So, it's arena mode! A fast paced quick action style of game play that focuses on team makeup. I think it sounds awesome, what do you guys think?

 http://www.steampowered.com/tf2/heavy/arena.htm

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TF2 Arena keeps the class diversity of Team Fortress 2 while focusing goals around combat between two teams. Where other game modes lean towards a broad overall strategy for the team over a number of lives, Arena concentrates on the specific tactical choices the teams make in a single fight.

Arena features smaller maps that play out in shorter periods of time. The round ends once one team has no players left in the arena, or when the central capture point has unlocked and been captured. Rounds tend to be very fast and highly competitive, with an emphasis on your team’s class makeup and your plan to counter the opposing team’s class choices. Arena mode is great for smaller matches of three vs. three players, while still comfortably supporting huge knockdown twelve-on-twelve brawls.


Health pick-ups are limited in TF2 Arena (some levels don’t have any Health packs at all) so being careful is a good strategy for any class. As well, with so little health available, having a Medic or a Health dispenser-building Engineer on your team can be a crucial element to success. With their reconnaissance abilities, the Scout and Spy play a far more vital role in Arena than in other game modes. Knowing the location of the enemy team can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. The Soldier and Demoman will find many areas in Arena specifically designed for them to get a vertical advantage. Traditional Heavy/Medic pairings will still be highly useful as the anchor to a good Arena team. However, commit too far in this direction and the enemy can quickly overwhelm you with Snipers and Spies. In Arena, water is as scarce as Health. This makes the Pyro a much deadlier class, as any enemy player he sets on fire with his flamethrower or flare gun will be unable to put out the flames. Igniting enemies quickly, then retreating to safety, can be an effective strategy for the Pyro.

Arena Maps
The first release of TF2 Arena comes with five playable maps. Two never-before-seen maps (Lumberyard, Ravine) have been built specifically for Arena, and a further three (Well, Granary, Badlands) have been remade with Arena’s unique play style in mind. Additionally, with the Lumberyard map, Arena takes TF2 from its familiar desert backdrop to a new Alpine-themed environment. Great care was taken to ensure the art style kept to the unique look and time period of the TF2 universe, while still feeling like a departure from the usual maps players are familiar with.

Lumberyard

Lumberyard has an unbalanced structure, with one half of the map climbing up towards a large mountain peak, while the other dips down into a valley. A series of rooftops at the map’s center serves as the key battleground area, with lateral flanking being the key maneuver at ground level. When the capture point becomes active after 60 seconds, multiple entrances open up into the central control point, which becomes the focus of the fighting as the match nears its end. Lumberyard is one of the few Arena maps without water, and contains only a single health kit. The kit sits on a log above a deadly pit, making it a great ambush spot for Pyros, Demomen, and Soldiers to send unwary enemies to their deaths.

Ravine
In contrast to Lumberyard, Ravine has a far more open ground level with emphasis on control of four key choke points. A series of canals in Ravine’s lower level provide an excellent opportunity for stealth kills and flanking maneuvers. Like all arena maps, the capture point in the middle becomes active after 60 seconds.

Well, Granary, Badlands

The middle capture point fighting area for each of these three existing maps has been extensively reworked and customized for TF2 Arena play.

Arena maps ftw. This should be really interesting. I really want to play them with my Sandviches. The new settings are a change of pace that it needed. No more sand and desert. Its all about the alpine and timberlands.

I feel the same way. The desert/industrial look was good at the beginning, but after a while it made the maps run together a little. The new alpine setting is really nice, and I can't wait to see it in game for myself!

The new Lumberyard stage looks great! Can't wait.  Opens up possibilities for more wooded areas.

As for the Arena mode, it definitely sounds better than straight-up deathmatch, so that's good.  It'll probably be fun to play sometimes, but the regular capture and ctf maps will still be standard.

arena = team deathmatch basically

If you want to play a sniper, you want to go to Goldrush. It's the only map I've played that justifies their existence.

As for scout, it takes a certain kind of asshole to play one. Kinda like spies. With the right mixture of in-your-face dickishness and cowardice, you can do a great job at picking off isolated individuals and distracting larger forces while more deadly allies move in behind for the kill.

Yeah, it's more like a Counterstrike mode though.  There is an objective besides killing each other...but the game can and likely will go that route anyway.

Meet the Sandvich! http://www.steampowered.com/tf2/heavy/sandvich.htm

There's a video! It's hilarious! So the heavy now has unlimited access to 120 health every 4 seconds? That's quite interesting.

Holy crap it won't load the flipping movie. Its going sooooooooo slowwww

The video is hilarious, I've listened to it like 5 times now. The poor scout and soldier get totally pwned! "Ahh, my spine!"
Here's another link for the video http://steamgames.com/v/index.php?area=app&AppId=5073