Titanfall

By: Robert Murphy

Well it looks like I’m finally able to pull myself away from the game to actually write this for all of you so strap in and prepare for titanfall everybody. Titanfall is perhaps the big ticket item many Xbox One players have been waiting to get their hands on or at least it is in my case and it sure was worth the wait. Players take on the role of pilots that run around the battlefield in 6v6 multiplayer or campaign matches but this is much more than just a shooter like Call of Duty, no your little pilots will jump across buildings, wall run and karate kick their way through enemies till they can spawn their monolithic partners called Titans. Titans are gigantic mech suits that spawn into the battlefield and allow you to cause insane amounts of damage with high powered weapons such as missiles, giant chain guns and more making your ego swell to all new levels.

The game almost solely focuses around a multiplayer mechanic but does try to mix in a campaign storyline where players will still face each other against teams of 6, one side being the IMC and the other side taking on the role of the Militia. There’s really not much more to it I’m afraid to say, at the beginning of the matches commanders on each side inform you of a vague objective to stop the other side and it basically turns into either side killing one another. It’s really rather hard to stay focused with just how much is going on in any given match between the gigantic robots walking around and pilots jumping around every which way. There is no single player element to the game, you will spend the entirety of your Titanfall experience with other players except for the quick and optional tutorial that shows you the elements of the game but honestly you can pick it all up incredibly easily.

Perhaps the most enjoyable feature to Titanfall is how balanced, fluid and easy it is to get lost in the maddening fun of every match you will play. Movement for the pilots and titans are very easy to pick up, pilots are equip with jet packs that act as a boost which recharges once you hit any number of walls making it a breeze to climb to rooftops or go from the ground to a nearby second floor window. Pilots also come equipped with a number of handy gadgets to aid you in battle as well and can suit any type of player’s style. Some include cloaking which will camouflage a player although rather crudely if you’re another player but will make you near invisible to a titan. Speaking of titans, they also come with a number of nifty tricks up their sleeves too and are just as easy to maneuver as your pilot although you won’t be parkouring up buildings with them but rather demolishing everything in your path with them. Titans come in three forms, the Ogre which is a heavier and more beastly looking machine that can throw its weighed around, the Stryder which is a skinny and nimble machine that will run circles around other titans and then the Atlas which is more of an all-around mech that is game for just about anything you can think up. All can take a number of weapons and abilities such as electric smoke screens, particle walls and locked on missile guidance systems, I mean you could drool over all the ways to customize and play.

What is great about Titanfall is that even if you lose your titan or haven’t earned yours by killing enemies on the battlefield to make your time go faster, you can still put up a fight against any titan as a pilot. Pilots come equipped with titan weapons that can be used just as effectively against titans as you would in a one on one fight in your own titan, you could take down a titan with the right vantage point and quick feet. There’s also the invigorating ability for pilots to rodeo titans, as a pilot you can jump on any titan variant, pop out a hatch on its head and start peppering bullets straight into its skull causing major damage and probably a pretty big headache as well. This of course can be countered by the titans pilot by any number of ways, either using the electric smoke screen and zap them off you or pop out of your titan and shoot him off yourself. The even footing is absolutely fantastic and are what make Titanfall such as stellar game.

Now before I finish things off I have to note the progression abilities in Titanfall and a few unique features that come along with it. Gaining XP in matches is a very easy thing to do where you can gain it in any number of ways such as killing enemies or killing enemies enough with a certain weapon and completing a challenge or even running a certain distance and beating a challenge that way, you’re doing so much in the game that XP is not at all hard to gain and excel through levels. As you do though you unlock new weapons, abilities and customizable pilot slots to use and experiment with and try out on your pilot or titan. Gaining XP isn’t the only thing you will receive though, you also will be given unique items called burn cards that are one trick items that you can select before a battle and use once you die. These cards can do any number of things such as respawn you right where you last died or allow you to use a weapon you don’t have access to in the game yet, the cards are used for that one life and then disposed of and they can be quite handy and fun to use. Once you reach the level cap of 50, you’re given the chance to “regenerate” effectively starting yourself over from scratch like “prestiging” in Call of Duty but in exchange for all your goodies you get a new tag icon and faster XP gain rate this time around. Honestly though I wouldn’t need it because of all you have access to right from the get go in Titanfall anyways and the massive amount of fun I had just playing the game to begin with.

In many ways Titanfall brought something entirely new to the world of FPS that we have all been accustomed to over the years and it is such an adrenaline ride from your very first match jumping and wall running like a mad man to the first time you hear “incoming titanfall” and you look to the sky in awe. Your campaign experience may not be much different from your multiplayer experience but honestly that is the main and only problem I have with the game. Pilots and titans are very customizable and offer their own unique abilities and still maintain even footing with each other even with the massive difference in size. All around Titanfall was an excellent experience and game to start off a new year in gaming for the new consoles and I can’t wait to get my hands on more.

Good:

-Incredibly well balanced whether you’re a pilot or a titan

-Fluid movement as you jump across maps

-Titan and pilot customization is a fun experience as you can play any number of ways with many different abilities for both

-Gigantic and awe inspiring mechs

Bad:

-A nice try at a campaign but it really ends up being more multiplayer

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10