Titanfall Expedition - As We Play

Platform: Xbox One

Version: 1.5

I don’t think this is too bold a statement to make of Titanfall: it has utterly reinvigorated my enthusiasm for online FPS multiplayer. I have rarely wanted to keep playing deathmatch – or in this case, Attrition – time and time again, but Respawn’s debut game keeps pulling me back in. And frankly, I’ve never felt so compelled to want to own a Season Pass, despite knowing very little of what to expect. Which makes Expedition’s appearance a very uplifting, yet conflicted experience indeed.

Expedition offers three new maps and two new playlists (Attrition and Variety) to the game. But that’s about it. No new achievements. No new game-modes. No new burn cards, weapons, Titan models, pilot figures, campaign additions or anything. Content-wise, Expedition is very limited, which already makes it a very disappointing start to the Season Pass.

To make matters worse, the latest patch on Xbox One has made the game insufferable online. Since Expedition launched, my game has hard-crashed to the dashboard at least six times, I’ve been regularly disconnected from games, the lag has been horrendous and there have been random disconnects in between all of that.

The problems definitely seem to have improved now we’re outside of launch weekend, but it has made my review scheduling for this content pretty challenging.

Still, Expedition’s new maps are – mostly – a success and definitely add some nice punch and variety to an already varied series of environments.

Runoff

Let’s get the weakest out of the way, then. Running through, you’d swear you’re look at the same environments that were a part of the main game, such as old, rusted and rundown buildings and worn high rise blocks. To be blunt, there’s very little that’s fresh about Runoff. Other than a few areas designed for wall-running, which can make jumping between gravity-defying spots a joy, the map is the standard fare you’d expect from Titanfall.

While there’s nothing particularly wrong with Runoff, it feels like the fifteen others that already shipped with the game and when it eventually ends up in rotation on an all-encompassing playlist, you’d be hard-pressed to work out that you paid a bit extra to play it. Unfortunately, considering the already limited amount of content in Expedition, having a sub-par map in this package is a very bitter pill to swallow.

Last Titan Standing mode is probably the best way to experience Runoff and is the only one of the three new maps that really manages it well. There’s a nice open playground that can make evading rockets and robotic lefthooks nice and easy. Capture the Flag also works very nicely as there are plenty of ways to move between bases and almost all capture attempts will end up in some form of conflict, and Hardpoint offers some nice, frantic action.

Attrition is, as you might expect, carried by Titanfall’s generally excellent gameplay on Runoff and certainly isn’t made any more interesting by the map itself. Fortunately the variety playlists do make this a more enjoyable place to be.

3/5

Swamplands

Now this is where Expedition gets interesting. The map splits itself out into old, abandoned buildings with long, winding steps and control centres, but all of this takes place out in the depths of a swamp. A murky, mucky old swamp with trees protruding out of sludge-infested water. Players will be running across branches, sniping from tree trunks and bouncing between old oaks in an attempt to dodge gun-fire and volatile Titans.

Unquestionably, Swamplands is the feature map in the Expedition collection and one of the best Respawn have developed to date. It exercises their creativity wonderfully, creates a refreshing environment in which to engage in warfare and contains a new few surprises for players, such as the ability to shoot down perched Flyers and meet other unique wildlife. It even offers a deeper insight into the Titanfall narrative and perhaps hints at where the series may be heading in future content packs and instalments.

Attrition really comes alive here. Just when the old maps were starting to wear thin, Swamplands really does enough to invigorate interest and excitement. The dynamic potential here is mouth-watering and it pushes the game into unexplored, yet altogether familiar territory. The map is large and fulfilling, and you’ll find much of the action does take place indoors and at the centre, but there’s a whole other portion of this map which can often feel quite empty and is rife for an ambush.

There are plenty of buildings to scale and vantage points to find and the attention to detail is sublime, with gorgeous water effects, backdrops and greenery distancing this from anything else you can find on the disc.

Fighting through the trees perhaps could have been slightly better. I’d have liked to have seen more opportunities to run along the trees in form of a path and really test out people’s acrobatic skills, but this is still a nice refreshing aesthetic that is sure to keep people playing the classic modes until the next pack rolls around.

4.5/5

War Games

Now here’s the unexpected surprise. War Games is a complete change of pace and style and feels like a half-linked up Next Generation Holodeck, merged with Tron’s sprawling, virtual reality landscape. Players start the game being put into stasis and are then ‘hooked up’ into this presumed training ground area. Everything is very colourful and vibrant but all depicted in a post-modern, cyber-games way. It looks and sounds great, and sees further visual creativity when an enemy is gunned down during battle. Rather than bleed out on the floor, they disintegrate into the digital ether, then respawn via teleport and start over.

There are plenty of wall-running opportunities and high-rise tunnels to fight through and this makes the map attractive for all game types. The corners are all rather abrupt and unexpected, so it does take a while to navigate your way around and figure out where you are and what your next move is going to be, but once it clicks, you can expect dynamic showdowns unlike any you’ve seen in Titanfall so far.

As with the others, plenty of open space is enabled for Titans to get involved as well, however I don’t feel that either War Games or Swamplands do as good of a job as Runoff in really making Titan battles feel inclusive of the rest of the fight. It almost feels like the Titans are kind of rounded off in their own pen to fight and get on with it, while the Pilots take up the bulk of the map so they can do the aerial acrobatics and enjoying their sniping spots. The variety game types will definitely see Titans and Pilots collide more often, but with Attrition, I definitely got slight dethatched vibes.

But War Games remains a lovely map. It really does have a bit of everything, and again, it has a wealth of creativity totally absent in Runoff. Between this and Swamplands, Titanfall has really got two mainstays that are certain to be enjoyed by many players again and again.

4/5

The Good Stuff

Swamplands and War Games are, arguably, Titanfall’s best maps.
Really refreshing environments that are a breath of fresh air for the game modes.
Graphically stunning

The Bad Stuff

Awful network issues and hard-crashes which need to be immediately resolved.
Runoff is fairly sub-par
Frame-rate dips and performance issues when action gets hot and heavy.
Limited content. Only 3 maps for the price.
Still no further game-modes offered to help keep things fresh

Final Analysis

Respawn should have waited a month and given us a bit more bang for our buck. Two out of three maps are pretty great and totally rejuvenate the game just as people are starting to move away and play other things, but Titanfall needs more than just pretty environments to keep us coming back for more. The next content pack really needs to offer more missions, loadout opportunities, abilities and game types in order to really make this Season Pass seem like an essential purchase. There are also some serious, game-breaking issues that are certain to dissuade the average gamer, and with the unnaturally fast-pace of the FPS online multiplayer market, these issues could permanently damage the game’s reputation the longer they are allowed to fester.

Expedition is competent and fun. Fighting through the trees and wall-running on virtual placards is part of the rejuvenation Titanfall needs, but we just hope that content updates are offered more regularly and they provide a much-needed variety for a game that is noticeably starting to run out of steam.

Technical – 6/10
Graphics – 8/10
Sound – 8/10
Network – 5/10