Developed by a handful of guys with the intention of competing in the 2008 “Bootleg Demake” Competition at TIGSource, Gang Garrison 2 is this week’s choice for gaming on the cheap. With a recent upgrade and touch of graphical polish the game’s creators feel Garrison is “now stable enough to start telling the world about it.” It’s obvious these guys fell deeply in love with Team Fortress 2, and Gang Garrison 2 is the knock-off mariachi band they brought to sing sweet nothings beneath Valve’s window at 3 in the morning.

The game was recently upgraded to a stable version 2.0, offering players 9 uncomfortably familiar character classes to enjoy some fast-paced frenetic multiplayer action in a stylishly retro and visually distinct 8-bit style. Most of the levels are obviously Team Fortress 2 maps rebuilt in 2D, but there are also quite a few unique environments built by the team or enthusiastic community members. If the default maps aren’t to your liking (or you think you could do a better job ripping off Valve) the freely available Garrison Builder program allows anyone with a paint application to design their own custom level and submit it to the community for feedback. The team behid GG2 has so far kept the project awfully open-source, meaning interested community members can develop their own game modifications for possible inclusion in later releases.

As a work in progress the game does suffer from a few minor bugs, but the only regularly recurring irritation was the ever-present server lag which often led my tiny avatar to cross the same platforms two, three or even four times before being rubber-banded back a few steps to try again. Only one mode is currently available (Capture the Briefcase) and the classes don’t feature all the abilities of their bump-mapped older brothers, but though the team has committed to adding in features like the teleporter system, disguise abilities etc. I’m not certain GG would benefit from such development. The game is awfully well-balanced as is, and transforms what ought to be a ridiculously perverse experience (a nostalgia title for a game that saw release near the end of 2007) into a genuinely enjoyable half hour that leaves you wondering why you uninstalled the original in the first place. The program weighs in under 5 megs and can be found here.

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