NERD – So, I was a big Titanfall fan despite the lack of a proper single player campaign mode. I still had a ton of fun and always spouted how good the game was. I mean, at the time, you did things in this game that you couldn’t do in other FPS’s: wall running, calling a Mech down from the proverbial sky, and clamoring onto a mech to destroy it. It was Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.. before Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Now, everyone has double jumps (Destiny, COD:AW/BOPS3), clamoring (Halo, COD series), some type of mech (Halo, COD: Infinite Warfare), and wall running (Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst). So, how does a company like Respawn advance their tech and make it stand out from the crowd? Grappling hooks. Yes, you can now grapple anything: walls, cliffs, roofs, stones, the ground, a mech, a dude. Players can even grapple an enemy pilot and pull them towards you. Seems cool on paper and in CGI trailers, but in real life how does it work? Sure not like magnets.
@TravMoody
GEEK – Having had friends over at Respawn, I was a huge supporter of the first Titanfall–until a few weeks after its release. It just got stale. Despite an awesome group of people who both developed and helped publish the game (hell, they gave all of the title’s DLC for free at one point), the sheer excitement of doing all of the things Adam mentioned above just wasn’t enough. TF1 was a highly addictive 4.5 Bible beta that wound up a 3.5 Bible game with no proper campaign. It was fun for a bit until there was nothing truly out there to accomplish. Thankfully with Titanfall 2, the multiplayer mode improved enough to keep the adrenaline pumping and we have a proper standalone journey that should properly utilize Respawn’s already fantastic intellectual property. Let’s see how the narrative holds up!
ADAM – Monsignor, did you get to play both of Titanfall 2‘s “Tech Tests”? The first week was beyond bad, not feeling like Titanfall at all. In fact, the Titanfall community (yes, there is one) labeled it Fall of Titans, Titanfall of Duty, NeverTitanfall, etc. The biggest complaints were the Titanfall meter. In TF1 the titan meter would slowly build up through time, kills, and objectives reached. So, you didn’t have to kill and you could still get a Titan. So, about 1/4 into a match the landscape would have mechs strolling around; halfway through and everyone would have a mech. This game? They decided to base it solely on kills. Thus, the one side that is dominating had mechs. Your team? Still running around looking like morons. Wall running felt slow and, now, you could get shot while doing it. Movement was slow as molasses and the two maps had frustratingly welcomed campers.
MOODY – Glad I missed last week then! You can thank Madden NFL ’17.
ADAM – You were very lucky! Not sure if you heard the “Titanfall” of it all, either, but the weekend of that test saw the Respawn forums littered with cancelled Titanfall 2 pre-orders and negative responses to the game, many requesting a return to the initial experience. At first, Respawn was like “Dude, That game was like a pre-build, brah. It’s like that June version at E3. It’s so not that way now, breh.” The internet laughed. Then, came this weekend and prior to the release they uploaded some notes and upgrades to the game (Thanks Bungie, for the patch notes idea!). They increased speed and increased time for a Titan. Most suspected that the old Titan timer was back. I entered skeptical and came out gleeful. “Tech Test #2” was a success. It was everything Titanfall 2 should be: fast, mech-filled, and no campers. I loved it, and hope the improvements continue from Respawn, Monsignor.
MOODY – Hell yeah, Advocate! While I only got a couple hours in yesterday, this non-first-person-shooting-expert-slash-suck eventually “Seek and Destroy[ed]”! I could play this game all day to the sounds of Sting’s old entrance song. But no, really, it had a very swift learning curve after about an hour, even leading to this traditionally terrible online FPS guy honing the highest score on my team two matches in a row. It felt great! Avoiding all of the new–and far more dangerous–Titans to my escape to the drop ship via grapple hook.. at the take-off buzzer(!!) felt great. Shooting felt great (the trigger mechanics even felt like Destiny); wall-running, double-jumping and timing melees that were more than just a cheap kick.. felt great. Perhaps the best new addition to the game, which sorta frustrated me at first but made far more sense the more I played, however, is the new battery system. Instead of merely rodeo-ing Titans, you can now rip out a green battery and give it to a Titan “friendly” for an energy-shield boost.
ADAM – Now if only they could fix the maps they showed us that still promote camping. But hey, I’m now putting my pre-order back on Titanfall 2. So, glad they listened. GG Internet.
MOODY – Good game, indeed.
Respawn Ent./EA’s Titanfall 2 is set to release on October 28.