It's hard not to have TitanFall on your radar. Even before it won game of the show, as well as every "best of" category it was entered in at E3 2013, the hype for this "next gen" mega blockbuster was already in full swing. We were delighted by visions of COD meets Mech Warrior, and Titanfall promised us the next big thing not just in online multiplayer, but in games overall. And now it’s finally (kind of) here. After the disappointing announcement of 6v6 maps and a lot of criticism of the game’s AI, is it possible it to live up expectations? I've only had a fragment of the game and just over 72 hours, but I already have the answer.
The basics work (basically)
No one reinvested the wheel here, yet we get something with a lot of uniqueness. The core is what you would expect from an online shooter; you kill people while completing objectives dictated by your game mode, earning points which level up your pilot and unlock new and improved weapons and attachments to use on your next mission. The matches are small, with only 6 humans on each team, and map sizes that would be called middle of the road in other games. What sets Titanfall apart is a focus on mobility and egress. The maps are littered with multiple level buildings with various ways to enter or leave, be it wall jumping in a window or double jumping to the roof. On the goal focused modes of hard point and domination, this design really stands out and replaces chock points with a much more fluid reality. You can’t defend by standing still because the counter attack could come from anywhere. Adding to the chaos are two squads of AI solders on each team, one of mindless bullet catchers called grunts, and one of slightly better and far more interesting computer controlled robots called specters. Although the AI is laughable and not likely to provide a challenge for even the greenest of players, they focus on flushing players out of camping spots and forcing them to reveal themselves on the mini map and provide covering fire rather than trying to kill anyone. It’s a bunch of small changes a time tested formula that works well in creating something that plays and feels different. Perhaps too well in fact.
Fresh to a Fault
Making a online shooter is always a balancing act. It need to be close enough to it's contemporary that anyone can pick it up and understand the flow of game play, but unique enough that it's not just another clone. TitanFall gets this half right, and it's not the half you expect. This game isn't COD with Mech's; it's not COD at all. Online shooters have always been about range and lanes. You run though buildings to fight shotgun vs. SMG, you run outside at test the snipers, and you run the covered lane if you want to engage with mid range rifles and side arms. It's not the guns or the same macho feel that makes every COD clone feel the same; it's this simple mechanic played out over and over, so far in the background that most don't even notice it. TitanFall’s added mobility takes lanes out of the equation altogether. This game has double jump jet backs standard, a wall jump, the ability to pull yourself onto ledges, and every building has an interior. This makes the quickest way from point a to point b whatever you want it to be and this forces you to play on the move. Camping is almost impossible; outdoors you can't hide your titan, and even the best hiding spots for your pilot are simple to flush out with one of these giants. Corner camping requires chock points, which the maps simply don’t’ have. This benefits game play dramatically; I didn’t find myself cursing at the screen after a cheap death even once. Unfortunately there is a learning curve here and that may put off some of the core shooter fans who don't want to relearn what they have been comfortably doing for the last 10 years. Matches are also shorter than what we’re used to, and that’s a good thing. Each battle requires constant focus without even a respawn timer to let you catch your breath in most modes. I feel like I’m playing harder in a 6 minute Titanfal map then a 15 minute COD map, and by the end I’m feeling a bit fatigued.
Remember the Titans
At some point you’re going to want to pony up one of these massive armoured warriors and take it for a spin. In most game modes, a timer ticks down with every second and every kill until you can call in your very own titan, vastly increasing your firepower and making you almost impervious to small arms and grenades. It’s not god mode by any means; you are still venerable to the anti-titan weapons carried by both players and bots, and the bots seem to be a lot less stupid when dealing with a Titan. For all their power, titans change game play less than you would expect for the best possible reasons. By empowering the pilots with a huge tool set, including mobility, anti-titan weapons, the ability to jump on a friendly titan to move around or an enemy titan to take it down, respawn has done the impossible. They make having a titan fell like a huge advantage without ever making not having a titan feel like a disadvantage. In fact I find that staying outside my titan while allowing the computer to auto-pilot it for me is a more effective strategy then taking control myself in most game types. There is something insanely satisfying about ordering a giant mech suit to guard a door while you flush people out of a building on foot. Titans also ensure an ever changing battle field as the safe zones change dramatically based on how many titans are on the map at a given time, as does the role you should be playing. Victory in Titanfall will depend heavily on how quickly you can adjust from using your pilot to control the ground and take objectives before titanfall, and use mobility and high vantage points in David vs. Goliath matches after Titanfall. More importantly, both in and out of your titan, you full in control, powerful, and are having a great time.
Quite a looker
Side by side Ryse or even Shadow Fall on the same TV, Titanfall holds its own. The gun and character details are outstanding and the maps are bursting with detail. The titans are the easy standout, and are some of the best looking animated models I have ever seen. There are some chinks in the armor however. Nothing is destructible, the grass doesn’t move in the wind, and you can’t even shot a soda can off a desk. You can also see a reduction in visual fidelity as you move out from the center of the screen towards the edges, as there is obviously some code wizardry at work here to maintain the fram rate at all costs. It’s good and it’s bad news; it’s defiantly going to impress, and given that the game will release with a higher resolution then the already great looking beta it very well might be the best looking game we’ve seen to date on a console. That said, most fans are looking for a game which is going to show the world that the Xbox One can be just as powerful as the PS4, and this isn’t it. When you look closely what you see instead is brilliant graphics design that allows a game to look better than anything else we have seen despite the gap in power. You see compromise where you want to see bravado.
The Last Word
Titanfall made a lot of promises and is able to deliver even in an extremely limited beta. We can’t say what the full game is going to add, but what we are already playing would easily be worth full price and is one of the best new games of this generation. However, this is a game built by a competitive shooter team for a competitive shooter audience, but what’s being offered breaks the mold perhaps too much. Ultimately its success will rely on how successful respawn is in getting the core audience to embrace the mechanics, and how well the story and other aspects not seen in the beta will bring new players to the genre. Either way I’m hooked. This game is a must have for anyone who enjoys action and wants to be part of the next big thing.
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