Team Fortress 2 Über Update: Day 2

Our wildest dreams have come true: there are indeed 4+ classes getting new items in this Thursday's Über Update . Valve have just declared today to be Timbuk Tuesday , and they've revealed weapons and hats for two of our bestest favorite classes of preferred choice: the Demoman and the Sniper. We asked our resident Demo and Sniper experts (Evan and Lucas, respectively) to weigh in on these glorious new items. Whoops—I think I just gave away the fact that these weapons are rocking our worlds.

PCG's Gut Reactions™:

The Sniper

• The Bazaar Bargain: Oh my god, yes. The Sydney Sleeper irked me with its incentive to act less like a Sniper and go exclusively for bodyshots. The Huntsman didn't float my boat either, with its lack of zoom and delayed arrow trajectory. But this ...this is just a thing of beauty. If you can nail a string of headshots, you'll be walking on sunshine as you dominate left and right. But if you crack under pressure, and start firing bullets in a panic, then no bonuses for you!

• The Shahanshah: Enemy players up in your grill? Whip out this spiffy sword, and you'll be holding your own, even in a losing fight. It's like Obi-Wan always said: Strike me (to 50% hp, not down, please), and I shall become (25%) more powerful than you can possibly imagine (unless you can imagine me at 125% power).

• Lawrence of Australia: I've been looking for the perfect hat to drop some real cash on—ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. It kills two birds with one stone: I get to support Valve for giving me loads of free content and constant updates, AND shield myself from the hot sun as I camp out with my reticule covering a doorway.

The Demoman

• The Splendid Screen: Look up, look down. Now back at me. Your Demoman is now a rhino. The "can deal impact damage at any range" gives Demos another close-quarters option when enemies are annoyingly just out of melee range. On paper, we prefer the defense of the other shield—the Chargin' Targe (50% resist fire, 40% resist explosions)—it makes one-on-ones with Pyros easily survivable.

• The Persian Persuader: Good lord. While carrying this sword, collected ammo replenishes health, so the weapons of felled enemies suddenly become easy pick-me-ups of HP. Paired with the Demo's new shoes, this scimitar could produce a devastating new melee-only Demo variant that chains charges together. You'll be able to charge every six seconds.

• Ali Baba's Wee Booties: The increase in turning control (by 100%) will probably be more useful defensively than offensively, when you're usually flying straight at an enemy. The +25 health boost mitigates the health lost if the Eyelander is your melee weap' of choice, too.

• One Thousand and One Demoknights: A festive turban, equally tasteful in cp_egypt and pl_frontier_final. Any hat with a feather in it is a good hat.

The shift from Mafia dons to Saharan soldiers has us wondering where Valve plans on taking us next. What's your opinion of the new gear? Let us know in the comments, or let us know with your real voice by joining our games at 7pm tonight— just hit up our Steam group , and you're halfway there!