Titanfall: A Microsoft Exclusive

Whether you are someone who follows the gaming industry very intently or just a causal gamer, it is almost a guarantee that you have heard of Titanfall.  Taking home over 60 awards at E3 including Best of Show, Best Online Multiplayer, and tons of critics’ choice awards.  I mean with jetpacks, heavy weapons and giant military exoskeletons known as Titans, it is hard not to be a little excited to learn more about this game.

A Titan and it's Pilot

It is worth noting right off the bat that Titanfall will be a multiplayer only game.  Respawn, the company responsible for the game explained that they are too small of a company to do both a single player campaign and a multiplayer.  They stated that only around 5% of players end up completing single player campaigns so they would rather give their full attention to the one aspect that offers the best replay-ability.  They plan to tell the story through a campaign multiplayer, which offers narrative and communication with non-player characters as part of the online experience.   It will feature games with 64 players on both the Xbox One and the PC, a 360 version is being produced but it is unknown how many players it will support, only that it won’t be 64.  It is planned for a spring 2014 release date.

Being that it is only multiplayer, the amount of lore surrounding this game is a bit on the light side, but what little there is has really grabbed my interest.  The game takes place in deep space, at the utmost extremes of human exploration, known only as The Frontier.  Driven by the demand for Titan building materials the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation is attempting to exploit the vast planetary resources, with only one goal in mind they don’t mind using deadly force to get what they want.  The only thing standing between the IMC and their profit is The Militia, a patchwork band of civilians, bandits, pirates and mercenaries.  Although some brigades within the Militia are no more than pirate empires, it is split on the best way to confront the IMC. 

I don’t know about you guys but I love the thought of playing as a sort of futuristic cowboy in their very own “wild west”.  A little piece of me is holding out hope that sometime in the future they can add a single player campaign. 

Wall running adds an entirely new aspect to the game.

The style of gameplay is incredibly fast-paced.  Aided by a jet-pack players have the ability to double jump, useful for reaching out of grasp windows, the ability to wall run and bound from rooftop to rooftop.  These things seem like they will be very handy when trying to outrun an enemy Titan.  The maps have been designed with all of this in mind; Respawn has said that it is possible to go from one end of the map to the other without ever touching the ground.  As of right now they have only unveiled three different classes of pilots; Assault, Tactical and CQB.  I won’t get into too much detail about the classes right now because there isn’t an overwhelming amount of information about them just yet.

The Titans are as I said before a future version of a modern exoskeleton.  They have really taken their time when creating the Titans and have done an extremely good job of balancing the gameplay between the Titans and the Pilots.  As a Pilot you are able to call in your Titan at any time, but you are very vulnerable when transitioning into your Titan.  While entering or ejecting from your Titan it looks as though you cannot defend yourself but the enemy can still kill you, so I think that is something to be mindful of when playing.  Currently there are also three classes of Titans to choose from, Main Battle Titan, Heavy Weapons Titan and the High Explosives Titan, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.   The Main Battle Titan has one ability that I want to quickly mention.  It is called the vortex blocker and it surrounds your Titan in a force field that stops all incoming bullets or rockets and allows you to throw them back towards the enemy player.  That to me seems like it will be extremely fun to use, especially with friends!

The cat chasing his mouse.

Something I have taken away from watching videos online is this feeling of a cat and mouse style of gameplay.  I get the feeling that when you play as a Pilot you have this sort always looking over your shoulder type of feeling when you know a Titan is around but I feel that you have the tools to be able to knockout a Titan just as easily if you play it smart.  Completely outnumbering a Titan may also be a decent strategy.

Finishing up I just want to say that this game seems to bring a refreshing style of gameplay to the first person shooter genre and for that I am excited.  My only real concern so far is that with this campaign multiplayer style.  I fear that it may start to get really annoying listening and watching the same story unfold at the beginning of every match you play.  But maybe that is nitpicking I don’t know, let me know what you think.  Do you have any concerns with Titanfall? Is this something you are even excited for? Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments!