As they usually do, Valve will be letting folks who have yet to purchase Team Fortress 2 download and play the full game for free for a trial period. The occasion is, natch, the upcoming free update to the first person shooter that will add new weapons for the Soldier and Demoman classes as well as the introduction of crafting to the game. If you have a Steam account you can go ahead and pre-load the free trial version now.

Meanwhile Valve has revealed the first of three new weapons for the Soldier class. The Direct Hit is a new version of the standard rocket launcher. While splash damage has been greatly reduced, rockets from the Direct Hit fire much faster and do more direct damage to the target. Meanwhile the Soldier class is still leading in the ongoing Soldier-Demoman War as each side tries to get that secret weapon. There's also some new Team Fortress 2 items to buy in the Valve online store. Oh, and there's a new Team Fortress 2 comic to check out.