E3 2013 Lots of hype. Lots. TitanFall was going to be the next big game to plant its seed in an already crowded garden of First Person Shooters. This plant was different however, it was something fresh, something new, dare I say ...Something "different". The events leading up to the release of this game reminded me much of the Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare launch. I remember how much hype the game had and how it lived up to every expectation in every way. I was excited.
Being a very big fan of First Person Shooters in general (not one particular but a lot of them) I found myself so excited for this game. This was the reason I was getting an Xbox One. This was the reason I needed to have it. I am certain that was Microsoft's strategy all along and it worked. That is to say until I got my hands on the game put about 30+ hours into it, and started feeling that odd fatigue that sets in after doing the same thing over, and over again in a video game. TitanFall had gone from an amazing experience to a repetitive, typical shooter and that makes me sad.
Explaining TitanFall to friends who are not so much into games as I am is rather difficult. Most of them are interested to a point when it comes to video games but have really ZERO interest in the multiplayer aspect of any game (for obvious reason). What we were promised with Titanfall was a Multiplayer experience with Singleplayer cinematic and story and honestly we got very little if any of that. This was a Multiplayer shooter through and through.
Story
TitanFall tries very hard to do some type of campaign-like mode, it offers a very interesting intro to the game, and than just kind of falls on its face when you start playing. You have little to NO concern for any of the characters, you probably don't remember any of their names, and you really aren't grabbed by anything in particular except for one objective, to win because you are playing a multiplayer game. That is what makes the TitanFall campaign useless. You are far too concerned with winning and shooting other real players than you are with the audio in the background explaining everything going on (Yes audio not cinematics as promised). To make matters worse 2 things occur when this happens. 1) IF you are suppose to lose, you will lose even if you win (yea that's right) and 2) You get little to no explanation as to whats going on. All I remember is that it has something to do with fuel. This is the biggest problem to me with this game. I want to know why we are on a planet with "Dragons", I want to know why there is a Gigantic alien-dinosaur in the background. I want to know where I am fighting and why its so important, and I get none of that. This is why fatigue set in so quick for me, at least with games like Call of Duty and battlefield you have a sense of why you are in those environments COD does it more (for example ODIN being crash landed on the map Stonehaven in GHOST). I just felt like there was no sense of purpose here to keep me interested.
Graphics
TitanFall is far from pretty, it uses a modified SOURCE engine and it shows. Textures are muddy all around, the game is rendered @792p on the Xbox One, Jaggies show through the upscaling, the environments are drab and dull really giving no life to the maps, everything is static and nothing feels alive aside from the grunts, players and Titans. The character models look like they were pulled out of Half-Life 2. The animation however looks as authentic as it possibly could for parkour like movements and double jumps throughout. The game is not going to grab your attention for how pretty it is, cause its far from. It will however pull you in when you see 2 titans battling in the middle of a chaotic battlefield. The best thing about this game is the backdrops they are gorgeous, sometimes I would just stop playing to stare off in the distance just to see how much detail is put into it.
Sound
The sound in the game is great, and does its job well, The Titans sound really good the grinding noises your titan makes as you move sound so authentic and real it adds that much needed level of depth in the game. The grunts shout out when they see you kicking ass, they also shout out when they see an enemy closing in. Sound is a much needed thing in any FPS game and Titanfall delivers on every note. The Score of the game is just as epic as the Giant Titans you fight with, serving that feeling of action as you decimate each other on the battlefield.
Gameplay
If any part of TitanFall shines best its most certainly the gameplay. While veteran shooters will have NO problem destroying the casual players, they will certainly grow tired of how easy the shooting mechanics actually are. TitanFall feels as if it was designed to pull in all types of gamers, from casual to non-stop hardcore play this game til my fingers bleed gamers. I feel they went this route simply to have us focus more on the parkour factors and Titans. A lot of the time people would use their Titans in A.I mode as kind of a UAV. They would stay close to the Titan hear "titan attacking pilot" and than use that tactic to take out the enemy. Other times you would see people wall running with shotguns and hopping all over the place. This offers a new type of style to the player. ME? Personally I play many different ways I don't have a play style and I try to mix it up a fair bit. I do enjoy using the Titan to destroy enemies but I also get joy for wall running across a whole map without touching the ground. You can argue all you want but the Gameplay shines the brightest in this game, it is smooth it is satisfying and it is responsive. Even if its a bit too easy and lacks much of any needed gun-skill for veteran shooters.
Online
Well There isn't much to say about this since there is no other option. No BOT matches for practice, no single player anything at all (besides the tutorial). The game runs smooth, for the most part, you get into matches fairly quickly, the lag is minimal but it does exist on some servers. Its an online only game and they treat it as such. They do their best to give you a smooth experience. 6v6 is nothing to write home about and I wish we could have a ground war type of gamemode, I feel 6v6 is alright, but 9v9 would be better. That being said there are only a handful of modes to choose from and this can also add to the fatigue I have experienced in the game. In my honest opinion 5 game modes for an online only game is weak, we see that in games like Sniper Elite, which has a full fledged single player campaign. In essence you have Attrition(TDM),Hardpoint(DOM), Last Titan Standing, Capture the Flag, and Pilot Hunter (which is TDM without grunts/minions counting as kills). I really don't find that acceptable at all, they did however say there will be more to come. So I guess Stand by for..Gamemodes.
Conclusion
If you asked me for my review of Titanfall the first 2-3 days I played it. I would've said easily a 8 out of 10. IF you ask for my opinion a few weeks after playing it would be significantly different. The game offers something fresh, something that feels new but familiar at the same time (Think Unreal/Quake days), and offers the ability to control Giant Mechs but also jump out as a petty soldier on a battlefield. This gets old quicker than it should. With no lore to go with the game, a lack of game modes, and no type of sense of accomplishment in winning, you honestly might play this for a few weeks and put it aside until new maps come out, and than put it aside again. That is too little in my opinion to justify a full retail price for a game like this. TitanFall is good fun, its great fun with friends, but that is where it stops. You will play the same maps 100-200 times and than what? What shooter will you return to?
Windows Central: "Titanfall 1 is being sunset, taken off storefronts by EA. While the servers remain live for now, one has to wonder just how much time it has left. I look back and pay tribute to the last "twitch"-styled shooter I ever truly loved."
Sales for the original Titanfall are being discontinued.
It will be pulled from subscription services on March 1, 2022.
Physical media. Unfortunately the way games are going these days game servers will eventually be shut down and you can stare at the menu and wish you could play the game again.
This is why reading is so important. Nothing to do with digital or physical media. The game, which is online only, is being delisted because of DDOS and other hacker attacks. The case got so bad that only six players in the world log on. For PC. Rather than fix it, they continued to sell the game, broken as it is, and only now just decided to call it quits. But please, go on thinking what you will.
I'm aware of the DDOS attacks and that this case is not typical. This game would eventually have it's servers shutdown regardless of the current situation so that is a moot point. My comment was in a general sense and that there are instances in which games can be preserved physically when official support ends.
Let's recap your first sentence. I said, "the way GAMES are going these days" indicating a broader stroke than just this game. I agree, reading IS important. I was simply stating the obvious downsides of the digital marketplaces and online only trends in games these days. I could even make the argument that the online only offering which has allowed hacker manipulation has impacted the preservation of this great game. My comment is valid in the general sense and thank you for your permission to continue to think what I will.
Loads of new info has surfaced outing that the Apex Legends hackers are also the ones who attacked Titanfall! Screenshots and more unearthed. These people apparently did it for Titanfall Online, and to gain control of TF1.
Yep. Surreal to be honest. Like, why not just make your own game? It’s harder but this route can’t end well…it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.
What a loser. Try hacking something that actually matters like government servers etc. What is gaining control of a game going to do for you? Pathetic.
I was trying to find something to make a long comment in response to your core factors and their scores, but I can't. I agree on almost every point given here. I played the game on PC for the first week and I have lost my desire to play more than a few matches at a time anymore. I was hoping it would keep my interest and it failed on that one key point for me. Only so many times can I play attrition or last titan standing or any of the other game modes before I start to feel that "ya ya ya so what" feeling.
It is amazing that a game that charges full price, completely scraps the singleplayer, offers no co-op or spec ops missions and is by the people who made modern warfare 2 can be so light on modes and extra's.
Why is a multiplayer only game allowed to be shipped when it's so bare bones?
I notice they were quick to announce a season pass though...
Hope they sort this out for Titanfall 2, you can't expect to be a Call of duty killer when there's only 5 modes.
Clearly you guys aren't really adrenaline junkies like most of the folks who are enjoying the shit out of Titanfall. I didn't even get the slightest feeling like I'm missing any game types/modes/features because I get such a rush from playing it and enjoying trying new things.
I love how the game feels like call of duty, but it also feels nothing like call of duty at the same time.
I always kill the bots, and instead of hating them, I enjoy getting kills by actually getting to shoot at stuff instead of spawning and dying like in COD. DOn't get me wrong, I sometimes go 32 and 3 on TD, but I also get annoyed at people who just run and gun, and Titanfall gives alot more survive-ability to the fps genre while still being able to put people down with a few bullets. It's a masterpiece in my mind, and the 60 dollar price tag is well worth it in my opinion. I mean, some people buy season passes for games they play online like a total of 20 hours. That makes their game 110-120 bucks, and they don't beat their game's campaigns OR play it online long enough to justify the price of that... still don't hear people writing off COD and Battlefield just for that expense, and with such a balanced game like titanfall, I couldn't ask for more FUN to be had with my 60 bucks. In fact, some people got this game for free with their XB1, so your loss, everyone else's gain.
We will not miss you online, (you'd probably be one of the guys who says this is boring!!!!! and walks around giving free/easy kills to the enemy team.) Go play with yourself somewhere else then.
I respect that you have your opinion, but your reasons for not liking it are about money. What is money well spent then? Having options/modes you'll never play or use?
A good example is the first Gears of war. it was extremely limited in it's online modes and options, but it still was the coolest thing around for it's time.
And most of the folks who I know tried the campaign for like 2 chapters and played online the rest....
"With no lore to go with the game, a lack of game modes, and no type of sense of accomplishment in winning, you honestly might play this for a few weeks and put it aside until new maps come out, and than put it aside again. That is too little in my opinion to justify a full retail price for a game like this."
80% of the COD players and even bigger majority of the BF players don't give a crap about the story, and yet they play the multiplayer for months or even years. I don't know about others, but I only play Ground War in COD and Conquest in BF; so lack of game modes really isn't a problem for me. Plus, more game modes are coming according to Respawn. And accomplishment? There is no accomplishment in playing a video game for most people in the first place. I play Titanfall for fun, and I can see Titanfall being fun to play for me for years to come.
You said it yourself that the gameplay shines the brightest in this game and that's mainly why I can see myself playing this game for a long time and not get bored. And no, I have not played any unreal or quake multiplayer(has any of these games even been released in the last 5 years?), and I don't know of any game where there is a balanced mix of ground troop and mech gameplay if not at all. So yes, this is innovative and fresh to me, and, Im guessing, most ordinary gamers.
Also, if games like Tomb Raider and Bioshock ask for 60 bucks, it's more than ok for Titanfall to charge 60 bucks also for extremely obvious reasons.