I’ve spent a bit of time with Titanfall 2 over the last few days, whether it’s playing multiplayer at a launch event or quietly slogging through the singleplayer at home.
Just quietly: the singleplayer is surprisingly very good.
The original Titanfall copped a fair bit of flak for not having a proper singleplayer component, although a Horde-esque co-op mode was added post-release. The sequel has made up for that, and while it’s only about six-ish hours long, it’s genuinely fun.
It’s mostly a tale about a pilot and his Titan trying to complete a mission, although the fun is really more about the mechanics and the boss fights throughout. The boss fights, which kick off with a Borderlands-style intro, are fun even if some of them can be finished relatively easy.
And while it’s still a wholly linear affair, the size of the maps and the use of wallrunning makes things feel a little more open than, say, your typical Call of Duty corridor.
I didn’t have a great deal of experience with the multiplayer so far, although I can confirm it’s pretty hard to get a game on PC. There were only 9 people on one of the Sydney data centers searching for a Hardpoint match on Sunday afternoon, which is never a great sign. Apparently the free-for-all and team deathmatch modes are more popular, although it’s a shame Respawn hasn’t got a reward system or some kind of mechanic to encourage players to switch the modes up.
Another note: while I’ve been playing predominately on the PS4, the PC port holds up pretty well so far. I gave both of them a go over the weekend, and played the Xbox One version at the launch event on Thursday. The performance has been pretty solid on all platforms throughout, and on PC I love the fact that I can edit the .ini files like it was Counter-Strike (since the game is running off a heavily modified version of the Source Engine).
Have you been playing Respawn’s latest mech shooter over the last week? What do you think?
Comments
11 responses to “Community Review: Titanfall 2”
It looks great, but why the hell they would release this along side Battlefield 1?
EA probably just killed there own game.
I have been playing more TF 2 than BF1. BF 1 takes ages to load and maps are big and requires alot of team work.
However, I think they both have their own crowds. I am hoping TF 2 will survive this time but time will tell.
I think Team Fortress 2 will survive as long as they keep adding hats.
Right on spot…..I agree…..
Having fun with the PC version for the last few days.
Looks great on my mid-range rig, and the movement system really rewards those who try to make use of it.
Absolutely no problems getting a multi player match on Attrition game mode.
You’ll wait maybe a minute at most during normal AU play times.
Can’t say I’ve played a CoD game in many years so can’t compare but Titanfall2 is definitely scratching my Sci-Fi shooter itch nicely…
It seems that most people are having no problems finding matches.
I understand why it’s done, but it always bothers me when I see a reviewer saying they had trouble finding a match while giving a game good a review.
If the servers are busted (lag, connection problems ect) then that needs to be reported on, but if a game is good AND is still in the reviewing/ early launch stage then I think it’s better to just review the game itself and let the community follow, rather than speculate on the size of the games community in the short-mid term.
Once you sow the seeds of “community collapse” then it becomes self-fulfilling. People are reading the review because they’re considering getting involved, if you talk them out of it based on sever populations then of course the game will fail. If it’s not the servers/ game performance itself then I think that commentary is better left for a month or two down the track.
@foggy Well said. This is exactly the boat I find myself in. I want to buy it, but if there’s nobody to play against and many reviewers are mentioning low MP numbers, Id rather give it a miss.
I played TF 2 last weekend and I can only say one thing about it. Respawn has nailed it again, but this time on grandiose level. TF 2 at its core is TF 1 with more balanced mechanics and more action.
I had a blast last weekend. Loving melee snipers and campers.
I’ve been playing online consistently since Saturday and I’ve had no issue getting games on PC. Bounty Hunt and Attrition seem to be the most populated game types. I’m also on the Sydney data center
I picked it up on Xbox One and only had about an hour free on the weekend. After about 30 minutes of the single player campaign I decided to forgo sleep. Played through the campaign over 2 days and loved it. Took about 7 hours to finish on hard which included about 20 attempts to beat Ash. The rest of the boss fights were fairly easy but Ash on hard was one of the best fights I’ve had in a while. It forced me to improve as a player to beat her.
Overall I found the campaign quite brilliant. While short there was a massive amount of content packed in without much filler and a large amount of variety.
Played about 10 multi-player games across the different modes. Didn’t have any issue finding a game on Xbox One, possibly because there was already a strong Titanfall community on the console. What I did notice is that the players I versed in all modes were very talented. I played a fair amount of Titanfall and consider myself above average, but these players were brilliant. I spent a little time watching them play too and it’s like watching a professional tournament.
As long as the game holds popularity I’m sure match-making will sort that out and I did eventually learn to hold my own by being cautious and predicting the enemy movements.
Overall I find the game quite brilliant and a nice step up from Titanfall 1. The inclusion of a great single-player campaign, improvements to the movement system, increase in reliance on tactics, balancing, all make this a game well worth the money.
My only worry is the community. If the community collapses then it’ll all be for nothing.
I installed it late on Friday night and was delighted that the day one patch was only 82megs, and the game installed to my hard drive in only about an hour. Then I went to bed. I rose early on Saturday to clean the apartment for a Halloween party my wife and I were hosting. When the last of my friends finally left Sunday evening and we’d had dinner, I sat down at around 8pm and played the tutorial/training course.
10/10 can’t wait to play an actual mission.
Got it on PS4, after having the original on PC. Overall I’m really liking it. My “main” FPS is still Battlefield 1, but this is really fun as a change and something I can play a little more casually.
Single player is surprisingly awesome. The overarching plot is pretty standard FPS fare, but the pilot-BT buddy cop relationship is great. It’s also more puzzle/movement oriented than shooting.
Multiplayer is crisp and fun, just like the original. Much more content and unlocks which is great. Gunplay and movement is still top tier. My only criticisms of the multiplayer would be it feels less cinematic than the original, and the Titans feel a little weak. Not a massive fan of the “spawn with no shield” and battery system.
I really do hope the positive word of mouth and reviews boost sales leading up to Christmas, as the game is good enough that it’d be a shame for the population to die as quickly as the original.
If Infinite Warfare bombs, I can see a lot of migration over to Titanfall happening.