Titanfall 2: A new way to play.
We’ve all played call of duty, maybe even battlefield. You know what to do. Pick your
guns, loadout, get in a match and play. Take cover, reload, die, and try again. It’s all pretty
similar, with different feels, eras, and game engines. Titanfall 2 is one of said shooters. You get
your weapon, get in a game, but it’s different. Bright colors, scifi weapons. Grapple hooks, double
jumps, story, and of course, massive robots. They change things, as does the movement system.
Later games like Apex which happens to be made by the same people just cannot compare,
unfortunately. In my mind, the reason titanfall 2 stays influential and is so different from other
games is it’s story and gameplay dynamics.
The story. We’ve all heard it a million times from our friends. “You have to try this game, the story
is great!” or maybe a “This game has the best story yet!” and when we do play it, yeah. Maybe
the story is okay, but the gameplay falls flat. Hordes of grunts and a heavy gun in your hands, a
witty british person over comms and a nuke in some building. This one feels different. You have a
Titan. Your companion, your other half. An extension of yourself, a tool, a weapon, and also a
character. He talks, he tells jokes sometimes, and you feel for him. Their bond is nice, and
exploring the world as a twenty foot titan feels amazing. On top of that, the world is made to
handle a pilot. You have your jump kit, able to jump high and far, grip onto walls, and double
jump. The story too is amazing, and if you haven’t played, you need to. It’s usually on sale, and
it’s on gamepass, which you can grab for free for a month.
Now we get into the nitty gritty of the game, the bread and butter of what makes it click outside of
telling a compelling story. The movement, and the balance between Pilot and Titan. Yes, those
are different things completely. A pilot can be as dangerous as a Titan in the right situations. The
maps all flow differently, with compact areas around the upper middle and wider lanes and a
more classic three lane flow for Titans. Titans have bigger weapons as well, and many if not all
have a simple way to one shot a pilot, but have no health regeneration. They require batteries
and such, which is a great counter. Overall, it’s such an amazing system.
Titanfall two remains a revolutionary game. It’s gameplay is fresh, it’s story is great, and the
visual style is unique to the genre. The Titans feel fun, heavy, powerful. Pilots feel loose, fast, but
have a punch. To summarize, the future is bright if more games look and feel this way. I hope to
see you on the frontier, Pilot.
