A multiplayer experience unlike others, it never pulls any cheap tricks.
As I've said before, the graphics are stylized. The characters and environments look like a combination of classic cartoons and American WWII propaganda. As stylized as it is, it also has lots and lots of gib to the point of controversy.
Where do I begin? Everything sounds good. The ambiance, the music, the sound of weapons, but most of all the voice acting. Each character has a corresponding voice and personality, complete with quotes for practically everything that happens in game.
Team Fortress 2 provides the best of quality in terms of gameplay. There was already a few things you could do with the classes from the initial release, but eventually Valve began releasing alternative weapons, a crafting and trading system, and hats to show how pro you are. At least, the servers I go to hats sort of matter. There are so many things you can do with weapon combinations with each class, it practically changes the game in a good way.
Being that this is a Source engine game, I can't say much about the controls other than they have no flaws. You got a keyboard and mouse, many buttons at your fingertips for even the most useless of commands such as sprays and taunts.
Being a fan of FPS, I very much enjoyed this game. It's the most played game on my Steam account and I think it's my most played game in general, clocking in over 400 hours over a span of 2 years. There is a saying I learned from a machinima, "Team Fortress 2 is like Hotel California; you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave." You cannot get any closer to the truth than that.
It's free to play, unlike 2 years ago when I bought it, but to be able to play on custom servers and stuff like that you gotta buy a premium which I hear is 10 bucks or something. This makes Team Fortress 2 the highest quality F2P FPS out there and it shows. I say you should download Steam and download TF2, there's really no other game like it even in retail.