Without much fanfare or fuss, Team Fortress 2 has finally released it’s long awaited summer update. A generous helping of cosmetics have been plugged into the game, a range of glorious new community submitted maps are awaiting to be explored – but the crown jewel of the content update is a fleshy one, wearing khaki shorts.
The apex predator of the TF2 universe is now formally present within the game, as the legendary Saxton Hale debuts in a new game mode that pits the Aussie man-masher against an entire team of mercenaries.
VS SAXTON HALE IS NOW AN OFFICIAL GAMEMODE IN TEAM FORTRESS 2 pic.twitter.com/09WWtOvt3a
— FACEIT Team Fortress 2 (@FACEITTF2) July 12, 2023
Saxton Hale has routinely appeared in all of the weird and whacky game-adjacent lore, serving as both business man and yeti puncher in equal measure. And in his Vs. Saxton Hale mode, you need not worry about any business bullshit – it’s all about BLOOD baby. The concept is simple – a team of fragile mercenaries have to stare down and defeat the ultimate boss monster: a near-nude Australian.
Just take a look at what awaits you:
The Saxton Hale boss mode has actually been a fan-favourite community game mode for years, so it is a shocking reveal to see that not only is Valve on board with formally recognising it, but the original dev who made it, LizardOfOz, was approached to make it a reality. He is now enjoying the fruits of his long journey, while also sharing some dev insights into how it came to be.
On the more controversial front, the game mode actually shipped with a handful of new voice lines for the mighty mercs – only they have been delivered by way of a talented impersonator, rather than the original voice actors. Some members of the community have declared this to be sacrilege, as one of the lasting appeals of TF2 is its incredible cast of zany characters. For others, they are just happy to hear something new.
While the TF2 Summer Update is live right now, it is going through it’s usual throes of bug-fixing – so if you open the game and find the new game mode unavailable, chalk it up to some emergency patching going on – don’t fret though, Saxton isn’t going anywhere, and I am sure he is pleased to beat you.
Are you keen to check out Saxton Hale in his natural habitat – covered in your blood? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
