The first product of the JJ Abrams/Valve partnership announced back in 2013 has finally come to light.
Now if you’re hoping for a movie or a TV show, you’re gonna be disappointed, sorry. However if you were wanting a brand new game mode for TF2, the Star Wars & Star Trek director’s Bad Robot Studio designed a brand new game mode for the popular FPS Team Fortress 2 called ‘Pass Time’. The mode, co-developed by Escalation Studios, is available now for the free-to-play first person shooter.
Wondering what to do in this new game mode? Valve explained:
Pass Time combines TF2’s usual fast-paced bloodsport with the actual fast-paced sports of soccer, hockey & basketball.
Bad Robot have stressed that Pass Time is very much a work in progress. Player feedback about this mode will be “critical” to it’s development, and players are encouraged to send their thoughts about it to this email address: passtime@valvesoftware.com let’s try and keep the spam to a minimum guys.
Pass Time matches pit the Red & Blue teams against each other, as each side tries to score more goals than their opponent. Simple. One player carries the ‘Jack’, a ball that, when picked up, replaces your guns. As such, teammates will have to protect the ball carrier.
The other side, meanwhile can steal the ‘Jack’ by performing a melee attack on the carrier. The carrier does have some superpowers though, including:
- Regenerating health
- Temporary invincibility
- Speed boosts
- The ability to see both teammates & opponents on the map at the same time.
For a better look at Pass Time take a look at the video below from the fan run Valve News Network:
Abrams is currently directing Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, which hits the theaters in December, so it’s unclear how much involvement Abrams had on this new Team Fortress 2 game mode.
As part of the Bad Robot/Valve partnership from back in 2013, Abrams also said he and Valve were brainstorming ideas for Portal and Half-Life movies. It’s also unclear, however, how much progress is being made on these feature films. We’re waiting Valve.