I really liked the first Titanfall, but I had the same complaint that a lot of other people had, there just wasn’t enough there. Respawn Entertainment must have been listening because that’s not an issue with Titanfall 2. It is a full gaming experience, unlike the first one that had no single player campaign. The developers built on what they created in the first game, and improved upon it.
As far as the graphics go, it looks good, I have no complaints. The frame rate is also solid, the resolution will change when needed to maintain the frame rate at about 60 frames per second. Respawn has said that if you are playing on a PlayStation 4 Pro the resolution will be higher, and still run at about 60 frames per second. No word from Respawn about how the game will perform on the Xbox Scorpio, that will be released in 2017. The audio sounds good too, I was listening to it in 5.1 surround sound, but you might want to turn your volume down a little, it’s kind of a loud game.
The single player campaign, is one of the best I have played in a while. To be honest when I heard that Titanfall 2 was going to have a single player story, I thought it would be just tacked on with not a lot of thought put into it, I was wrong. I won’t delve too much into the story as to not spoil it for anyone, but there is wall running, and problem solving where you and your mech must work as a team, neither of you will make it without the other. There is also an interesting playing dynamic that’s used in one of the missions that is really cool, and it would be a spoiler if it told you what it is, so I won’t. The whole relationship with the mech I really liked, and could have come off cheesy if it had not been done right.
When you exit your mech, its A.I. takes over, and it’s almost like having a second player, playing co-op with you. The mech will engage targets, and if an enemy mech shows up, your mech will engage on its own, leaving you free to fight whoever you wish, or you can always climb in and take over as pilot. This is a really cool part of the game, and works really well. You can also change your mechs weapon load outs to suit the situation at hand, and when wandering around outside of your mech pick up whatever weapons are laying around.
There are a wide variety of weapons in this game, some for your mech, some for pilots, each one sounds different, and performs different. Of course shotguns are devastating up close, and sniper rifles are devastating to long distance targets. Some guns you will pick up and really like, while others not so much. There are also the usual heavy weapons for dealing with mechs, and everything in between, including various types of grenades, and explosive charges.
The multiplayer modes are your standard fare, capture the flag, free for all, last titan standing, pilots vs. pilots, and so on. The one mode that stood out to me was bounty hunt. In bounty hunt you kill opposing pilots and mechs for points, if you get killed you lose some points unless you bank them. Bank your points whenever you can, and keep your head on a swivel, it can be dangerous. Remember the burn cards from the first game? They are gone, instead you have a variety of boosts to pick from before matchmaking, I like this system much better, with the burn cards I would often have multiple copies of the same card. Like the last game as you level up, new equipment, and customization options become available, and there are quite a few options to choose from.
There is one thing that does bother me a little about Titanfall 2 is that the developers, went a little overboard with the wall running in the single player campaign, it almost feels more like a platformer at times than a shooter, I was not expecting that, and can see how it might turn some people off. It does add an interesting wrinkle to the game play, setting it apart from the ordinary shooter. One thing I found that helped with the wall running was turning on auto sprint in the options menu.
My biggest disappointment isn’t with the game itself, it’s the fact that it’s not selling well, and I think it’s due to a couple of things. Being stuck in between the Battlefield 1 and the Call of Duty release doesn’t help, and I don’t think EA has marketed the game very well either, I have seen very little advertising promoting the game. For some reason Titanfall 2 is not part of EA Access, so there is no trial available like with other EA games, Battlefield 1 for example has a trial. This is a game that deserves to be played. By the way if you are wondering why there is no season pass, that’s because it was announced that dlc will be free, now that is a good marketing move.
So what’s my final verdict? The wall running in the single player campaign was just too much for my taste, but other than that I really enjoy playing it, this is just a really solid game. What do you think, too low, too high? As always feel free to leave us your thoughts in the comments.
Final Score: 9/10
