Gamer’s Review: Titanfall

Written by:

Bryan Fong, Year 12

March 2014 has long stood out in the gaming industry as one of the most eagerly awaited months for gamers worldwide. Marking the release of the next installments for the Dark Souls and Infamous game series, two established giants in the gaming world, the month of March also saw the unveiling of one of the most hyped titles of 2014: Titanfall. The first game produced by game studio Respawn Entertainment, the studio comprising of much of the creative genius behind the ground-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Titanfall has long been anticipated as a game to similarly revolutionize First Person Shooter (FPS) gaming. Having promised to breathe new life into one of the most developed and evolved genres of gaming, Titanfall had consequently drawn heavy skepticism since its announcement; yet, upon entering the world of Titanfall, it’s hard to refute that the game you are playing is truly anything short of revolutionary.

Wall-Running: The ability to sprint along the sides of vertical surfaces

The unique mobility and enhanced movement offered to pilots (the in-game term for players) serves as a critical aspect of Titanfall’s refreshing gameplay. Equipped with jump packs and parkour kits, pilots in Titanfall are able to traverse the in-game terrain with an array of movement-based skills and abilities that redefine traditional FPS play styles. Ranging from the simple double-jump (the ability to jump more than once in mid-air), to the ability to perform impressive parkour feats such as wall-running (the ability to sprint along the sides of vertical surfaces), the implementation of such changes in the way players can move through maps serves as a sort of paradigm shift. Smoothly incorporated into the game’s mechanics with intuitive controls and interactions, these abilities free players from the usual routine of the typical, almost two-dimensional combat and motion typical of most modern FPS games. Vastly expanding player mobility and access to all areas of each map, Titanfall provides a diversified gaming experience of exhilarating combat encounters; firefights that dart in and out of windows, across rooftops, and along cliff faces are not only common, but are the norm. Coupled with the other innovative skills that pilots have at their disposal - like wall hanging (the ability to halt oneself in place along a vertical surface) and cloaking (the ability to render oneself nearly invisible for a limited period) - the result is gameplay that provides a constant adrenaline rush through fast-paced combat and parkour sequences unlike any other.

Titan Combat

Yet, while the manoeuvrability of Titanfall alone would commend the game as a supremely entertaining experience, Titanfall also enhances its gameplay through its iconic, and perhaps most widely publicized facet: the titans. Giant battle mech-walkers, the titans enter the game at a later stage in each match, landing spectacularly in the battlefield in eponymous ‘titanfalls’, following calls by the pilots for the war machines, once the ability to do so becomes available. Heavily armoured and outfitted with an array of high powered weaponry, the entrance of the titans shifts gameplay to a more tactical and guerilla-warfare style of combat for the human pilots, as the streets and open spaces of the maps are suddenly occupied by the mechanized colossi that pose significant threats to the exposed or unwary. However, for the pilots within the titans themselves, gameplay shifts to a meatier, more imposing action style, as the lumbering mechs sacrifice speed and manoeuvrability for weight, armour, sheer size and firepower; the extent of this sacrifice depending, of course, on the particular titan model chosen by the pilot. Switching to a more cover-centric style of combat, as opposing titans clash on the field, the explosions produced by the warring behemoths soon become commonplace as the massive titan weapons, ranging from immense cannons and artillery to brute titan punches, come into play. Combined with the various skills and abilities available to the titans, titan battles are made extremely gratifying experiences of wonderfully weighty and powerful combat. Ranging from one-way particle barriers, to hazardous clouds of electric smoke, to vortex shields that give you the ability to catch any incoming projectiles and propel them instead towards chosen enemies (redefining the meaning of ‘hot potato’), such abilities serve to once again diversify Titanfall’s gameplay.

Titanfall contains a mixture of both titan and pilot combat

However, perhaps the greatest aspect of Titanfall, is the game’s seamless integration of both the manoeuvrability and the imposing weights of the titans into a fluid and dynamic combat experience. Outfitted with beautifully implemented mechanics, Titanfall ensures the easy existence of gratifying and challenging forms of both combat types alongside (if not assimilated into) one another; for example, titans possess onboard AI that enable them to fight independently of their pilots in a set position or to follow their pilots, albeit at a lower skill level. This allows their pilot to freely engage in their own form of light-footed, parkour-based combat. Indeed, despite the common preconception of definitive titan superiority over the smaller pilots, Titanfall’s gameplay soon reveals the fallacy of such assumptions. Surprisingly well balanced, despite the obvious vulnerability and weakness of the pilots compared to the armoured walkers, Titanfall pilots are still easily able to match the lumbering robots through capitalization upon their smaller size and increased agility. Indeed, beyond the convenient anti-titan weapons held by all pilots, pilots are able to easily evade their mechanical counterparts due to their superior maneuverability and can even ‘rodeo’ enemy titans to take them down by clambering up onto their heads to expose and attack critical circuitry.

Providing an immersive and compelling combat experience, the enjoyment derived from such asymmetrical combat is complimented by the magnificent map design. Rendered beautifully in the Source Engine, Titanfall’s map and dynamic assets are not only breathtaking in their aesthetics, but also superbly planned and constructed. Providing enough open spaces for titan combat, Titanfall’s maps are crafted to ensure mobility; there isn’t a map which lacks enough routes for parkour, zip line traversal, or titan locomotion, a necessary aspect in such a motion-centric game as Titanfall.

The introductory scene to the 'Angel City' militia campaign mission

However, Titanfall’s campaign fell terribly short in a few aspects. Styled as a multiplayer campaign with two story components per mission for each faction, the reality of Titanfall’s campaign is a few sets of multiplayer matches with snippets of added dialogue, cutscenes and back story that serve to only superficially flesh out the plot behind the campaign missions. However, without any real player impact on the overall campaign plot (as the campaign continues the same way regardless of if you win or lose a mission), it is hard to truly accept the short set of matches as a campaign. Indeed, completely lacking in replayability as a result, most players often find it is only worth a single play through in order to unlock the different titan models rewarded at the end of the campaign. Yet, due to their nature as a set of multiplayer matches, the campaign cannot truly be termed as ‘bad’ per say; the matches still possess all entertainment of typical multiplayer matches. Instead, the campaign serves more as a severe disappointment to the gaming community, a wasted opportunity for an experience that had the potential and expectation to be so much more, considering the caliber of the game’s multiplayer aspect.

However, despite the disappointing campaign, Titanfall’s artfully implemented multiplayer mechanics more than compensate to provide the iconic, adrenaline-rush of an experience that so exonerates Titanfall beyond any fault. Uniquely integrating two innovative gameplay fundamentals into the FPS genre, the vast number of different options provided by such radical, fundamental modifications serve to generate untold numbers of epic scenarios, which only get more satisfying and complex the longer you play the game and the more skilled you become. Thoroughly enjoyable in all aspects, the result is a game of exhilarating, fast-paced combat that is quickly becoming its trademark. As such, Titanfall is undeniably set to be one of the most revolutionary and memorable games of 2014 and the FPS genre as a whole, serving as a clear indicator that Respawn Entertainment is indeed living up to their legacy.

9/10

Written by:

Bryan Fong, Year 12

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