Solid Campaign v. Titanous Multiplayer: Titanfall 2 Review
- Ben Stembridge
- Apr 25, 2017
- 5 min read
The original Titanfall of 2014 presented a unique and new first-person shooter experience that delighted its many players. While its hype and proverbial market splash was relatively short lived, it made a lasting mark on the online multiplayer industry. Sure, it didn’t feature a campaign, and only hinted at background story here and there, but it’s multiplayer experience as enjoyable and deliberate. There were neither ifs nor buts in regards to its rock-solid gaming value. Respawn Entertainment has returned to the giant robot and parkour soldier laden theme with a more focused vision of what it wants to give players with Titanfall 2.
Titanfall 2 dares to go where it kind of went before: a single player campaign. While it still boasts a significant content-driven online multiplayer portion, Respawn makes a case for Titanfall 2’s narrative. It’s not perfect, but we were pleasantly surprised by the solid campaign installment. I’ll go through the campaign first, dipping into the game’s gameplay and style, then I’ll go
in depth for the multiplayer side of the tracks. Sound good? Good! Let’s begin.
This game is a science fiction shooter that takes place in a future Milky Way colonized by humanity. A dastardly organization called the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) controls a number of planets and moons in the star region called the Frontier, far from Earth. Basically, the IMC wants to control the Frontier’s resources, while the original colonists, protected by the Militia, want to simply live in peace. It’s a pretty standard premise, but I enjoyed the way the game set it up. I stepped into the space boots of Jack Cooper, a rifleman in the Frontier Militia. The Militia is trying to corner the IMC at vulnerable points and free the Frontier from their mechanical might. Cooper dreams of being a Pilot in order to fight the IMC. Pilots are skilled soldiers that control massive battle mechs called Titans. This time around, Titans aren’t just automatons that you can use to wreck enemies or provide you with support while you jump around. Titanfall 2’s Titans are semi-aware robotic companions and protectors. The story immediately introduces players to a relationship between our hero Cooper and a Titan.
The characters in Titanfall 2 are a bit cut and dry. The bad guys range from IMC grunts, some typically eccentric and devious mercenaries, and some underwhelming but nefarious villains. Even the allies I encountered weren’t that interesting. This is of course, aside from BT-2724. As I played the quick paced introductory mission, my commanding officer died in battle, and his Titan became mine. BT is a machine that you learn to love quickly. In order to make Cooper and BT’s relationship as natural as possible, Titanfall 2 allows for multiple dialogue options when talking with the beast of a bot. I enjoyed the banter between myself, an emotive human, and BT who commences to entertain whenever I took the “funny” dialogue option; dry robotic humor never ceases to entertain me.
Aside from being the only real plot point that exceeds expectations, BT is also a great gameplay tool (obviously). Hopping in or out of my Titan was easy and introduced new ways to play. BT has different loadouts that feature a number of kickass weapons and abilities. Weather it’s massive rocket launcher or an advanced force field, I had a lot of fun battling IMC grunts and other formidable titans with BT.
The first-person shooter is a staple of the pubescent and modern video game environment. While it’s an inherently simple and formulaic style, it has undergone some improvements over the past decade. Many of those changes and polishes have occurred over the past several years, brought to us by developers like Bethesda Softworks and Infinity Ward. Respawn markets Titanfall 2 as game that redefines the FPS experience. While we wouldn’t go that far, we here at Game Chop must say that Titanfall 2’s gameplay flow is something to be desired. It delves deeper into the gameplay components that it laid down in the original: wall running, intuitive sliding, and near-to-complete control of the Cooper’s movement. It works well, and makes flying through a map in the middle of a fire fight quite thrilling.
The distinction between controlling a human character and a Titan is very well defined. To be honest, control is one thing that the game gets consistently right. Other pieces of the game are a bit fractured, like the story. Design choices on maps, such as a certain walls and buildings lead to easy interaction, but at times too much interaction, particularly during multiplayer. In terms of other inconsistencies, campaign enemies are not very threatening. Even other Titans are often easy to overcome.
While the story is fine and a little dandy, I really enjoyed myself. The narrative leaves a bit on the table as we’ve discussed, and rarely goes into detail on the game world, but there was plenty of space talk and positions that gave me some context on the war between the IMC and the Militia. Now, let’s go into the deeper side of the game with the multiplayer.
Titanfall 2’s multiplayer is an updated version of its original, optimized with new features and gameplay options. While it sometimes feels a little overwhelming, I think it captures what players enjoyed about the original, and plays on its strengths. It provides more and more scenarios during which to showcase some serious gameplay abilities, and it’s where I think that Titanfall 2 really does redefine the FPS experience. Packed with more abilities, customizable weapons, and Titans I was bound to enjoy myself when stepping into my first match as a beginner Pilot.
I was right! The multiplayer may have some inconsistencies that I mentioned earlier, but it is damn fun. My control of my player is second to none, and the abilities I can slap on my Pilot and eventual Titan are so cool. The multiplayer package is clearer designed with the player in mind, as the content is meant for me to build around. It is a bit difficult to balance against certain players, as strategies can include hopping on my Titan and disabling the battery, making badass robo-fights between Titans sort of rare. There are some bandaids to these issues, but no real solution other than luck. All in all, the multiplayer is just want the player wants, with a few gameplay stipulations.
To conclude, Titanfall 2 feels like a slightly slanted attempt from Respawn to package more content into the same size box as the predecessor. It’s fun and its gameplay design is fantastic, but it ain’t perfect and seems a tad cramped. The experience of Titanfall 2 is outright enjoyable, even within its lacking campaign.
Ben Stembridge, Editor-in-chief
Ben leads the reviews and news coverage for Game Chop. He also offers opinions on games and the industry, covering a wide range of genres and platforms. Ben especially enjoys discussions on game narratives, design styles, and independent titles.
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