Format – Xbox One
Halo and Call of Duty have been around forever, with a new version of the game being released every year or two. They’re graphically amped-up with new maps and shiny guns, but it just doesn’t cut it for me. Titanfall looks to break boundaries by providing players with new ways to roam around while runnin’ and gunnin’ down your enemies. Oh, did I mention there’s giant robots you can pilot?
You get automatically sucked into Pilot Training Mode when you press play – it’s basically a fancy name for the tutorial. It’s very useful to get you used to the game’s mechanics like wall-running and double-jumping. It’s also where you’re introduced to your gigantic Titan of mass destruction.
After you’re done with the tutorial you have the option of playing the campaign, multiplayer, starting a private match, or going into training. This is a game made for online play, so I decided to dive head first into the depths of multiplayer, and I got wrecked.
If there’s one impression I got from playing my first game, it’s this: fast-paced action-packed giant-robot killing fun.
Titanfall ain’t no Call of Duty, ya hear? There is absolutely no camping in this game. If you camp, you die. That’s all there is to it. The only option you have is to run around or be killed.
If you’re not on a rooftop trying to shoot down a Titan, you’re in a Titan trying to kill another Titan. Or maybe you’re on the rooftop trying to jump onto a Titan so you can destroy it before it kills your team-mates. Or maybe you’re running away from a Titan that’s trying to squash you like a bug. I’m sorry – I’m getting carried away. My point is, there’s a lot going on in this game. A lot.
Titanfall has a total of five game modes with a unique twist: A.I. The importance of A.I. ranges from game mode to game mode and can be as little as a nuisance or vital for the win. Attrition is basically team deathmatch, Hardpoint Domination is similar to every other domination mode created, Capture The Flag is nothing new, and Pilot Hunter is team deathmatch with pointless A.I. – seriously, there’s no point for the A.I. to be in Pilot Hunter other than to look pretty and shoot with the damage equivalent of a potato launcher.
In Last Titan Standing, everyone begins in a Titan – you can pick which one you want. If you eject before you’re killed, you can keep playing as a Pilot – not that you’ll have much of a chance in that state, though.
There’s nothing really special going on in the weapons department, although the Anti-Titan weapons seem to add an interesting dynamic to the game. The Titans, on the other hand, are awesome. You have the Ogre (tank), which you unlock by playing the whole campaign, you have the Stryder (speed), which is unlocked by finishing part of the campaign, and then there’s the good old Atlas (balanced).
There’s a lot of ways to kill a Titan. You can blow it up with your Anti-Titan weapon or drag the pilot of the Titan out and throw them into a brick-wall. I prefer the latter.
The campaign isn’t a regular campaign. This campaign is different. The story just plain sucks. Don’t worry about paying too much attention to any of the talking that’s going on, unless you love horrible voice-acting and plot.
Other than the story, you’re playing campaign as if it were a multiplayer match. Only without the ability to choose what game mode you’re playing. The campaign is all online, and the only real reason to play is if you want to unlock the Titans. You do want to unlock the Titans.
The graphics in Titanfall are decent, but not absolutely jaw-dropping. It seems that the scale of the maps made it difficult to pay a lot of attention to detail. But the maps themselves are great. They’re gigantic, and you can go anywhere, on anything, as long as you’re within the boundaries. The fact that everything you see is scalable is amazing. This, coupled with intense wall-running acrobatics, makes going around the map not only efficient, but hella fun.
Areas for improvement
- Most games are too short, taking about five minutes to finish. This wouldn’t be so bad if the wait time between games wasn’t so damned long.
- The time it takes to spawn a Titan, is too short. It makes having a Titan feel less important, and therefore taking away from the “YES, I got a Titan!” effect
- Some perks are absolutely useless, and more interesting ones would be welcome
- Burn cards, although fun, can really give a team an unfair advantage. This can get frustrating
- There needs to be more incentive for regeneration other than a shiny badge next to your name
Final Analysis
Titanfall brings a breath of fresh air to the world of shooters with the addition of wall-running, A.I., and Titans. Map movement is insanely versatile, and if you have anything close to a decent connection there will be no noticeable lag. The game runs smoothly, but sometimes feels unfair due to burn cards. Unfortunately, there is no real sense of accomplishment in the game other than regeneration and beating the other team, which is good enough for some but not for others.
Technical Competency: 8/10
Graphic/Sound Quality: 8/10
Network Stability: 10/10
Overall Quality Grade: 8.5/10
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