Game Review: Titanfall 2
The first-person shooter genre is noisy when you really think about it. There are so many franchises out there which all claim to be the very best for immersive, first-person combat simulation. Call of Duty is probably the most well-regarded for the quick and responsive setup. Battlefield has always been touted as the more realistic interpretation of the genre, with larger scale maps and more strategic deployments. Then you have the more niche franchises like Halo, Doom, Wolfenstein, Bioshock, Overwatch. While the format and framing of these games may differ from a visual and functional capacity, they all share the same DNA when it comes to presenting a first-person shooter. One key game that set out to do it’s best to define itself outside its competitors was Titanfall and while its first entry is interesting in its own right, I’ll be spending the time to talk about it’s bigger, cooler and overall, more impressive younger brother; Titanfall 2.
Respawn Entertainment was founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella after an ugly departure from Infinity Ward which involved the pairs unfair firings and a subsequent lawsuit. Respawn was founded and constructed by a core team consisting of a lot of ex-Infinity Ward developers and programmers. It made sense in that respect that the studio’s first release would be something ingrained in the framework of the first-person shooters they are familiar with. Titanfall was being presented as the next “COD-killer” which if you know the gaming industry, is often regarded something as a curse at this point, as no game has ever been able to do just that. With a unique concept and a strong marketing push, the game was noted to have performed quite well during its initial stages, hitting over 10 million players by late 2015. With all the initial success and the potential left untapped, it makes sense Respawn would get right to work on a sequel in 2016.
Titanfall 2 was developed once again by Respawn and published by Electronics Arts. The sequel was presented as a more story-orientated experience this time around. One of the key criticisms behind the first game was its story, or it’s lack thereof. What was presented in the initial game in terms of narrative was segmented in an interesting way with the multiplayer components, but despite its unique application it did leave a lot to be desired and came off as a secondary focus because of it being packed in with the multiplayer gameplay. While retaining all of the same core gameplay and imagery, Respawn promised with Titanfall 2 a much more personal story to appreciate. Titanfall 2 was released on October 28th 2016 across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC and received notable critical praise. On OpenCritic the game aggregated an impressive 87 average score. Despite its positive reception however, the game wasn’t selling nearly as much as what EA was hoping for (Surprise! Surprise!). EA was expecting the game to sell 9 to 10 million units but it only sold around 4 million as of January 2017. The biggest issue many people noted which contributed to the games limited sale was EA’s stupid decision to push the game to market in late-October between Call of Duty and Battlefield 1. It’s just a tinfoil theory but it feels like EA clearly wanted this game to fail, otherwise why would they push it out in such a cramped release window and give it such high expectations in terms of sales.
The dedicated campaign behind Titanfall 2 is set in the Frontier, a collection of star systems out in the far reaches of space. Conflict rages across the Frontier between two key factions, the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation and the Frontier Militia. The IMS strides to tap into the natural resources found within the Frontier with little to no care or consideration for environmental or societal ramifications in the process. As a result of their careless actions, the Frontier Militia has formed to oppose the IMS and push them out of the Frontier for good. The main character of the game is Jack Cooper, a standard infantry rifleman for the Militia who by tragic luck finds himself linked to a Vanguard-class Titan robot known as BT-7274 after a conflict on the planet Typhon leaves Jack’s deployment wiped out. With a secret mission to rendezvous with a fellow Militia pilot on the planet, Jack and BT-7274 develop a quick and trusting relationship as they fight against the IMS and their hired mercenaries on a mission to uncover and destroy a planet-destroying secret weapon.
There’s a reason the games main campaign was the central focus of the marketing for Titanfall 2 as it’s clearly the games most confident showcase. While I feel the quality behind the narrative dissipates the more you look at its wider elements, the core relationship between Jack and BT-7274 is the main attractor here. Their relationship, despite being formed from tragedy is filled with heart and levity. BT-7274 is a loyal friend to Jack who works with him to overcome numerous IMC operations during your time on Typhon. Jack on other hand is a bit of a blank slate but the game at least offers the player dialogue choices to at play him rather straight or humorous. As someone who is well and truly tired of games and movies injecting humour in every line of dialogue, it’s nice Respawn at least had the foresight to let you choose between dialogue types if you prefer. The general plot of finding and destroying the secret planet-killer weapon is an interesting enough mystery which plays well with putting you at the heart of it. There’s a lot of ideas that Respawn get to play around with in the game, especially in one particular level that really goes a long way to making you feel part of a living, breathing universe that is notably distinct from others. While I like a lot of the world that’s presented to me in this game, it’s hard not to feel that it’s ultimate potential is locked away due to the format which it’s presented. I think the short duration of the game means the games running at too quick a pace for you to really get a feel for its deeper intricacies. What here is so good that it makes the lack of it so notable, I just wish the game was a bit longer so Respawn could have fleshed it out more.
The mission structure and overall gameplay tied behind the main campaign is also another worthy praise point. Even though the mission range is small, Respawn clearly packed these levels with so many fun and engaging set-pieces and encounters that you feel it’s really trying to capitalize on the time it’s given with the player. Each mission offers a wonderful mixture of movement and gunplay when you’re outside of BT-7274 and when the level gets you back into the Titan you get to unleash on your enemies with a wider arsenal of weapons. Each level feels distinct to one another too, with incredible level of detail given to defining the scale and variation behind each encounter. The fact that each level in the story is so unique and filled with fun, imaginative ideas help alleviate the issue with the limited number of levels in my personal opinion. My favourite mission is easily Effect and Cause. I won’t spoil too much because I genuinely believe the less you know before experiencing this mission the better, but I will say it’s one of the best applications of time travel in a gameplay scenario I’ve ever seen.
In terms of combat and base mechanics, Titanfall 2 has some of the most engaging functionality I’ve seen in a first-person shooter in a long while. The whole idea of fluid movement intermixed with hard-hitting gunplay is the ultimate embodiment of Titanfall. Being able to disperse your enemies is presented with so much optionality. In terms of the movement side of things, Respawn really nailed the fluidity of the game. When you’re outside of combat, you’ll get to run, jump and bounce between terrain in so many cases. When you’re not moving all over the place, you’ll be able to use the games major arsenal of assault and side weapons to take on your enemies. The way guns feel in this game is incredible, you feel the punch of every shot you fire and I didn’t find there were many guns I didn’t thoroughly enjoy playing around with throughout my time in the game. Then there’s the moments you hop inside BT-7274 and get to play around as a giant walking mech suit. The game really relishes its variation and makes you feel the course of your power as you switch in and out of BT-7274 constantly. It helps that so much definition is given to the loadouts BT can apply throughout the course of the game, each one offers unique perks and abilities which allow you to take on other Titans and smaller enemies with ease. I know it’s not the same genre of game, but their work on Star Wars as well as Titanfall helps reinforce the point that Respawn have a real talent for realizing mechanics and fleshing them out to the best of their ability.
I will admit I didn’t dive too much into the multiplayer portion of the game. I’m just not much of a competitive gamer these days and while I played a few games to try and get an impression of that portion of the game, I hardly feel I’m qualified to judge the balance and quality of the multiplayer mechanics. What I will say though is there’s clearly a lot of effort to present players with as much choice as possible. Between loadouts, perks, classes and Titans, you’ll never feel bored trying to find and perfect a competitive playstyle that works for you. The gunplay and fluidity that is so prevalent in the single player takes a whole new form in the multiplayer too. I only played a few games, but what players I did go up against were able to move and jump around the maps with complete ease, it made me feel way out my depth but it goes to show how such cool mechanics can help redefine the pace of competitive matches.
On the presentation side of things, it’s hard not to gush about bloody good Titanfall 2 looks, even now 9 years later! Respawn know how to utilize a graphical engine to the utmost potential. The main campaign is filled to the brim with awe-inspiring moments where the scale and beauty of a shot really catches you off guard. So much is capable of being presented in both cutscenes and gameplay segments that you have to remind yourself this is all being rendered in real-time through the game engine. On the soundtrack front what do I even need to say? There’s a clear reason Respawn like Stephen Barton and use him a lot for their games, the guy has a unique set of skills and he brings every facet of them to Titanfall 2.
Even with some of it’s missed potential, I can’t deny Titanfall 2 is one of the better first-person shooter video games I’ve played in a long while. Respawn clearly put their all in to trying to refine the core quality of Titanfall with the 2nd entry and as a result we have a game that gleams with ambition at nearly every stride, even if it isn’t fully able to realize it. I now realize why so many Titanfall fans want and yearn for a sequel, because if 2 is any metric to go by, Respawn can only continue to soar and improve upon this franchise if EA ever give them the chance.
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