The new arena game type in Team Fortress 2 is a strange beast. Players are given one life per round, and there's essentially no health to be had in each map. Rounds are played until either an entire team has been killed off, or a team captures the one and only capture point (which becomes active after 60 seconds). If a team wins 5 rounds in a row, the teams are scrambled and play begins again. I like this feature, but I think the limit should be lowered to 3 rounds in a row.

I've been playing this game type each night since its release on Tuesday, and I have to admit that I don't really like it. This most likely stems from the fact that I'm no good at arena mode; I'm often the first to be killed, and standard Team Fortress 2 tactics don't apply. Arena feels nothing like the game I've come to love, and I'm rather disappointed that Valve has expanded the game in this direction. A 'last man standing' approach doesn't yield for great team play, which is the entire point of the game. For now, I'll be sticking to the classics: payload, control point, and capture the flag.