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Titanfall 2 is sandwiched between the launch of Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare, and comes from Respawn Entertainment, a new software house founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella after their exit from Infinity Ward and Activision back in 2010. So far they have two released games under their belt – the original Titanfall which is a multiplayer only game, this sequel, and they are working on a Star Wars game for the future, according to their official website.
I passed up on the original Titanfall, a game I am still yet to play it even though I have it on Origin now through EA Access for the PC. Multiplayer-only games generally are something that I just don’t care too much for as I feel they can be a bit to competitive at times (bar a bit of Star Wars Battlefront, occasionally, on PS4).
The last time I really enjoyed a single-player campaign was Borderlands 2 – such a great game with superb atmosphere. New Doom is also a worthy title, but I did feel that towards the end of the campaign, it was getting a bit long-in-the-tooth with room after room that was setup to be an arena. Thankfully, Respawn know how to craft a compelling story driven single-player experience, and from the off, you are up to your knees in combat, right through to the finale with the game keeping you hooked.
The story, itself, is a decent bit of Sci-Fi. You will have seen it all before in gaming and other forms of media, but it is well written. You are a soldier that is training to be a Titan pilot; there is a corporation who has hired a band of mercenaries to steal an item so they can use it to power a rather large planet-destroying weapon (thankfully no Death Star from Star Wars!). Of course, your mentor bites the big one so you become his Titan’s new pilot and it is up to you and BT (your Titan, not the phone provider) to carry on and complete the assigned mission.
Each level in the game has it’s own set of rules and a specific feature. You will get something, then the remainder of the level will focus upon it. The first level gets you used to wall-running and piloting the Titan, while another focuses on environmental traversal where you’ll follow a prefabricated house factory that’s automated and riddled with enemy sentry robots and soldiers. At the end of this level, you’ll have to go up a wall of sorts with part-built houses. Other levels include all-out battles with your Titan, time-shifting which is really cool and you need to discover for yourself a level which that revolves round an arc gun (electrical type key). This are only a few of the memorable moments you will go through while playing Titanfall 2, so it keeps things fresh and moves forward at a steady pace.
Your Titan is an Artificial Intelligence machine. Various points during the levels you get a chance to chat with him while moving on (two reply options available through the D-Pad – up or down). There is some great shared dialog and you feel like there’s a true bond between man and machine. Some of the dialog had me laughing out loud – as an example, later in the game the thumbs-up scene is awesome. I also chuckled when taking the Arc Gun from a robot – when you take it, the screen on it’s stomach shows a pixelated unhappy smiley face, which all adds to the immersion.
Overall, it is worth jumping into the campaign and playing it through. It doesn’t feel like it has been an afterthought tacked onto the game in the last few months of development. Even the end credits have scenes in slo-mo of the actors (characters in game) with their Titans behind them and the other key NPCs from the game. There are a few scenes with your pilot being congratulated and shaking hands with the head commander etc. I would love to know what the very final scene with helmet is hinting at (I do have a thought on what it is)?!
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on the game.
The multiplayer aspect to Titanfall 2 is superb – I didn’t bother with the beta given my earlier mentioned stance on Multiplayer-only games. I wanted to experience this when the game came out without playing the original at all. From what I have read around the net, all issues that the original had have been resolved; Burn cards which were often spammed have been replaced now with a perk, as such (known as Boosts) – these gradually unlock as you level-up, so now these boosts are only available after an amount of participation in a match. Bottom-left you have a circle with an outline of your Titan. Score points from objectives and kills etc and a bar gradually fills round the orb; once two-thirds filled, you can activate your perk once and then not again until the bar has filled to said position. Things like grenades and the knife that is used as a sonar also are limited so cannot be constantly used, while after use you have to wait until the icon has filled again (similar to skills on RPGs).
There are plenty game modes available to suit all tastes – things like Pilot vs Pilot, Titan vs Titan, Capture the Flag, Last Man Standing & Amped Hardpoint to name but a few of them. Amped Hardpoint is my favourite – this is where you capture points on the map, make the capture bar go round the icon twice giving double score. You also have private matches and playlists that changes the game type after each round if you want to mix things up.
There are different Pilots and Titans available so you can go for the style that suits the way you play. For me, I use the ION Titan and the Pilot is the guy (you can choose male or female) that has the sonar dagger, which is handy for spotting incoming enemies when guarding a hardpoint. There’s also a good selection of primary weapons and sidearms, camo for said weapons, Pilot & Titan and many other customisation options, most of which can be unlocked through levelling-up or buying with the merit coins you get from playing the matches. Thankfully, there are no micro transactions and laying down real money to get this stuff.
Most multiplayer game modes usually last around 10 minutes, so you won’t be stuck in a neverending or long battle. Levelling-up isn’t done with a set amount of points like on other multiplayer games. To level-up, you need to have a set amount of merits, which you’ll get from each match. You get one for not quitting a match, plus points for your participation and using weapons effectively and so on, and there are “happy hours” where you can obtain even more merits. Overall, the progression doesn’t feel like a grind, and playing online is just as enjoyable as the campaign. It is the first time in a good while where I have fired up a game to want to play the muliplayer; it is easy to get into, rewards you regardless of your skill level and is just out-and-out fun.
The graphics are powered by a heavily modified version of Valve’s Source Engine. There are long view distances and nice-looking textures across the board. Human characters look great and the NPCs are quite varied. However, all the sentry robots look exactly the same, and one level after you have got into a foyer you are attacked by a load of these robots. There were groups on the floor with the same damage crawling towards you all in synchronisation with their movements. The same goes for the one standing that were damaged and heading towards you. There’s also a lack of variation with the types of soldier – there are only 2 or 3 variations, all looking exactly the same. One that does look different is the soldier that deploys a shield; he appears a bit stockier. The framerate throughout the game is completely stable. Even on the last few levels when all hell is breaking loose with soldiers and Titans everywhere on the battlefield, the game does not suffer controller lag or start stuttering.
The sound direction is great with all NPCs voiced (some enemies in the Titans do sound a bit over the top, and Richter sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger from Commando). There is an excellent tune which that plays on the title screen and I was loading some stuff up on my Amstrad CPC while listening to it as the game installed to my PS4 hard drive. All weapons have different sounds with the heavier ones sounding meatier etc. Once in your Titan, and the massive Robot Jox-style battles your controller shakes and you hear the thud of the footsteps and impacts of the missiles and various weapons up close and personal. Voice acting has a lot of soul on this game – there is true emotion felt with the bond between Cooper and BT, the commander of the Titan unit and so on, meaning it really puts you there. Voice talent is a cast of actors that have many games and animated series under there belt: Matthew Mercer (Monsters University, plus additional Voices and numerous video games), Glenn Steinbaum (The Amazing Spider-man 2), Andreas Beckett (Transformers: Age of Extinction), Amy Pemberton (Legends of Tomorrow) and way to many more to list here.
Summing things up, Titanfall 2 is a success on every level. The campaign is simply awesome. Something I like, in particular, is going back to basics on some things like a great story that captures your attention, not forgetting the excellent level design from the off with each having it’s own specific thing going for it, then the little things like only carrying a main weapon and a sidearm instead of your own personal arsenal. It all adds up to a superb experience. The combat live drop with your Titan is awe-inspiring dropping in from orbit, reminding me of Aliens but you land with a thud and it is time to storm the area with a team of Titans.
The multiplayer is flat-out fast-paced fun, I have spent hours playing the Amped Hardpoint mode. There are plenty of maps and game modes and I NEVER get sick of seeing my Titan drop in from Orbit!
Another big thing that stands out – the Day 1 patch is a mere 90Mb in size. That is nothing in comparison to some Day 1 patches I have experienced over the past few years. Not forgetting that, there is no season pass for this game – all future maps, modes and whatever Respawn Entertainment decide to add to the game will be completely free.
It is just a bit weird that it has launched between two of this years big name titles, Battlefield 1, beforehand, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare a week later. Hopefully, this won’t affect the sales of what is an awesome game. I certainly hope that Titanfall 2 does well and we see more titles in the future.
Thanks to the Youtube channels featured for the gaming footage.
Titanfall 2 is out now on PS4, Xbox One and PC, and click on the packshot for the full-size version.
Important info:
- Developers: Respawn Entertainment
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Players: Single player, multiplayer
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| OVERALL | 9.5 |
Retro at heart and lover of all things ’80s, especially the computers, the music and the awesome movies and TV shows! Crazy huge retro gaming collection spanning the ’80s and ’90s with hundreds of tapes, discs and carts for various machines on top of a 600+ strong Steam library that is ever-growing. No I am not a serial hoarder, just a dedicated retro gamer!
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