No Introduction Needed – This Is TitanFall
TitanFall aims to reshape the FPS genre in a way that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare did on previous generation consoles & PC. To that end, Respawn Entertainment has melded a campaign-like story into a 6-on-6 multiplayer experience to try and shake up the typical feel of a competitive match. This is accomplished by AI characters giving background to battles before and after they have done (usually during, too), which makes the experience seem less shallow and a bit more immersive. However this entire “campaign” is exactly the same experience that you’ll face should you decide to run for what Respawn calls “Classic Mode”, which features the various gametypes for simply competitive matches without all the backstory being filled in. For the story side, it’s kind of cool – a sci-fi future where rival factions are warring against each other over differences in humanity’s direction and who controls it away from Earth. The only problem with this is that the story is nearly lost when you’re playing the campaign mode. This is largely due to TitanFall being so action-packed that it nearly drowns out everything going on. For those that care, you’ll likely want to avoid playing campaign mode with friends so you can determine what’s happening with the characters and worlds you encounter. Otherwise, there’s just too much noise to focus. But in a way it’s the thought that counts, and the campaign mode makes for some interesting play – especially when it’s mandatory to unlock other classes of titans within the game. Lastly, you will play as both factions to observe the story from different angles – something that is a bit rare and adds a bit of interest to a game that makes no mystery over its focus on multiplayer.
As for the multiplayer, it’s honed. You will be hard pressed to find a more approachable yet robust online experience anywhere. Call of Duty thrived in the FPS world for years, but its reign may have just ended with the first iteration of TitanFall. It’s because everything is so purposeful, whether that be the weapon balancing, player-to-titan balancing, titan options, loadout customizations, burn cards (similar to killstreaks in CoD). It’s as if Respawn Entertainment slaved over the appropriate tone, pacing and intention of the game so that any player can pick it up and play it to at least modest success. In Call of Duty, you can carry a team on your back as a lone wolf and rampage over an enemy team simply by being so much better. TitanFall does carry a vague feeling of lone wolf rewards, but it certainly lends itself better to team play, especially when the titans start dropping. There’s too much going on and it’s too easy to get flanked or assassinated from behind by enemies should you make the mistake of staying in one spot too long. This makes the game constantly progress in its movement, and playing with friends heavily beneficial as you may not be the best in the business yet simply communicating and making some attempt at strategy would likely reward you with wins.
Since the game is basically multiplayer-only, the only lingering question is whether or not TitanFall can go the distance and remain relevant and loved six months from now or whether it will be more short-term in its effectiveness. Players out the gate are praising it heavily, and rightfully so. Yet it’s hard to shake the feeling that the substance could potentially thin out for fans that invest heavily into the game in its first month or two out. To combat this, TitanFall includes 15 multiplayer maps at launch and a small handful of traditional gametypes. There’s your Attrition (deathmatch-themed), Hardpoint (domination/territories), Capture the Flag, Last Titan Standing (round based with titans @ start, no respawns), Pilot Hunter (only pilot kills count toward team score, team deathmatch-style), and variety pack (random gametype selection). Just like Call of Duty, you’ll have a level system that opens up weapons and abilities to help give you a leg up in certain situations as you progress. The cap is 50, and there is a “prestige” option called “regeneration” which makes you a second-gen, third-gen, etc. pilot until you hit the cap of tenth generation pilot. As you open up these new generations of pilots, you’ll be taken back to level 1 but with some bonuses. You’ll earn XP faster – a lot faster. The second generation pilots will double their XP intake. Expect experienced players to probably run about 10-15 hours of play time or longer to hit the first level cap before regenerating.
Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts also are aiming to keep things fresh with future DLC and updates. At this time we know that three expansion packs are due for TitanFall which will include maps and likely weapons and Titan addons. Each segment of DLC will run you $9.99 if you purchase them alone, $24.99 if you invest in the seasons pass. But don’t just expect the usual DLC content to come your way. Respawn are going to watch their forums and get all the feedback they can to see how the game is being played and what people want going forward. There will be free updates, according to Respawn, that will potentially add small and large game content to hone the playing experience and perhaps keep it from being put in a box. At launch the game only supports 792p resolution on the Xbox One. Respawn is not happy with that and have promised improvements in due time. As they continue to learn the hardware of the Xbox One it is said that the game will either tag a 900p resolution with FXAA (smoothing effects) or 1080p resolution without FXAA (no additional smoothing effects). The question is which will be smoother (consistently 60 FPS) as they get into the lifecycle of this now-released game. There is also talk of increasing player caps. The most extreme rumors tell of a 16v16 setup at some point. Take that with a grain of salt, however we do see perhaps a 7v7 or 8v8 very likely. Anything beyond 10v10 would probably be too chaotic for many of the maps, and it would only strain the GPU of all platforms it’s released on. We bring this up in the review simply because Respawn have been so transparent about it, thus it’s important to take these improvements and additions into account now since they’re confirmed in one way or another.
For the time being, TitanFall is excellent. It hits a lot of high notes and does nearly everything perfect from the beginning to end. If the story could be a little more intentional we wouldn’t complain, and some launch bugs do exist although they seem to be mostly server-side. Had Electronic Arts allowed this game to undergo another couple of months of development there could have been more in the mix. Much like Windows 7 and Windows 8 during their prerelease development cycles, there was a deadline and TitanFall had to be good to go by then. Respawn decided to do what the former Microsoft head of Windows Steve Sinofsky did – pull out what can’t be completed in time in favor of perfecting what must be available day-one. It would be more convenient for gamers to get the whole package right away and it seems to be a trend from EA lately, pushing titles that aren’t complete to launch (resulting in some pretty buggy titles for months after launch). But Respawn Entertainment is heavily invested in the success of TitanFall and have the expertise to make it grow in the future. Since it comes just under four months after the Xbox One’s launch, TitanFall is a must-buy for any shooter fans with online access. It really doesn’t stumble on what it delivers and offers the promise of a better tomorrow for gamers that are in it for the long-haul. To see such a great title come out and know that it’s only going to get better is very exciting.
Grade: 9.0
Xbox One Game Source 