Tag: Titanfall

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Titanfall (I need a campaign!)

Ok, so I wrote a review on the open beta of Titanfall a few weeks ago and I was ecstatic about the online play and the prospect of the main campaign. I was right about the online play (now called Titan Classic), but I was very disappointed in the campaign. I feel as if they took an easy way out in the way they put it together. The campaign is less campaign and more online play with some intros and voiceovers during the battle. On top of the lack of levels to play through, the matchmaking is very unbalanced in campaign mode. The lack of interest by players in playing the campaign means that  those who buy now rather then being an earlier adopter are basically punished. The higher your level, the cooler stuff and buffs you get. The majority of people playing the campaign are those helping someone get through. So when you start playing and get matched with a team rather then teaming up with friends and going through, you end up against players that are leagues ahead of you in level and have the upgrades to dominate matches. This is quite frustrating.

TF_Fracture_Battle_0This being the issue, I recommend that anyone picking up this game, now or in the future, play Titan Classic first. Then, when you’ve leveled up and gotten some upgrades and buffs to use, you should give the campaign a shot.  This way you don’t get steamrolled and you avoid some unnecessary frustration.

Like I said above, the campaign isn’t traditional and I though it could have been so much more. Respawn put so much effort into making these large and beautiful maps that they just overlooked any kind of real campaign. The idea of making a campaign where you play against other players is pretty cool, but I believe they could have made actual levels with more interactive objectives and still made the PVP possible. I see so much more potential in this game than I expected, and I hope that Respawn sees it too. I see this game having a series of sequels and I can only hope that they make a better effort of making any storyline more substantial.

*Images via titanfall.com
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Titanfall Beta at an Xbox One near you!

Titanfall_ArtI, like many thousands of others, have downloaded and started playing the highly anticipated open Titanfall Beta for the Xbox One. My immediate assessment was “Holy hell, not another online multiplayer without a story to back it up!” But I was wrong, and happily so. I found that there are little tidbits of the games lore on the loading screens, and they seem to lend to what could be a rich main story.

The current game play however, is amazing. Respawn has given the player a limited number of levels to earn that net you some swag and customization options, an Atlas Titan, and some of the best online versus play that I’ve ever played. The maps are large, but not so big that you can’t find your next target. The graphics are running like butter, which just about left me speechless when that first Titan went nuclear and took out an entire intersect. About the only thing that could have made the gameplay better would have been the ability to take out chunks of buildings.

So far this beta has given us a glimpse at the amazing direction that multiplayer gaming is headed. It’s added a whole new element to virtual battlefield that will force players to reconsider their next move and change strategies on the fly. And with the addition of challenges (I know they aren’t the first to do this) that target things like ‘Time in a Titan’; ‘Distance walked’ or ‘Kills with insert weapon here’, it makes you want to try things differently each time through, making the next battle against the same team of players new and much less predictable.

All in all, Respawn did one hell of a job. Now go to your Xbox One, download the beta and get ready for March 11 (which can’t come soon enough!).

UPDATE: I never bothered to record any of my personal gameplay, but I’ve found this video from Machinima that has some of the Beta play. Just to be clear though, watching and playing are two different animals.