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Recommended reading Battle Royale Live service games are 'innovating' all the way back around to what worked 20 years ago, except way worse Third Person Shooter The CTF shooter is making a comeback thanks to the manager and lead singer of Imagine Dragons, who 'grew up playing capture the flag in the woods at night with flashlights' Valve announces Team Fortress 2 is getting 'a much-needed update' focused on Mann vs. Machine: 'A chilling cautionary tale where an artificial consciousness tried to take all our jobs' Square Enix's new murder party game is like Among Us in a mansion, with a hefty helping of team deathmatch The Finals' latest update adds a limited-time mode that's mostly just hitting each other with hammers A mod that lets you play Half-Life 2 multiplayer as the mercs from Team Fortress 2 is coming to Steam No More Room in Hell 2's latest update transforms its zombie horror from a cooperative game to a solo extraction shooter when enough players die Among Us 3D is adding a new limited-time feature I haven't thought about in 20 years: VIP mode Christopher Livingston 31 July 2025 I haven't played VIP since way, way back in Team Fortress Classic, and I just realized I miss it. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Innersloth) I still remember the very first time I tried Team Fortress Classic's VIP mode, which was also called The Hunted. I spawned into my first match and saw that instead of a gun I was holding an umbrella. I was the VIP! Hell, yes! But also: Oh, no! In TFC VIP, one player was the 10th class, the Civilian (because VIP and The Hunted weren't enough names for him, I guess), a guy in a business suit with no guns, and everyone else on the team had to protect him while the other team, composed entirely of snipers, tried to kill him. It was a wildly fun mode about traveling through a map from one safe zone to another while relying on teamwork the whole way, which meant it was a mix of thrills, close calls, and complete disasters. I loved VIP: it had an entirely different feel from standard deathmatch or CTF. Now VIP mode is coming to, of all places, Among US 3D. It's called "Critical Cargo," and in this mode one crewmate is randomly chosen to be the VIP (they call it "Critical Crewmate," but c'mon, it's the VIP). Intruders try to kill the VIP while the crew tries to protect them. Sounds like a nice change from the standard intruder mode. Related Articles Live service games are 'innovating' all the way back around to what worked 20 years ago, except way worse The CTF shooter is making a comeback thanks to the manager and lead singer of Imagine Dragons, who 'grew up playing capture the flag in the woods at night with flashlights' Valve announces Team Fortress 2 is getting 'a much-needed update' focused on Mann vs. Machine: 'A chilling cautionary tale where an artificial consciousness tried to take all our jobs' To help the crew keep their special crewmate alive, there's a new type of spacesuit that includes a scanner, called B.E.A.N.S. (the Better Evaluation and Knowledge Suit) that can identify the bad guys. Problem is, as you might expect for a gizmo with such a shoddy acronym, it doesn't work all that well. Here's a little trailer to introduce you to B.E.A.N.S. and the Critical Cargo event: Simply Scan-Dalous 🫢 Among Us 3D Critical Cargo Event Trailer - YouTube I haven't thought about or even played a VIP mode since my TFC days, and it's a shame it's such a rarity in modern multiplayer shooters. Counter-Strike 1.6 had a similar mode called Assassination, but it never made it into CS:GO and CS: Source, so fans had to rely on mods. Halo 3 had a mode called Escort (though the VIP was armed) and Titanfall had a "Marked for Death" mode where both teams had a VIP-ish target at the same time. And it looks like there's an effort to bring a new VIP mode to Team Fortress 2 via the Workshop. But that's about all I can really think of when it comes to VIP modes over the past couple of decades, so it's nice to see the concept still kicking in Among Us 3D's new update. The Critical Cargo event is live now and it will run until October 2. Best gaming rigs 2025All our favorite gear 👉Check out our list of guides👈 1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16 2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L 3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed. 4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT 5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3 The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Christopher Livingston Social Links Navigation Senior Editor Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. Live service games are 'innovating' all the way back around to what worked 20 years ago, except way worse The CTF shooter is making a comeback thanks to the manager and lead singer of Imagine Dragons, who 'grew up playing capture the flag in the woods at night with flashlights' Valve announces Team Fortress 2 is getting 'a much-needed update' focused on Mann vs. Machine: 'A chilling cautionary tale where an artificial consciousness tried to take all our jobs' Square Enix's new murder party game is like Among Us in a mansion, with a hefty helping of team deathmatch The Finals' latest update adds a limited-time mode that's mostly just hitting each other with hammers A mod that lets you play Half-Life 2 multiplayer as the mercs from Team Fortress 2 is coming to Steam Latest in Action If the Mafia: The Old Country system requirements weren't too demanding for you already, a whopping new 'Epic' spec has been added for 'the absolute best visual fidelity' Capcom's stock price plummets as its latest financial report shows cratering Monster Hunter Wilds sales Hideo Kojima says he won't play the MGS 3 remake, mentions he knows loads of ways to kill people, doesn't elaborate, leaves Space Marine 2 publisher says even he 'didn't believe that we could hit 7 million unique players,' but it's proof that players are hungry for sicko games: 'When the execution is right, it ends up resonating with many more people' Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound review: A fun revival that opts for solid fundamentals over innovation I'm a haunted Mad Max muscle car with 2 shotgun turrets in this early access vehicle combat game, and it's just as rad as it sounds Latest in News If the Mafia: The Old Country system requirements weren't too demanding for you already, a whopping new 'Epic' spec has been added for 'the absolute best visual fidelity' Zombies are on the lawn again: Plants vs. Zombies is coming back with a 'Replanted' remaster featuring the original campaign plus new game modes, co-op and PvP support, and more EA dances around battle royale in Battlefield 6 reveal, teases return of BF5's Firestorm mode Capcom's stock price plummets as its latest financial report shows cratering Monster Hunter Wilds sales 'Microsoft became miserably incompetent in IT' says the developer of an Office alternative as their account is blocked, later filing an appeal 'which they didn’t care to answer' The best part of Elden Ring Nightreign's latest patch isn't Duo Expeditions, it's the update to sorting and selecting relics HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Amazon Basics USB condenser microphone review Razer BlackShark V3 Pro review Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound review Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate review Nacon Rig 900 Max HS review PC Gamer is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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