I received a copy of Titanfall 2 for an early Christmas present and to cut to the quick I think this is a really good game. During the past year or two I’ve tried a lot of games and for the most part have been disappointed, for instance when I bought a new video card with it I received both Tom Clancys’ The Division and Far Cry: Primal.
Tried ‘em both, really tried hard with Far Cry Primal but nope, didn’t like either of ‘em and there they’ve sat on my hard drive for some months now doing nothing but taking up space. There are many others I’ve tried and played but that’s possibly the subject for another thread. Several have been contenders but to a one once they reach a certain level seems to me they get stupidly hard and just aren’t fun anymore.
Anyhow, to Titanfall 2. I think the test for me if a game is good is if I want to keep coming back to it and with this game I do. I recently bought Gears Of War 4 mostly cos of the novelty of being able to play an Xbox One game on the PC and yes, it’s good but does it make me want to get straight on the computer and play it when I come home? No, it doesn’t.
Does Titanfall 2 make me want to play lots and lots? Yes it does.
So what’s it all about. The usual I suppose, interplanetary wars and using giant mechs. It starts with a veteran teaching you the ropes which includes a training session and then you’re off to some planet somewhere killing baddies. No Mech piloting as yet but the combat is good, lottsa fun.
And then you get to drive a mech and it really does seem as if you’re driving a huge metal robotic machine, blasting anything that gets in your way. Great fun. There’s no map to use but I’ve managed to find my way around ok so far. The combat is satisfying, the graphics are good and the controls work well.
This does feel like a present day game but there are elements of gaming history everywhere in it. Making your way through an industrial complex with toxic spills anybody? Yes, it’s that corny but somehow it works and feels fresh. Playing Titanfall 2 I am at times reminded of Half Life; Mechwarrior series; Halo series; The latest Doom and any one of late nineties/noughties games.
There’s just one aspect I don’t like: Wall running. The game uses this facility where you run, hit the space bar and run along vertical walls then usually jump or double jump to reach your destination. This has led to me making multiple attempts to reach my target and cheeses me off a great deal. In fact this is the one part of the game where I die most frequently. In it’s defence it does make you seek out best routes to reach a destination, often across what look like impossible routes.
But I don’t really like wall running and double jumps.
Still, weighing up the game as a whole that’s a minor niggle.
For anybody else playing the game this is my second day playing Titanfall 2 and I’ve just started the chapter titled ‘Effect and Cause’ and spent 4 hours playing the game. All in all this game is like a breath of fresh air after all the disappointing games I’ve tried relatively recently.
I haven’t tried multiplayer yet, figure I need to get a bit more experienced before I venture online with it but I certainly will try multiplayer in the future.
EA and Origin have had a bad press in recent years and sometimes deservedly so, maybe Titanfall 2 (And probably Battlefield 1 as well) might drag them out of the abyss, especially as just recently they haven’t been charging silly money for both Titanfall 2 and Battlefield 1. Mind you that ‘DLC’ still rankles cos for ‘DLC’ read ‘Parts of the game we held back just to get more money out of you’ and this observation also covers their practice of offering standard and ‘deluxe’ versions of games, in other words some versions of games are more equal than others.
I don’t want to end of a negative note however so let’s just say: Titanfall 2 – Very good indeed
. Here's a trailer for the single player campaign:
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