Looks like we’re getting close to the Sniper Update, and the first alternate weapon has been announced: The Huntsman.
In a recent post on the Official TF2 blog, Robin Walker noted that the motivation behind the alternate to the Sniper’s rifle was to bring the Sniper a little closer to the fray. I couldn’t really think of anything that would make me, playing as a Sniper, want to put down the rifle and move closer to the flamethrowers and rocket launchers. Gotta say, though, a bow and arrow that will let me nail enemies to a wall could just be the ticket.
The Huntsman will take less time than the rifle to charge a full-power shot, and presumably won’t give the Sniper tunnel vision while using it, two definite bonuses to getting a little closer to the action. I assume the projectile will be a little harder to hit with, and will be harder to use at long ranges than the hitscan rifle. And, I like the projectiles they’ve added so far: I think the Flare Gun is fun, the Sandman is a hoot (except when it’s hitting me) , and now we’ll have arrows zinging all over the place. I’m all for it.
The update also mentions that even a non-killing shot will leave an arrow protruding from the Huntsman’s victim. That’s fun as well, and I recall an interview ages ago where someone from Valve (possibly Walker again) expressed regret that they couldn’t manage to have the medic’s needles appear to be sticking out of his victims. This is almost as good.
No official word on when the new unlocks will hit, or how we’ll be unlocking them.
26 Comments
May 12, 2009
Update sounds awesome so far. I for one cant snipe shit; ill be glad to have an alternative.
Also, pinning the enemy against the wall? Lol, reminds me of hl2 crossbow
May 12, 2009
This sounds awesome. I wonder if that Jarate thing wasn’t just an April Fools joke. Maybe the joke was to make us think it was a joke. Valve is like that :P Maybe now they CAN make the medic’s needles stick out. I mean, I’m no programmer, but I’d have to think if they could make an arrow model stick out of a player, they could do needles in a jiffy (A limit of course, can’t have Pinhead players walking around :P )
May 12, 2009
When I read that 270 people had deleted items, and that Valve were playing a sort of mind game to stop people from doing that, even though long-term you’d get them back, I went ahead and deleted the Bonk drink.
So I’ve been thinking about this unlocks thing. What could it be? There are achievements, and then there are drops and so on, and I guess you could do repeating “every 100 kills” target things to unlock stuff, or you could pay, or maybe, uh… maybe you get cash from killing or winning rounds?
Hold on, what did I just say? Maybe you get fun bux for buying unlocks from winning rounds and capping points? Shit, RED and BLU are merc corporations, right?
May 12, 2009
Haven’t all the previous unlocks been released on the 19th or is that just something fake I’ve picked up along the way?
May 12, 2009
Can I has Nondrick?
May 12, 2009
Yay longbow. Maybe now getting killed by a sniper won’t feel cheap. I hope so.
On a completely unrelated note,did you played Braid,Chris?
May 13, 2009
awesome! now i can still suck as a sniper but have an awesome bow to do it with!
May 13, 2009
Ahh… this is so sweet.Instead of sucking with a Sniper riffle I can now suck with a Longbow!
I wonder what the other alt weapons will be… (maybe a less annoying alternative to smg?).
May 13, 2009
Meta gaming ahoy
May 13, 2009
The Huntsman looks interesting, and I like the idea of arrows protruding from my targets; perhaps this could make spy-checking much more fun when I see my own arrows sticking from my team mates or floating arrows stuck to invisible Spies.
May 13, 2009
Can’t wait for the Huntsman looks awesome. I’ve always loved playing an aggressive sniper (despite being poo at it) so having a slightly more effective close range weapon will be mint. Fire arrows, anyone? :P
May 13, 2009
What the fuck seriously
A new update this fast?
May 13, 2009
Also notice that there is no normal countdown timer
May 13, 2009
Don’t forget the Jarate will probably be one of the unlocks.
I’m looking forward to all my enemies running around with arrows sticking out of them (because I’m rubbish at getting kills).
May 13, 2009
Can’t wait to use that!
May 13, 2009
Havn’t really liked archery in any other game that features firearms, but with this Huntsman, it looks positively awesome.
May 13, 2009
Yey a Longbow! Longbow beats crossbow any Battle of Agincourt.
May 13, 2009
Looks like it’s going to be hilariously fun, much like the rest of TF2.
May 13, 2009
And instead of the machete; a broadsword!
May 13, 2009
There’s just something about seeing arrows sticking out of people that brings my heart joy and butterflies.
May 13, 2009
At least I can add the William Tell theme music to my Sniper appropiate playlist.
May 13, 2009
nice. Chris are you still doing those Demomen for Shacknews?
May 13, 2009
Well this was clearly more awesome than my idea of it being a boomerang. Pinning people to the wall is always good. always.
May 13, 2009
Whoa, Sawmill looks pretty darn good, as does Payload race. I’m not sure about Nucleus, I haven’t seen much yet, guess we’ll have to wait
May 14, 2009
It’ll be a bit like the crossbow in HL2!!
Chris, what’s with all the. Double spaces. And triple spaces. After your full stops?
May 14, 2009
Double spaces after full stops is how I learned it. Probably unnecessary these days, but hey, I used to work on a typewriter. Triple spaces are typos, I guess.
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