When Infinity Ward released Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare seven years ago, the studio permanently altered the FPS battlefield, spawning a franchise juggernaut that has dominated the genre ever since...
Since then, the shadow cast by CoD has had a stagnating effect on the FPS genre. The ground broken by Call of Duty 4 has become a template, adhered to slavishly by the majority of its sequels and competitors. Although many FPS games have succeeded in making money by following the roadmap laid out by Infinity Ward, there’s been as distinct lack of innovation as a result.
One thing did change though. In 2010, Vince Zampella and Jason West - two of Infinity Ward’s chief creators - left the company and started anew in the form of Respawn Entertainment. This week sees the release of their first game, Titanfall, an FPS that promises to redefine the genre once again.
One thing did change though. In 2010, Vince Zampella and Jason West - two of Infinity Ward’s chief creators - left the company and started anew in the form of Respawn Entertainment. This week sees the release of their first game, Titanfall, an FPS that promises to redefine the genre once again.
And with Xbox dropping the price of the Xbox One to coincide with Titanfall's launch date, it seems Microsoft are going all in with Respawn on this one. Can Titanfall make Xbox One an essential purchase where Forza Motorsport 5,Ryse: Son of Rome and Dead Rising 3 have failed? Lets find out.
Titanfall: Gameplay
As you’d expect from the minds behind the Call of Duty multiplayer behemoth - and indeed a game that attempts to mix giant mechs and jet-pack infantry in bloody battle - balance is crucial. And it becomes clear within a few hours that Titanfall is not only incredibly deep tactically, but also beautifully balanced.
The immediate thought where giant mechs and puny humans are involved, would be that the mech is the all-powerful end-game that everyone is playing towards. In actual fact, Pilots are just as potentially deadly to Titans as vice versa. A good Pilot can make short work of a Titan with the right position and equipment.
The immediate thought where giant mechs and puny humans are involved, would be that the mech is the all-powerful end-game that everyone is playing towards. In actual fact, Pilots are just as potentially deadly to Titans as vice versa. A good Pilot can make short work of a Titan with the right position and equipment.
READ: Best Xbox One games: The ultimate list
A multiplayer game consists of six Pilots on each side, and a constantly respawning army of grunts (essentially AI controlled infantry). But rather than trying to build competent AI players, Titanfall uses grunts in the way MOBAs like League of Legends do - they’re there to create battle lines, to farm, and to make you feel like a bit of a badass.
Killing the opposing teams grunts will lower the countdown for your Titan, making them important targets in the early going in the first race to Titanfall. But killing grunts can also reveal your position to enemy pilots, and this dynamic creates a cat and mouse game among Pilots that forms the basis of Titanfall’s run-and-gun style.
They do some other nifty things too. Bust your way into a building and you might find two grunts wrestling it out, like the knife scene from Saving Private Ryan. Sometimes you’ll see them dragging the bodies of fallen comrades across a street, climbing walls like a toddler on a bid for freedom, or simply taking up firing positions. They’re made almost hilariously rubbish, to emphasise their purpose within the game.
Titanfall is refreshing in so many ways. Avoidance of death at all costs has created an online FPS culture of stat preservation and camping that turns many people away from online shooters.
But Titanfall embraces new ideas that make it accessible to anyone. Novice players can pick off grunts and still contribute to their team, receiving their Titan in due course. The lock-on smart pistol means that even those who struggle with dual-thumbsticks will be SWAT-ing people left right and centre.
When your Titan dies, you can eject and live on, or choose to go down fighting. If you die as a Pilot, you will respawn with the opportunity to use a Burn Card - a power-up for your next life, which could be anything from an overpowered version of a weapon, to unlimited cloak, to an instant Titan drop.
There’s a reason for this. As you will quickly realise, death is an unavoidable part of the fun in Titanfall. The aforementioned stat preservationists will struggle to find a spot where there aren’t at least 5 places they could be attacked from. That’s the nature of the game, run or die. And it’s brilliant.
A multiplayer game consists of six Pilots on each side, and a constantly respawning army of grunts (essentially AI controlled infantry). But rather than trying to build competent AI players, Titanfall uses grunts in the way MOBAs like League of Legends do - they’re there to create battle lines, to farm, and to make you feel like a bit of a badass.
Killing the opposing teams grunts will lower the countdown for your Titan, making them important targets in the early going in the first race to Titanfall. But killing grunts can also reveal your position to enemy pilots, and this dynamic creates a cat and mouse game among Pilots that forms the basis of Titanfall’s run-and-gun style.
They do some other nifty things too. Bust your way into a building and you might find two grunts wrestling it out, like the knife scene from Saving Private Ryan. Sometimes you’ll see them dragging the bodies of fallen comrades across a street, climbing walls like a toddler on a bid for freedom, or simply taking up firing positions. They’re made almost hilariously rubbish, to emphasise their purpose within the game.
Titanfall is refreshing in so many ways. Avoidance of death at all costs has created an online FPS culture of stat preservation and camping that turns many people away from online shooters.
But Titanfall embraces new ideas that make it accessible to anyone. Novice players can pick off grunts and still contribute to their team, receiving their Titan in due course. The lock-on smart pistol means that even those who struggle with dual-thumbsticks will be SWAT-ing people left right and centre.
When your Titan dies, you can eject and live on, or choose to go down fighting. If you die as a Pilot, you will respawn with the opportunity to use a Burn Card - a power-up for your next life, which could be anything from an overpowered version of a weapon, to unlimited cloak, to an instant Titan drop.
There’s a reason for this. As you will quickly realise, death is an unavoidable part of the fun in Titanfall. The aforementioned stat preservationists will struggle to find a spot where there aren’t at least 5 places they could be attacked from. That’s the nature of the game, run or die. And it’s brilliant.
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