Should you play Titanfall 2?
Tl, DR: Yes, the game is regularly on sale for under $10 dollars looks amazing, plays smoothly, is well balanced between in multiplayer, and has a fun 6-8 hour campaign that has builds a relationship between the player and the game. This is anything but a shooter on rails where you shoot, reload, repeat.
But only if you want an enjoyable game from a studio that cares about its art.
I’m going to get this off my chest, it burns me to recommend any game published by EA, but I am taking that bias and shoving it for this review. Also, no spoilers.
Title: Titanfall 2
Genre: First Person Shooter / Mechfighter
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Publisher: EA
Engine: Source (Yes, the one that Valve made back in the day when they still made video games)
Released: October 28, 2016
Why you probably never played it: The release was sandwiched in with Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1, and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare. All three of those other games were also sequels but with more clout and significantly higher expectations. What the release schedule did was mask a terrific game from the holiday period for 2016. (Overwatch and Dishonored 2 also released in 2016 and have represented themselves fairly well.)
Back Story:
Titanfall, originally published in March of 2014, introduces the Titanfall universe and explains through loading screens and well, the internet instead of the game that prior to the game humanity had started space exploration and live in a region of explored space considered the frontier (like the wild west with robots and AI). Instead of just the Sol solar system we now have many inhabited systems and many more uncharted worlds. To reach these distant systems the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation funded expeditions and promised settlers support. Low and behold they go back on their promise and leave the settlers stranded for several decades leaving the Frontier independent from the core systems. The IMC returned and laid claim to the frontier who united under the Frontier Militia and thus began the Titan Wars. The IMC claims victory and takes the next 15 years hunting down the Militia.
Titanfall starts with the militia on the run and through some twist, turns, and lots of multiplayer matches they are able to strike back at the IMC and cripple their resupply and reinforcement route. Titanfall 1’s plot generally came through a little hard to understand because as a player you typically joined the best match available and not the next one in a storyline.
Five (Titanfall) years later we get to Titanfall 2’s story and are introduced to rifleman Jack Cooper, our protagonist who is paired with a Titan through overwhelming odds and the campaign beings. Titanfall 2’s campaign is a much more succinct method of telling the story and you can tell that Respawn put a lot of effort into the story and campaign of the game. This campaign reminds me of Respawn’s earlier work in the Call of Duty franchise when we cared about the characters.
Single Player Gameplay:
The single player campaign for Titanfall 2 is a well-paced shooter that has a little bit of everything over a 6-8 hour experience. My only real complaint was that the levels are broken into several different parts with loading screens but it was released a few years ago and a 40 Gb game was huge! Additionally, the loading screens are some great artwork and summarize key parts of the plot. The first level does a good job of orienting the player to the traditional aspects of a First-Person Shooter and then starts to introduce wall running which when done correctly is extremely satisfying and enthralling. That being said, the Pilot’s Gauntlet which is the introduction to wall running, I probably played for two or more hours alone to try and get a decent time on the wall. I broke 50 seconds which according to Reddit’s r/Titanfall not a good time, but felt like an accomplishment to me. The game mechanics are not hard to learn but take some practice to master.
It didn’t take long after completing, well walking away from, the pilot’s gauntlet that the player is introduced to real combat. And things don’t exactly go as planned for the militia. The story, which I am not going to spoil here, introduces new mechanics to provide so much more than just run, shoot, reload, repeat.
The campaign writing is meaningfully more pronounced and impactful than many first-person shooters with only a few campaigns that stick out in my head as worth playing through for a second, third, or fourth time for the story. The player gets to have some interaction as the pilot talking with his linked titan, BT-7274, select one of two options and BT will respond appropriately. Over time through the game, the relationship that forms is fresh and lively, and those that have endured shared misery with their friends will understand the bond that forms between man and mech-beast.
Titanfall 2 is anything but a short on rails with excellent pacing between shooting, puzzles, movement challenges, and gameplay between pilot and titan time.
Multiplayer Gameplay:
Multiplayer gameplay is more difficult to judge at this point for several reasons. The player base is not nearly as large as it once was and it due to the fumbled release with all of the other titles it was never that large, to begin with. Currently, the largest player base is on PC and there is an active subreddit r/titanfall where finding more efficient lobbying techniques are discussed periodically. Apex legends did breath some new life into Titanfall 2 multiplayer as the games are set in the same universe.
Gameplay as a pilot in multiplayer is about moving quickly and knowing the map. Due to the added speed of wall running and the two and a half years of practice most of the current player base has had there are some extremely proficient players who are capable of some extremely amazing sniper shots while flying through the air after doing some insane grapple hook techniques.
Even when dying to other players I have quite a bit of fun because the map is still populated by NPC grunts who I can pick off with ease and ensures that even on my worst day I’m still able to shoot something and not get frustrated. (Warning, they do shoot and melee back)
Level Design:
As you run through a level and start vaulting down walls, double jumping, shooting, and going all flying kung fu you realize that the levels are also designed superbly to allow aggressive horizontal and vertical movement and enjoy learning the controls. In single player, the easier difficulties are fun to practice wall running and shooting at targets while in multiplayer it’s entertaining to try and reach new spots by different movement techniques.
Moving, shooting, and fighting as the pilot is just as much fun if not more so than the titan combat because of how well the campaign and levels are designed and implemented. As a longtime advocate of doing something simple and doing it well Titanfall 2 hits the nail on the head for adding running on walls and executes to perfection with longer rooms, more open spaces, large vertical access, and rarely puts the player in a Tube or hall too short that would limit freedom of movement.
Then there is Titan combat and you simply feel powerful when you play as BT-7274 or multiplayer titans. For the campaign, I wish I could have upgraded BT’s shields and some other capabilities I found myself at a good balance between health, shield, and the ability to heal. I also found the seven different load outs scattered across the campaign to be fun and each one unique enough to serve a purpose and a gameplay style. There is a large-scale titan battle and I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun that fight was taking down other titans, shooting, moving, doing all of my different abilities to swing the tide in the militia’s favor. In the multiplayer, there are enough open sight lines and large areas that Titan Play can be dominating but enough nooks and crannies that pilots aren’t just cannon fodder.
Art:
The levels are simply gorgeous and although they’re very linear in design they do not feel that way when you are playing due to the wonderful art and style used in the game. A disclaimer, this last playthrough I JUST completed because I wanted the footage for the review and it’s a fun game, was recorded on an RTX 2080 equipped PC. That being said, if you polish a turd, you are still going to have a turd at the end of the day. Titanfall 2 is not a turd; in fact, visually I would say that Titanfall 2 holds up fairly well against 2018 and 2019 releases. When inside a building or structure there is sufficient detail that it looks great, and I’ll be honest when I was inside structures, I didn’t go up to the bookshelf to see if I could read the title on the spine, but I was able to clearly make out the different books.
Gun Fu:
Gun gameplay in Titanfall 2 is fun for me. The player’s health is fairly low but that meant moving faster or realizing there were too many enemies and using a sniper rifle. Multiplayer really rewards the mobility of pilots and titans and sitting still and sniping is not often rewarded (outside of a few particular spots).
Wall running and gunning down enemies is entirely too entertaining especially when combined with sliding under a door to surprise people. To be fair this extra mobility and agility come at a cost, if you are in multiplayer getting used to the even faster twitch speed reactions of veteran player can seem daunting at first. Finding that perfect balance between running and aiming down sights is key, and a heck of a lot of fun to boot as well.
Titans:
There are a lot of buttons for Titan Control but rather easy to learn on a console controller, remapping is highly suggested for PC players.
The classes are broken down into Stryder or Light Class, Atlas or medium class, and Ogre or heavy class. The Stryder is more maneuverable relying on evading damage and hitting quickly, Ogres are heavily armored, slow, and hard to take down, while the Atlas class is a decent combination of the two. The seventh, Monarch, is based on the Vanguard titan and is another heavy class. Titans are completely rebalanced from Titanfall 1 and it has made the multiplayer experience much more fun and entertaining.
Monetization:
The bad: There is expensive digital content for sale within Titanfall 2 to include four DLCs of cosmetic items.
The good: There are no loot boxes and the DLCs are strictly cosmetic only, all of the content updates were distributed for free to the entire player base to prevent segmenting the players and reducing online multiplayer lobbies.
Overall: I’m disappointed in the price points but grateful for no loot boxes and no pay to win, it’s the small victories.
Additional Information:
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Age Range Recommendation: I do not recommend this game for young teens and below. There is a significant amount of blood, gore, shooting, some dismemberment, and death. I personally don’t know where anyone’s kids are in maturity, so obviously if you are a parent and you want to play with your kid I recommend playing the game solo first and seeing if you are comfortable exposing your minions to the digital violence of a battlefield.
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Purpose of the game: Titanfall 2 isn’t going to teach us anything new, it’s for entertainment. However, the puzzles and some of the sequences required in the game help foster creative thinking. This game requires thinking in three dimensions instead of just two.
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Monetization- There is heavy monetization push on the multiplayer side of Titanfall 2. Banner, icons, weapon skins, titan skins, etc. The prices are absolutely insane for a little piece of digital cloth or banner. I was really shocked by some of these prices.
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Parental Controls: There are no parental controls that I was able to find. Blood, gore, etc did not turn down or off.
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Online interaction: There is no requirement to have online interaction with other individuals when playing the single-player campaign. Online multiplayer will allow for interaction online but I have been able to mute individuals I didn’t want to listen to. There are also online networks similar to other games’ clans or guilds which make finding online matches a little easier.
In summary:
Yes, I do recommend spending a few dollars on Titanfall 2 and enjoying a great 6-8 hour campaign experience and a highly entertaining multiplayer game. I do not recommend it for tweens and younger and with a heavy price tag of monetization in multiplayer ensure that there is a method of purchase prevention on whatever account if being played on if you don’t want to buy cosmetics.
If you have any more questions or want a more in-depth look at the game, there is an updated review at https://youtu.be/pxVSBrqrAYo
Submitted June 09, 2019 at 10:47PM by Ridir99 http://bit.ly/2I5i351
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