Flames have begun to engulf the cockpit of my Titan, but it’s going to be okay. I don’t have to worry about ejecting. I’ve equipped a piece of kit that takes care of it automatically. A fraction of a second later, he sets me free. It’s a dying act of kindness. Farewell, friend.
Flying though the air, looking down at the Titans that destroyed my mechanical friend, they don’t look so big. It's time to make them pay.
Titanfall is full of moments like these. Wild, chaotic bursts of adrenaline and against-the-odds victories.
Until very recently I’d only played Titanfall for 15 minutes at last year’s Gamescom. A lot of us raved and waxed lyrical about how it was the most exciting thing we’d played since the last exciting thing we played. And thankfully, my enthusiasm remains largely undiminished, but having spent more time with it, there’s an overwhelming number of things talk about.
I played three multiplayer modes at length, dabbled with a vast array of upgrades, got to grips with Burn Cards (special abilities that are unlocked), and really to know my Titan. This was just the multiplayer beta, though, so I still have little idea of how Titanfall’s ‘campaign’ – a hybrid of single- and multi-player modes – really unfolds or whether the word 'campaign' is still relevant.
I played the beta, which will be going live very shortly, and it comprises three modes: Attrition, Hardpoint Domination, and Last Titan Standing. Attrition is team deathmatch and Hardpoint Domination is what you'd expect – three control points are spread across the map waiting to be claimed by opposing teams. Last Titan Standing is a little bit different, with everyone starting in a Titan with no respawns. It’s a long, gruelling fight to the death that has its own dynamic, with the most skilled pilots able to keep their Titan in play for longer.
There’s so much content on IGN today anatomising the Titanfall beta, from the upgrades that can be unlocked, an expert's guide to the best load-out, detailed walkthroughs of the two maps, Fracture and Angel City, and even a commentary with Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella. So instead of echoing the work of others, I thought I’d focus on the moments I think make Titanfall stand out and fun to play, the strategies and tactics that started to emerge during my time with the game and – above all – try to describe the relationship that quickly forms between you and your Titan.
Firstly, playing as a pilot is great. It doesn’t feel like the lesser of the two roles. Not once did I find myself impatiently waiting for a Titan to arrive. Actually, I found myself delaying the request. I started to save it for more opportune moments – this will become a tactic. It just felt more advantageous to call in the Titan when everyone else was running around on foot – all fleshy and exposed. Or when a control point needed clearing out quickly in a round of Hardpoint – the Titan, with its ballistic firepower, can easily flush out an enclosed space.
Playing as the pilot fundamentally changes the way you regard the environment. You think more vertically from the off. But I must admit, after three hours, I wasn’t nimbly hopping from walls to rooftops, as I expected. I used the double-jump constantly, hurdling over walls and vaulting through windows. Fluent wall-running didn't come naturally, but maybe I just didn't want to practice and fail in the heat of battle. This seemed to be true of the players around me. Free-running might turn out to be a really useful tactic, and some will master it to great advantage, but I suspect those skills will come with time and more intimate knowledge of the maps.
One of the reasons playing as pilot is so satisfying, I think, is the David and Goliath dynamic the game encourages. If you use your speed, agility and smarts, you can take down a Titan alone. It’s not an insurmountable obstacle, and when you succeed, it feels like a victory all to yourself.
It requires very specialised weaponry, though. There are two Anti-Titan weapons in the beta. The Sidewinder is a rapid-fire, extremely high-calibre rifle that allows you to pepper the Titan at close range. It attracts more attention, however. The Archer rocket, meanwhile, has the benefit of a lock-on, a heftier punch, and a much greater range, but the reload speed is quite slow, as you fumble around with its gigantic shells. Toppling a Titan isn't just about the firepower either. It requires cunning and a canny ability to exploit blind-spots – I frequently got within touching distance and remained unseen by moving in unison with the Titan. It might be unsportsmanlike, but when your opponent is a giant mech armed to the teeth with rockets and shields, it’s preferable to shoot them in the back.
The pilot’s other equipment ranges from the familiar – assault rifles, shotguns, pistols – to the more exotic, like the smart pistol. When you first learn about it, it sounds like a cheat – a gun that automatically locks onto targets and fires bullets around corners. How is that fair? In practice, it makes perfect sense and requires tactics to be wielded effectively. It automatically locks onto targets within range, turning red if a kill is possible. AI-controlled opponents, which help bulk out a team’s numbers, can be killed instantly, once a lock-on is acquired. That’s quite easy. But to take down a human-controlled adversary requires multiple lock-ons, which is much trickier. You must keep them within your sights for a couple of seconds and remain undetected, otherwise it’s very easy for them to turn around and take you out with a heavier weapon. It’s a cool, futuristic weapon and the balancing, so far, seems spot-on. When used strategically, it also allows for some great passages of gameplay. At one point, I used the smart pistol to target four Grunts while looking down from a rooftop; I jumped, pulled the trigger mid-air, and all four hit the ground before I even landed. Moments like that happen a lot in Titanfall.
There's much more to explore too. Kit changes the Pilot and Titans in subtle but potent ways. Essentially they’re Perks, modifying the key attributes of both pilots and Titans. The DNA of Call of Duty still lies within deep within Titanfall's bones. That's not a bad thing; it's a proven and familiar structure. Yet there's room for more. The beta introduces Burn Cards. There’s a flimsy premise surrounding their existence. Apparently, your performance on the battlefield has been noticed, and a pack of ‘favours’ has been mysteriously posted under you door. Essentially, they're single-use perks that are unlocked randomly. You can equip them before spawning, but if you die before using the card, it's lost forever. Up to three different cards can be selected, though the second and third slots unlock at levels 9 and 11.
My first pack contained ‘Prosthetic Legs’, which made my pilot much faster; ‘Decisive Action’ shaved 40 seconds off my Titan’s build time; and the ‘Amped Mag Charge’ switched out my anti-Titan weapon for a new, more potent weapon. As you level up, the Burn Cards become more formidable – eventually you'll be able to summon a Titan with a fully-charged Damage Core (basically, it can deal more damage as soon as you get inside).
With Kit and a potentially endless supply of Burn Cards, it’s clear we’re entering a world of mind-boggling combinations and load-outs. The presentation of Burn Cards – it definitely recalls something like Gold Packs in FIFA’s Ultimate Team – makes you think they may eventually be offered in exchange for real money. But there's no talk of that being the case right now.
I just mentioned Grunts, and it was my first time really playing with them. They’re bots, assigned to both teams, to pad out the numbers and fill in the maps. It’s pretty easy to kill them – like I say, the smart pistol makes light work of them – and they also come in a slightly tougher variant, known as the Spectre. I found them to be a necessary and important addition to the overall experience. Pilots and Titans are undoubtedly the major pieces in play – they have the best weapons and the individual power to change the dynamic of a match – whereas the Grunts are best thought of as pawns – there to make up the numbers, perhaps, but also to provide resistance against the backdrop of a much bigger conflict.
A few months ago, a lot was made of Titanfall being just 6 vs. 6, but based on the beta, I’m happy that it is. The scale of something like Battlefield 4’s multiplayer is staggering and provides a memorable experience, but I definitely prefer the intimacy of Titanfall. It feels like my actions have immediate impact. Even though I’m not a bad Call of Duty player – really, I’m not – I often find myself alienated in big games. Sure, I’m contributing in my own way, but often I feel anonymous and ineffectual. I never once felt like this playing Titanfall. I always felt like I was influencing the fortunes of my team.
So far I’ve only really talked about what it’s like to be a pilot, but controlling the Titan is really a natural extension of being on foot. The Titan is your most powerful weapon and dependable ally. You can request his arrival much sooner than you think; it’s not a kill-streak type reward just for the elite player, it’s an indispensable part of the game’s ebb and flow.
In the beta, there’s only one Titan, the Atlas class. It has innate abilities like the ‘Damage Core’, which temporarily increases all of its attacks, and access to heavy duty weaponry, from chain-guns to quad rockets. But after a couple of hours, distinct tactics began to emerge which really distinguish what it's like to play as the Titan.
The boost – which can only be used twice before it needs to recharge – becomes invaluable, both offensively and defensively. I’d recommend keeping one boost in reserve at all times for emergencies. You stomp around as the Titan, but being able to escape danger quickly is essential for preserving your health. If surrounded, the Titan can fall quicker than you'd think.
The Vortex Shield – an ability that enables you to collect all incoming projectiles and return them from where they came – becomes an entire meta-game in itself. I frequently had ridiculous stand-offs with other Titans, both of us trying to catch each other's rockets using the Vortex Shield. More often than not, nobody would fire – a ludicrous stalemate, with each Titan flashing its shield in what must have resembled a bizarre mating ritual to onlookers. What I’m trying to convey is there’s depth and strategy to being a Titan. It's a huge ace up the sleeve, granting access to formidable weaponry, but if it's not wielded with intelligence and tactics, craftier pilots will take you down. Use your Titan wisely, and don't let it die in vain.
It wasn't until playing the beta that I realised just how capable and useful a Titan can be. You don’t hop aboard and stay inside until it bursts into flames and you eject. That’s such a waste. Instead, you’re free to exit at any point, but the Titan can still be controlled while you're on foot. This is done simply by alternating between two modes using the d-pad. You can tell the Titan to stay put, like an obedient dog, and function like a heavy-duty sentry gun, or have it follow you and lend support. Instantly, it unlocks a whole host of tactics that I’d never really thought about. If you need to hold a marker in Hardpoint, you can now watch both entrances by leaving your Titan to stand guard at one of them. Alternatively, leave your Titan to camp by the control point while you perch on a nearby rooftop with a sniper rifle.
And that's the thing. I’m trying to remain impersonal and use the impersonal ‘it’. Your Titan, after all, is just a machine. But after just three hours, I can’t do it with any conviction. Maybe I’ve seen Iron Giant too many times, but my Titan is really a person. He follows you into battle without the slightest hesitation. He always has your back. He takes bullets for you. And he’ll even die trying to save you. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing him plummet to the ground or the way he reaches out expectantly as you approach.
I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship
