Titanfall 2 has a lot to live up to, and a lot to prove. The original game was a sales phenomenon, garnering rave reviews, and building an audience of millions. However, that audience seemed to drift away at an alarming pace, and now many feel that the game lacked sufficient content to hold them. With its sequel EA and Respawn Entertainment look to change that, adding in the much requested single player campaign, along with extra Titans, and other items. We checked it out at E3 2016, and chatted with a couple of the developers. Keep reading for my thoughts on the Titanfall 2 demo, and check out our interview below.
First up, I should say that I was a big fan of the first Titanfall, and continued playing it much longer than others seemed to. In fact, the lack of a single player campaign, to me, was a great choice, allowing the team to hone in on the mechanics, and present the best possible multiplayer experience. However, now that they have established this new shooter, going in and adding in some story elements makes a whole lot of sense, and could allow players a better connection to the game’s universe.
Titanfall 2’s E3 2016 demo didn’t show off any story content, instead tossing us into a new gamemode, with a couple of brand new Titans. The game mode was a bit confusing, with players having to retrieve battery from a target Titan. Really, while the objective was important, we all were just going around killing each other, and trying out the new Titans.
Scorch and Ion are the two additions being shown off, though we were told that there would be six in total for the final release. Unlike the last game, which had very similar Titans in all but size, these are themed machines. Scorch, as its name implies, is all about fire, and lighting things up. The best representation of this came in his overcharge attack, which sent out a wave of fire in front of him, damaging or destroying anything in its path. Ion, who I didn’t get to test out, is electric and laser focused, with special abilities centered around that.
Outside of the Titan there are still more changes, the biggest of which has to be the grappling hook. It took me till about halfway through the match before I even remembered that I had this new ability, but once I did it changed the way I played very quickly. Easy to use, the grappling hook kept me moving, and allowed me to scale to new heights rapidly and effectively. How is this used in combat? You know that moment in the reveal trailer where a Pilot grapples up on a ledge, propels into the air, then fires down on another Pilot? I did that, twice. It’s the sort of moment that you assume was staged for the video, but it is actually quite simple to pull off, and is very satisfying.
My time with Titanfall 2 assured me of two things, the game has remained largely the same, with the core gameplay remaining intact from the previous game, and that it is still very different. The new Titans and abilities really shift the gameplay in new and interesting ways. Now we just have to see if the fans will stick around to enjoy all the fun shooter action this time.
