TF2 - Why Dustbowl is GOOD

Many TF2 players are quick to label Dustbowl as bad, but what reasons might there be for why Dustbowl is good?

In this video, I go through three reasons why Dustbowl is a good map— not a bad one.

0:00 Excerpt from Uncle Dane
0:32 Excerpt from Red Robot
1:13 Introduction
2:52 Reason 1
5:53 Reason 2
7:41 Reason 3
8:31 Outro

Excerpts from Uncle Dane and Red Robot:

Join my Discord server!

Music used in the video:
"Vyra - Disco Metropolis" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) license
"Diamond Ace - Too Soon" is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 3.0).

[Dr_Dan_]

the only change i would like to see is more spawn exits. one phlog pyro can control all of them on any stage

[stevy]

I've played over 2000 hours of TF2 and almost every single hour was spent on dustbowl. The reason I like dustbowl is because it forces your team to work together to overcome the choke points. When I play other maps I feel like I'm playing some sort of deathmatch type game where everybody is spread apart doing their own thing.

[wheeliebonus]

The 20 minute timer while defending the 6th point is indeed epic!

[Kewertate]

I like how you brought up that the longer round timers end up making a game of dust bowl feel more impactful than a similar map with a short timer. It results in this huge feeling of satisfaction that I don't get from other maps, except maybe badwater or something since I also like that map.

[KimFareseed]

3:20
Looking at the scale, I guess Junktion would be off the chart for chokiness.
Unfortunate that there isn't more official pyramid a/d maps then it and Gravel Pit.

[UsingGorillaLogic]

The brutal truth is that TF2 has a lot of maps made to give certain playstyles their time to shine. While some maps go for an even playing field of sorts (viaduct) many others like swiftwater, harvest, and dustbowl are spotlight moments. In dustbowl's case if you like engineer, the phlog, and especially demoman dustbowl is your moment you are the most valuable player and it is your time in the spotlight. The map is ideal for those 3 classes to really get to strut their stuff and other classes that benefit from tight corridors get moments as well. Ultimately dustbowl isn't... my moment so I find myself gravitating away from it, but unlike others I understand maps are map with specific purposes. Saying dustbowl is bad because it is demoman heaven is like saying hightower is bad because its the perfect goof off rocket jumping map, sometimes maps are made for those very reasons.

[DeflatTheGaming]

Holding the last point for 25 minutes is like an injection of dopamine. I love it.

[PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

I'd argue Dustbowl-style chokepoints are perfectly fine for maps, provided they're coupled with open areas. Look at Badwater and Upward for an example of this. Both of those maps alternate between narrow chokes and wide open spaces. And yes, while these are both payload maps, there remains certain crucial spots on each that function very similarly to control points.

Dustbowl DOES do this to some extent as well. That's what stops it from being Junction.

[Delbs]

Tbh, Dustbowl is kinda frustrating because explosive spamming is very rewarding, and the way that the time adds up, it is just a joke - I mean, c'mon, 24 minutes to defend a point when you are being steamrolled doesn't seem right. We all like the game, but not everyone has the time to play a 20 minute attack phase, hence why so many quit when this happens.

[thechippotato]

You raised some very good points in this video! I hope you plan on tackling a similar video for 2fort, because I'm curious if there's more to the appeal of the map than some people give it credit for.

[snickes-vy]

The problem with dustbowl Is that it's too narrow most of the times, making soldier and demo especially very powerful. When you try to play other classes like scout, you just feel useless, especially on last. I don't hate it, but it really deserves name spambowl.

[Rayman]

I was thinking that dustbowl is just a tiny map. But your video changed my opinion. Thanks for this video i really liked it 👍

[gaidencastro]

I didn't know you could walk across the beams on the first point.

[chJohnJobs]

I have always loved choke pointy maps.

And I love fighting for almost an hour in a near stalemate until a victor arises.

I get all of this from dustbowl,
Only complaint is spy is stupid hard to play on dustbowl

[Sketch-An]

Medic main here, I call Dustbowl TF2’s Stalingrad. I love those games where I’m able to finally break the stalemate with a well timed Uber or 2

[jumpinghunter]

I deleted my unwritten comment 3 times already because i can't describe my feelings about the Dustbowl good enough, so i will just say this: playing on any other TF2 map feels like participating in a very intense and dangerous tournament or competition, while playing on Dustbowl feels like going through small but very hot and bloody war.

[winterflan]

I don't think dustbowl is bad, I just think the general perception of what makes "Good TF2" has changed a lot over the years to favor a different, more mobile and flanky style of play. I don't think the game around dustbowl has changed in a way that makes it obsolete mechanically, but player tastes have shifted away from it. I like this map a lot! Perhaps it's due to me playing a ton of it back in vanilla TF2 on the Xbox 360, or perhaps I just like shoving spam down a hallway. I just simply don't try to do things like wild rocket jumps and scout flanks because they simply don't work, and I don't expect them to.

[SuperKermit]

Dustbowl is the equivialent of Battlefield's Metro and Metro is the equivalent of TF2's Dustbowl.
And I enjoyed and love both of them

[_iansav]

sneaking in the final cap as spy on the 3rd stage is also fun too

[szabi]

Dustbowl has no dust and no bowl. Very bad map.