Team Fortress

Team Fortress 2 is the heart of this collection and one of gaming's most distinctive multiplayer shooters. Released by Valve in 2007 as part of The Orange Box, it traded realism for a Pixar-by-way-of-spy-comedy art style, nine wildly characterized mercenary classes and a sense of humor that powered years of community shorts and cosmetics. Its hatful of personality outlasted nearly all its contemporaries.

Much of what surrounds it here is music and crossover. The Orange Box soundtrack and the country-and-blues collection Fight Songs: The Music of Team Fortress 2 capture the game's tone in audio, while its mercenaries turn up as guests in other Valve and partner games, from Poker Night at the Inventory to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The result is less a saga than a beloved cast that refuses to retire.

The Team Fortress franchise spans 1 games, 2 music in the CrossBinge catalog.