The original Titanfall introduced us to a franchise that sought to combine the best parts of human and mech first-person shooters into one well-oiled machine. For the most part it did well. Its online-only multiplayer campaign offered players a blend of competitive and story-driven action that put it on the map as one of the most interesting new IPs to come out in a while. Now a few years later, we’re looking at its much anticipated sequel: Titanfall 2, which seeks to take all of the goodwill of the original and build upon it in effective, dynamic and exciting new ways.
Titanfall 2 comes from Respawn Entertainment. Respawn is a young studio formed by Jason West and Vince Zampella, who created and helped develop the Call of Duty franchise. The Titanfall franchise has been Respawn’s sole foray since the studio’s incarnation, but perhaps such focus is exactly what this series needs to hit even harder in its second run. And make no mistake: Titanfall 2 looks ready to brawl.
If you’re not in the know, have no fear. We’re here to bring all the information out there into one place for your consideration. From new content to system requirements and from release dates to DLC information, we’ve gathered all press releases, media reveals, and trailers to let you know exactly what you’ll be getting whether you’re already on-board or still straddling the fence. Without further ado, here’s the breakdown on Respawn Entertainment’s newest human/mech hybrid first-person shooter.
Updated: 21/08/2016
Gameplay
As in the first game, Titanfall takes place in a far advanced sci-fi universe. Humanity is fighting wars with one another using conventional small arms, as well as stories-tall bipedal war machines known as Titans. Players can call in these giant machines periodically to aid in numerous strategies, not the least of which is battling other titans and destroying unwary soldiers. Titanfall 2 is looking to up the ante in several ways on the ground, in the machine, and outside the battlefield.
Pilots
The original Titanfall had numerous features of mobility for players to vault obstacles, use ziplines, and wall-run through the environment. Titanfall features all of that mobility plus a couple new versatile options. Players can now duck and slide with enough running momentum. This can be used to slide under objects and applicable cover in the environment. You can also slide into enemies, doing melee damage to them and setting up for the kill.
Further boosting pilot lethality and mobility are new tactical abilities. Stim and Cloak return alongside a few fresh abilities. Active Radar Pulse has been replaced by the Pulse Blade, which is a throwable knife that sends out sonar, revealing nearby enemy locations. Holo Pilot allows players to project a pilot that will mimic their actions as they run in another direction, allowing misdirection and drawing of enemy fire. Finally, perhaps the most interesting is the Grapple Hook ability, which allows players to latch on and pull their way to any surface on the map. With Grapple Hook, you can grapple and rodeo onto titans with ease or use your moving momentum to swing around obstacles to safety.
Titans
Of course pilots aren’t the only ones getting a boost. Titans are the authority of the battlefield and in Titanfall 2, they’re getting quite a few new options themselves. The first and most notable of Titanfall 2’s additions is breaking up the regular heavy Ogre, medium Atlas, and light Stryder of the first game into several new specialized Titans, each with their own new weapons and systems making each unique in their weaknesses and strengths. In the past we’ve seen lightning cannons, rocket launchers, chainguns, deflective shields, anti-personnel electrical smoke, and dashing, but Titanfall 2 is upping the ante with these specialized titans each containing a power core that allows for a unique and super powerful move.
The first of the new Titans on display is named Ion. Ion features a slew of energy weapons. It’s main armament is the Splitter Rifle that fires rapid fire energy bursts. In addition, it has a shoulder mounted laser canon, perfect for laying hard, concentrated damage on a Titan’s weak points or disintegrating foolish pilots with a well placed shot. For defensive options, it features a vortex shield that can call all incoming ordinance and fire it back at the attacking enemy, as well as a laser tripwire laid down along explosive mines to do heavy damage to chasing and aggressive enemies.
Ion’s core is the Laser Core. Once the gauge is filled, Ion can release a supercharged, concentrated beam of energy. This beam can easy bring a fully armored Titan from full armor and shields to scrap in no time if they are unable to avoid contact. This makes Ion a devastating Titan versus Titan machine, capable of ruining that fresh new mech your enemy just called onto the field in no time flat. The weakness of Ion is that most of its weapons are precision based, requiring careful aim to be truly effective.
The next unique Titan on display is Scorch. As its name might imply, Scorch utilized tons of fire based weaponry to lay waste to the battlefield. Its main armament is the Thermite Launcher: practically a grenade launcher firing arcing explosive ordinance that will set everything in an area ablaze. In addition, Scorch can use a firewall attack, hitting the ground and sending an advancing line of thermite rising from the firmament. Taking advantage of both of these is the incendiary trap, which fires a gas grenade. Hitting the gas with any fire will cause flames to spew out over a large area, scorching everything caught within. For a defensive option, Scorch has thermal shield. this shield deploys a wall of fire which will melt incoming ordnance and burn anything that gets close, such as foolish pilots grappling or trying to rodeo the front of it.
Scorch’s core is the Flame Core. After building the gauge up, Scorch will smash both of its fists down, creating a massive advancing wave of fire that will cook anything in front of it to well done. It’s not quite a focused attack the way Ion’s laser core is, but it is a wide and long-range one that can kill multiple pilots and damage multiple Titans in one sitting. Scorch’s strength lies in its ability to not only hammer foes with grenades, but also adjust for the arc of most of its weapons. The downside is that there’s less precision to Scorch’s armaments as a result, making it difficult to hit enemies as range or focus down one enemy as well as Ion can.
Those looking for mobility and something a bit more close and personal are going to want to get a look at the next unique Titan: Ronin. Ronin is a light Titan featuring close range weaponry and supreme mobility. It’s primary weapon is the Leadwall shotgun, whose pellets can bounce off walls, but the real star attraction is the Arc Blade sword it carries. Ronin is built around lethality up close and its abilities show it. The arc wave sweeps the sword in font of Ronin, damaging and slowing enemy titans with an electrical wave. Want to get in close? Use phase dash to move forward quickly, slipping out of the world for a moment and closing distance in no time. Of course, the sword can be used defensively as well. Unlike the vortex or thermal shields, the sword block can be held indefinitely to reduce damage rather than absorb it.
Ronin’s core is the Sword Core. It empowers Ronin’s melee attack and sword abilities to make sliced scrap out of its enemies. With this, Ronin can move through the battlefield in a hurry, laying a close range beat down on other Titans who would rather keep it at range. Ronin’s obvious strength is close encounters and the amount of mobility it has to make them happen. Unfortunately, if Scorch and Ion can keep Ronin at distance and hammer it with gun fire, Ronin can be taken down in a hurry.
These are only three of six Titans to be featured in Titanfall 2 eventually. These three already bare dramatic differences from one another, so we’re expecting just as much out of the other three when they finally come our way. You can bet that when they show up, we’ll break them down here.
Game Modes
Titanfall was a purely multiplayer game with no offline mode and, in fact, any campaign and story in the game was carried out in the online campaign. Players who long for a single player experience in this world are getting their wish. Titanfall 2’s single player has been revealed and it looks like a hectic affair. Expanding upon the conflict of the Frontier Millitia and the corporate conglomerate IMC, players are going to get to explore the wild world of Frontier as well as the relationship between a pilot and their Titan.
That said, if you’re in for the competitive haul, there’s plenty to play with in Titanfall 2. Pilot vs. Pilot is the standard fast-paced shooter, but two new modes have already made their presence known. The first is Bounty. During this mode, teams of five will compete to kill numerous spawning waves of NPC solders and Titans. Each kill nets some cash for your team, but you also get a bonus for each kill you make, whether it’s NPCs or the enemy team’s pilots. At the end of each wave, banks open up and it’s a mad dash to deposit your bonus into your team’s overall score and sabotage your enemy from getting their precious bonus into theirs. Die and you lose half your bonus money, making every step with money in your hands a gamble. Furthermore, killing enemy players with an exceptionally large wallet nets you a hefty sum of whatever they were holding, incentivizing sabotage at every possibility.
The second new game mode is a fresh take on an old classic. Hardpoint was essentially a three point King of the Hill match on most maps. Amped Hardpoint is similar, but different. Just as before, you score points by holding down the objective points. However, you can get an objective point to produce extra points for your time by lingering in it after it’s captures, “amping” it up and building a steady stream of bonus points for your team. There’s a risk in lingering in a control point and taking fire from invading enemies, but those who can hold it down will score big.
Forseeable DLC
Additional content will definitely be a thing with Titanfall 2 as it is with most shooters, but don’t sour and think microtransactions and season passes just yet. Head of development David Wightman revealed at an EA Play event that though new maps and modes are certainly going to happen, they will always be available as free add-ons to the game. That means as far as competitive modes and maps go, you’ll never pay a dime to stay in the freshest rotations.
Release Date
Players won’t be waiting for too incredibly long on Titanfall 2 and it has been given a concrete release date so you can start socking money away. The game is set to launch on PS4, Xbox One, and Origin on PC on October 28.
Additional Thoughts
Titanfall 2 is an ambitious sequel looking to stand out in an increasingly packed market of futuristic competitive shooters. Between heavy hitters like Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and even more under the radar types like Planetside 2, not to mention the upcoming Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Titanfall 2 has more work to do to set itself apart than ever before. That said, with what’s been revealed, Respawn looks right on track to do just that.
Titanfall has already established a franchise that will bring players back for at least the launch based on what we’ve seen, but the real test will be longevity. Will Titanfall 2 have enough new features to keep players interested after a few weeks of play? That might very well depend on additional maps, modes and other content to keep the already versatile game fresh and interesting. They have the structure in place. Now it’s just a matter of excellent execution.
Most Anticipated Feature – Single Player
Titanfall story mode? Multiplayer is certainly going to be the factor in determining the game’s longevity, but to be able to more deeply explore the Titanfall universe in a proper single player mode sounds like an absolute treat. We’ve already seen that we’re going to get to explore pilot/Titan relationships and the political strife teased in the first game, but there’s also the introduction of Frontier fauna. At least from the trailers, it looks like rival human factions aren’t the only thing causing trouble on Frontier. We can’t wait to see a full-on exploration of this intriguing sci-fi universe.
