Titanfall Preview

When Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched in 2007 and revolutionised the first-person shooter genre, almost no one saw it coming. Despite this, the game took the shooter out of the trenches of gaming and into the limelight. Now, in 2014, Titanfall is presenting the biggest change in FPS gaming since CoD4, only this time, the eyes of the gaming world are well and truly set on Respawn Entertainment and their game. Based on the beta and the rest of what we’ve seen so far, that pressure isn’t getting to the Respawn team. Titanfall is shaping up to be a truly next generation title with an embarrassing number of fresh ideas; all ideas that could indeed make this nothing short of a new era for the FPS genre.

Let’s not get carried away though, there are sure to be some out there who don’t know all that much about Titanfall; I certainly didn’t before I unwittingly signed up for the beta. Respawn Entertainment is a development team set up by the former Infinity Ward and Call of Duty head honchos Jason West and Vince Zampella; in many ways it appears to be a team devised solely for the creation of the next great FPS. The game itself is, at first glance, very familiar; basically a high-speed online multiplayer shooting game featuring giant mechs. Indeed, anyone who’s remotely familiar with CoD will ease into Titanfall. Make no mistake though, this is by no means Call of Duty with robots.

That much is apparent the first moment you drop into a game (literally, may I add). Titanfall is a much more fast-paced game than the current big name shooters; movement speed is radically increased, rocket packs on your player character make vertical play a breeze and acrobatics like wall running are consistently encouraged. Once again, these concepts aren’t exactly new, but Respawn seems to have nailed the balance between power and finesse. The long-winded, take-loads-of-damage style of Halo is nowhere to be found, but neither is the twitchy perfectionism of CoD. If there’s one predominating thought following from the beta, it’s that Titanfall’s mechanics are perfectly suited to the gameplay that Respawn are trying to create. It sounds obvious, but rarely do concept and mechanics match so seemingly effortlessly.

Of course running about as a pilot is only half of the deal, but that single half is, at least in the beta, incredibly fun to play. Wall running feels elegant and genuinely useful, shooting is snappy and satisfying and there’s a lot to be said about the ability to double jump and grab the edges of scenery. Mirror’s Edge is an easy point of reference, but there’s actually something a little more natural about the movement mechanics in the Titanfall beta. It seems unlikely that any significant changes will be made to this element of the game before release, so it’s exciting and reassuring to know that Respawn have got it sorted. The gunplay itself is also well designed through and through; there’s a strong sense while playing that this is a game created by people who really know what they’re doing

When the standard gameplay of Titanfall is so fun, it can be a bit of a challenge to initially enjoy the Titans themselves quite as much. Thankfully, it looks as though Respawn have also implemented the Titans very well. Compared to the speedy ground combat, the mechs feel slow and cumbersome, but that’s a design choice rather than a negative element. Hopping into your Titan and taking on the specks of human life beneath you is a powerful feeling, even more so when you consider that it’s an online multiplayer game. The various offensive and defensive tactics are great fun to play around with and learn; using them in combination is another one of those exciting gameplay experiences that Titanfall provides by the bucket load.

I’m at risk here of jumping to conclusions before the full game is even released, but with so much on offer in the beta, it’s difficult not to judge elements of the main game (such as the core gameplay) based on it. So close to release, it’s unlikely to change all that much over the next few weeks, so the excitement I’m feeling for Titanfall right now is based on an almost finished product; which is good to know. The only thing that’s really missing from the now defunct beta is the breadth of the game; or rather, the modes, maps, ranks and various unlockables that should keep players interested in the game long after the March release date. The beta offered a couple of excellent game modes (the Hardpoint mode was, in my opinion, a bit of a grind at this point), as well as a decent array of weaponry and customisation options. It’s clear to see the elements that the full game will fill out, and it’ll be interesting to see if it all fits into place as well as it did with the older modern warfare CoD games.

A grand total of 15 maps are expected to be part of the main game and based on the beta these could well be some of the most expertly crafted and visually designed multiplayer maps in any online shooter. The two maps we got to play around in were both excellent demonstrations of different combat styles in Titanfall. One encouraged vertical play with tight streets and tall buildings, while the other was far more open and led to ground and Titan-armed pilots working in unison. If there’s one current element of the game that seems a little less than excellent, it’s the inclusion of NPC allies and enemies that act mainly to fill the battlefield and provide cannon fodder for the human players. With only six pilots on each side, it’s a good decision to try to give the battlefields a little more life, but at the moment the AI itself feels a little lifeless.

The other potential problem, as with any online shooter, is the prospect of replayability. At this stage it’s almost impossible to say if Titanfall will be able to keep gamers playing long after release. Respawn are claiming that their (not-so) unique blend of online multiplayer and ongoing story will be a key element of the game that’s yet to be properly revealed; it’s an enticing prospect, but if there’s one thing Splash Damage’s Brink taught us, it’s that multiplayer FPS and story aren’t two concepts that blend all that well. So I’m waiting to be convinced on that front. The more traditional methods look to be the key points of interest. Ranking up will of course be most players’ primary concern, and it looks as though there will be plenty of stuff to unlock along the way: perks, upgrades, weapons, attachments, and all the same again but for the Titans as well. Despite all of this, there’s an argument that the satisfying gameplay will be enough to keep people playing; I for one, am sold on this theory.

Through all the speculation and anticipation, the claims of revolution and evolution, it was the little things that made me happy while playing the Titanfall beta. The terrific noise that blasts through your speakers as you engage Titanfall - a sort of explosive sputter followed by a supersonic bang - is probably my current favourite element of the game. The way you can rip a pilot out of his Titan once his health is low is another neat feature. The fact that it doesn’t take a ridiculous number of bullets to take a man down was what initially intrigued me upon starting the game. Then there’s the genius epilogue that ends each game with a mad dash for an extraction jet, making even the most one-sided of battles feel intense by the final bell.

Despite all of this, what really made me believe in Titanfall is the fact that in my very first game, I felt as though I’d performed exceptionally well and played a crucial part in the team. It turned out that I’d finished bottom and compared to the other players, had done pretty poorly. That’s a metaphor (of sorts) for Titanfall so far as a whole: you may suck, you may lose, you may not instantly grasp the game, but you’ll have fun playing it. By the time you’re actually good, you’ll probably be totally won over already. The full game is set for release for PC and Xbox One in the US, EU and UK on March 11th, 13th and 14th respectively, with the 360 version arriving a little later (I’ll avoid the speculation as to why). I started playing the Titanfall beta almost completely uninterested in the game; now, just a week later, I can’t believe I’ve been ignoring it. Playing Titanfall made me feel like a CoD4 noob all over again; and that’s a feeling I’ve been longing to experience since 2007.