Building comparison
head to head
Quake 4vsTeam Fortress Classic
Neither is meaningfully harder - they pose close to the same test. The widest gap is reads, and it is a single point.
Quake 4
Execution · Pure Mechanics
Fast arena-style shooter mixing a scripted Strogg campaign with twitch multiplayer.
Team Fortress Classic
Execution · Competitive PvP
The original class-based capture-the-flag shooter built on Quake movement.
Quake 4 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Team Fortress Classic leans Execution (Competitive PvP).
Quake 4Team Fortress Classic
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 8
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Quake 4
Aimbot plus strafe-jump inputs dominate both campaign and multiplayer
Team Fortress Classic
Conc jumps, rocket aim, grenade timing demand sharp hands
Reads5 vs 6
Team Fortress Classic leans a little harder on reads, though the gap is small.
Quake 4
Multiplayer duels reward predicting human positioning and timing
Team Fortress Classic
Human defenders adapt chokes and offense routes constantly
Variance2 vs 2
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Quake 4
Spawn and item timing add mild uncertainty
Team Fortress Classic
Open maps, little hidden information beyond flanks
Optimization4 vs 4
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Quake 4
Item control routes and weapon picks are learnable
Team Fortress Classic
Class picks and map routes are learnable but shallow
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.