 Agents to choose from.

Of the 18 Agents, there are 4 roles and functions they are categorized as, which are as follows:

Sentinels - Defense oriented Agents, set up blockades to prevent enemy flanks, protect teammates, set up obstacles to stop aggressive enemies

Controllers - Control lines of sight by using smokes, stuns, and flashes,use crowd control abilities to discourage enemy advance

Duelists - Best suited for 1v1 situations, movement enhancing abilities to outmaneuver and flank enemies

Initiator - The aggressors, break through enemy obstacles, abilities that reveal enemy location

6. Star Wars Battlefront 2 (PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBSS)

A squad of Stormtroopers advancing into battle.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 was released in 2017, two years after it’s the first reboot of the Star Wars Battlefront series. It is a class-based action shooter based on the entire Star Wars saga. Each team has  four basic classes - Heavy, Specialist, Assault, and Officer. 

The Officer is only equipped with a blaster pistol but this role’s primary purpose is to provide support to teammates by using shield and healing abilities. Specialist is the sniper of the four classes, picking off enemies from afar and setting up traps. The Heavy class, as the name suggests, uses a heavy blaster that shreds through an enemy’s health and has the most health and durability of the four classes. Assault is the frontline soldier, the first class that pushes into battle.

You can also play as 22 different Heroes and Villains from the movie franchise, such as Luke Walker or Darth Vader. However, these characters can only be played when enough battle points have been earned to use them for one life. Also, these characters can only be used in the large scale game modes of Galactic Assault and Supremacy.

5. Warframe (PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBSS/NINSWIT)

A Warframe preparing to strike against an approaching enemy.

Warframe is a free-to-play, third person action game that was announced back in 2012. It had a very rough start but it persisted and has seen much positive growth. The game is a mix of MMO, RPG, shooter, melee combat and parkour, PvP and PvE. There’s something for almost everyone in this game.

The game boasts a roster of 84 playable characters or Warframes. Surprisingly, there aren’t any role classifications for these Warframes. Some Warframe do have similarities that could classify them together such as how Ember and Nezha both use fire abilities. But, each Warframe is so unique in its own way that roles wouldn’t matter so much.

4. Plants vs Zombies Battle for Neighborville (PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBSS)

A Footsoldier Zombie and Dancing Zombies battling Oak & Acorn with Sunflower beaming down.

Plants vs Zombies Battle for Neighborville is the third installment of the Plants vs  Zombies Garden Warfare spin-off games. This game includes several objective based game modes such as Turf Takeover where both teams take turns attacking or defending a number of objectives. There are also PvE game modes and the classic team deathmatch mode.

You may play as any of the 23 classes, each with their own unique moveset and customizable builds. Every class and their abilities are very unique in a way that provides balance to the game. Every class is critically powerful against a certain enemy and a certain enemy is a counter to that class as well. Of all the games on this list, PvZ Battle for Neighborville is the game that comes the closest to TF2 in terms of character balance.

3. Paladins(PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBSS)

Gazing through the scope of her long range rifle, Octavia is  waiting for the moment to shoot.

Released by Hi-Rez Studios in 2018, Paladin is a free-to-play, team based first-person shooter. It’s set in the world of the Realm during the ongoing battles between the Resistance and the Magistrate. In these battles, you can use one of the 55 characters in the various 5v5 game modes.

Initially called an “Overwatch knock-off” at its launch, Paladins has grown and proven that it’s a fantastic game in its own right. The game features the ability to create a subclass for each character. The subclass has become less and less popular over the years but Paladins has been one of the few games to bring it back to life. You can create a desired subclass for a character by adjusting the Card and Faints of a character. 

For example, you’ve chosen to play a Jenos, a healer champion. Normally, healers are usually the weakest damage dealers but you’ve decided to adjust Jenos’ build to be more of a glass cannon/high damage character. Allowing you to play this champion in a subclass of it while still supporting and helping your team.

2.  Destiny 2 (PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBXS/GOOGLE STADIA)

 A Hunter Guardian, along with his artifact, gazing at something in the distance.

Destiny 2, a sci-fi FPS with MMORPG elements, received very positive reception at its launch in 2017. The game  features a shared, open world where other players can be seen and mingled with during story missions. Strikes are another form of co-op PvE mission allowing 3 player teams to invade and loot dungeons. Raids takes this a step up using 6 player teams.

The customization of Destiny 2 is very in-depth and one of the few FPS games with subclasses. You’ll be able to customize any part of the character to your liking, and dive deeper in the character by using one of the subclasses. You have the choice of picking one of the Guardians to play as - Hunter, Warlock, or Titan. As well as building a subclass of each Guardian. 

For instance, a Hunter will eventually have the choice to pursue the Gunslinger subclass. The Gunslinger is a Solar-power based subclass that uses a very powerful hand cannon, the Golden Gun, as its Ultimate ability along with other abilities exclusive to the Gunslinger. Or dive into the Nightwalker subclass. 

1. Overwatch(PC/PS4/PS5/XBO/XBSX/XBSS)

A squad of Overwatch heroes escorting a giant robot to the objective in a new gamemode called Push.

Lastly, we have Overwatch. There is no way this list could be considered valid if we did not include Overwatch on it. When Blizzard revealed the game back in 2014, it was very obvious that Team Fortress 2 was a very heavy inspiration in the creation of the game. There are so many similarities between the two that Overwatch quickly earned the nicknames of “the TF2 killer”, “TF2 copy and paste” and even the “unofficial Team Fortress 3”. 

It’s much quicker to say the major differences Overwatch has compared to TF2. For starters, Overwatch features a much bigger roster of heroes to play from. Currently, the game has 32 heroes to pick from with a focus on 6v6 game modes, unlike TF2’s 12v12 game modes. Each Overwatch character has at least two active abilities, a powerful Ultimate ability, while a few heroes have their own passive ability.

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