Titanfall 2 review

Ready for the Titanfall?

Version tested: PC - Origin

When I think of Titanfall 2 I inevitably think of the controversy a few years ago that involved the then members of Infinty Ward, Vince Zampella and Jason West, and the Activision board. For those who do not remember those facts, dating back to a decade ago, a brief summary: West and Zampella accuse Activision of having violated an agreement regarding the distribution of profits deriving from CoD Modern Warfare, Activision replies that the two have violated some clauses of the contract that linked the software house to the publisher: in a meeting that took place behind closed doors to resolve the issue, the discussion degenerates and, according to what some insiders reported, the four present at that meeting end up giving it a blast until the security intervention and the removal of the two founders of Infinty Ward and fathers of the series that gave so much in terms of image and above all economic to Activision. For the Call of Duty series and for the Infinity Ward team it is the beginning of an inexorable decline, for West and Zampella it is instead the beginning of a new golden age with the creation of their dismissal just a few months later, of Respawn Entertainment and the launch of Titanfall, an innovative FPS that marked, as CoD had done, the groove for most of the futuristic FPS that would arrive in the following years.

When I think of Titanfall then I can't help but think about what Call of Duty could have been if the above unpleasant parenthesis had never happened; then I think about what Activision has done with its most important series and I breathe a sigh of relief: having left carte blanche to two geniuses like the two founders of Respawn has paid off by giving us one of the most frenetic and fun Fps of the last years and at least a spiritual heir to one of the Fps that made the history of the medium. Titanium case 2 continues in the path traced by his predecessor by improving all, or almost all, the elements that had made the first chapter successful introducing new modes in multiplayer, a deeper and more tactical management of the different classes of the Titans and above all a campaign, short yes, but incredibly intense and exciting that will keep you glued to the screen, more than for the fairly labile plot, for some gameplay solutions original and terribly fun and a truly unparalleled level design.

Clash of the Titans

The plot sees us in the shoes of Jack Cooper, a militia rifleman who deals with fighting the IMC, a mega corporation that makes the intensive and unhindered exploitation of the energy and environmental resources of colonized countries its only reason for existence and the Apex its arm of armed mercenaries. After a first initiation into combat that acts as a "smart" tutorial, our Cooper suddenly finds himself forced to take on the role of the "pilot", a sort of chosen body of the militia and the only one able to pilot the Titans, huge mechs equipped with its own AI and a cerebral connection with the driver at the wheel thanks to the helmet worn. The events that will unfold in the almost five hours of play necessary to see the credits, will push us to become familiar with our Titan, a little reluctant to understand the sense of humor of our alter ego and, although the plot is not the most original, the scanning of the narrative events is growing, fast, intense and exciting, especially for some gameplay foundations that have really left us breathless. Without wanting to spoil anything of the plot, it is enough to know that thanks to a device capable of creating space-time fractures, the game offers at a certain point some really well-studied and fun platforming phases that enhance the characteristics of the gameplay all jumps and slides of the series .

From a gameplay point of view, the game alternates more traditional shooter phases in which the legacy of Call of Duty is felt (and appreciated) above all in the feeling of the weapons, with phases characterized by a seamless flow made of jumps, shooting, slips, and more shooting, walking on walls and double jumps that mark an abysmal difference with the rest of the competition precisely because of their unstoppable "momentum" which on more than a few occasions offers the player a palpable feeling of omnipotence. This one flow of play, which in somehow brings Titanfall 2 closer to Mirror's Edge, (a case that they are both from the same publisher?) is further enhanced by a level design that leaves very little to chance: following it means understanding the experience that this title has to offer.

Eliminating enemies is no longer a question of numbers or brute strength, but of elegance and agility: an incredible dance of death punctuated by walks on the walls that defy every law of physics and endless slips necessary, or perhaps not, to take you away from the blows of the opponents or behind them to finish them with brutal executions. And then there are the Titans. With them on the pitch the game is further transformed e the homicidal poem of the pilot is replaced by the brute force of the Titan which makes you forget d'emblée the elegance of the blow, replacing it with the brutality of a well-placed core attack in the chest of the rival titan.

The experience just described is naturally enhanced by the single player campaign thanks to Respawn's skilful level design work, but remains intact in its essential characteristics in online multiplayer in which, to the traditional deathmatch modes, capture the flag and king of the hill, if alongside much more peculiar ones, such as "Colosseum" in which once you get the tickets (random unlockable with decent performance in multiplayer, or in credits) you will find yourself facing a single opponent in 3 consecutive matches in a huge flat arena, or Clash between Titan, in which a team of five Titans challenge each other in a really interesting "last man standing". Precisely this mode, thanks to the peculiar characteristics of the six Titans available, turns out to be very tactical, requiring careful planning of the attacks and above all a team work that in a competitive online game can really make a difference. The mode also makes its return Attrition, one of the most successful and appreciated of the first chapter that brings into play all the good things the Respawn title has to offer: clashes between titans in urban landscapes, battles on the ground between pilots supported by AI-controlled NPCs. Finally, another peculiar modality is "Bounty hunting", a sort of Team Deathmatch in which the kills of enemy pilots and AI are aimed at accumulating credits (even stolen from the opposing pilot) to be deposited "in the bank" at the end of each wave. It is one of the most played modes because it allows players to accumulate points very quickly and in this way improve their character

However, it is the Titan that gives the game its name to represent the real strength of the production. While in the single player our BT can adapt to different contexts, collecting the weapons of the destroyed Titans at the end of each level, in the multiplayer it will be necessary to choose the Titan to be deployed in battle. As mentioned each of them has particular abilities, but also characteristics and weaknesses that favor a different approach to the game depending on the class you choose, you are in total. Agility and quick hits for the Ronin, resistance and greater damage for the Legion and so on: the arduous task of choosing the one that best suits your fighting style and learning to exploit its potential is up to you, a feat not always easy. Like in a good RPG, then, each skill of your Titan can be enhanced with special unlockable perks by spending credits that can be purchased by playing and getting points, and by leveling up your pilot and your Titan. The maps, certainly a step forward compared to the first Titanfall, offer a good level design that allows you to take advantage of both the game vertically, and a more tactical deployment of your Titans. However, a greater variety of both locations and situations, I certainly wouldn't have minded. Rarely the game will result in caciara, as too often happens in other FPS and this for two main reasons: the first is that the game also rewards in a rather consistent way those who play for the team or in any case following the purpose of the mode, rather than throwing themselves into the usual competition for who does more Kill, the second is that Titanfall is a game of movement that does not allow even snipers to stop for more than a few seconds in one place. If you do, it will only take a few seconds for your position to be pinpointed by a passing pilot or sonar launched by another pilot or a nearby Titan. For those who love this type of game it is definitely a godsend.
Some technical problem has plagued the game in the first hours of release preventing many from going online if more Ethernet ports were installed on their computer (easily solved, however, by disabling one) for the rest, however, the matchmaking is fast and the net code well optimized which guarantees stable games with only sporadic lags usually localized at the start of the game. We might have expected more players online at launch, but the almost simultaneous arrival of Battlefield 1 must have distracted many towards those servers.

Fireworks display

From a technical point of view Titanfall makes the eyes shine with well-kept light effects and particles, always spot on settings and a captivating color palette from sci-fi of the highest level. Even the slight film grain does not bother but returns a cinematic effect that does not clash at all with the beauty of the settings. The texture they are all of a good standard as is the dynamic lighting; the optimization of the title allowed us to run the game at 1440p resolution with everything maxed and with a frame rate between 45 and 60 fps on an average configuration equipped with a GTX 980 and i7 5820k processor. By lowering the detail and the draw distance it is also possible to go beyond 60fps. Of course, this result was achieved by sacrificing the destructibility of the environments, practically nothing except for the marks of our blows on the walls, but it is a truly negligible element in the economy of a game which, as mentioned, is made up of continuous flows of movement.