Platform: PC

Developer: Respawn Entertainment

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Release Date: March 11th, 2014

Genre: First Person Shooter

Nerd Rating: 8.5/10

The other day I decided to pick up Respawn Entertainment’s new, very hyped up game, Titanfall. This game is a first-person shooter with parkour elements similar to Mirror’s Edge, or Warframe. However, a major part of this game are the “Titans,” which are mechs that you can call in every few minutes and control or have follow you and protect you. Before I even begin to talk about the game, I just want to mention the worst part of the game. This game is not, and will not be available on Steam, even though it uses a modified version of Valve’s Source engine. Why is this not available on Steam? Valve and Electronic Arts don’t get along very well, and that makes it very inconvenient to the PC gamer who wants all their games in one launcher and only want one friends list. Also: PC gamers with limited hard drive space, beware; this game takes up 48 GB to download. That is by far the biggest game for the PC I currently own, and I want to say it’s the biggest in existence. Why is this game so big? Audio.

The first thing about Titanfall I want to talk about is the Campaign. The campaign is in my opinion, a mess. The developers did not want single player in the game, so they made a competitive campaign. Yes, I said competitive campaign. How does that even work? Simple, it doesn’t. The campaign missions are just normal competitive game modes with a person talking to you as if to add a story to the game. I got very bored playing the campaign, and they try to make you play it by adding competitive mode unlockables to the campaign. I am not a fan of games that are all multiplayer. I feel they are giving you half of a game at full price. I get it, you don’t want single player, please don’t try to rush a story into the game like Titanfall obviously did, especially if it’s competitive.

Who needs a floor? The wall’s fine.

Now let’s talk about the main part, and the good part of the game; “Classic.” “Classic” is the main competitive game modes that usual FPS games have like Team Deathmatch (“Attrition”), Last Man Standing (“Last Titan Standing”), Domination (“Hardpoint”),  Capture The Flag, and another version of Team Deathmatch (“Pilot Hunter”) in which you only get points for killing other players. These games modes are all pretty enjoyable, so I usually press “Variety Pack” which will randomly swap you in and out of different game modes. However, my favorite game mode is “Last Titan Standing,” in which everyone spawns in a Titan and only has one life. The first team in which every titan is destroyed, loses, regardless of whether there are pilots alive or not.

That sign’s kind of creepy..

The fast-paced gameplay of Titanfall is very enjoyable. You will play as either the “Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC)” or the “Militia.” For most of the game modes except “Last Titan Standing,” you spawn as the pilot on foot. You must go around like a normal FPS shooting other players and NPC bots who get you points. Eventually you will be told your titan is ready, and you must press V in order for an awesome entrance of your titan who will fall from the sky and kill any enemies it lands on, including titans. You can then get inside your titan and start fighting, or you can command your titan to stay at it’s current position or follow you. While playing as the normal pilot on foot, you can parkour pretty awesomely, whether by walking up walls, double jumping, or wall running. Most maps also have heavy turrets you can activate which will shoot at enemy titans. You can also hack the enemy turrets. As a pilot, you can also jump on the back of an team member’s titan, and shoot from it, or jump on the back of an enemy titan and shoot parts inside the titan to make it catch fire. In one of the first few levels, you will unlock something called “burn cards.” Burn cards are power-ups you use when you die, and they last until you die or until the game ends. These burn cards can give you a temporary gun, make you faster, or many other things.

Don’t mind me, I’m just shooting your titan’s parts.

Another thing about this game I (surprisingly) enjoyed, was the tutorial! The tutorial is pretty fun and is really pretty looking. It’s helpful to learning the game as well, obviously, or else it wouldn’t be a tutorial. I believe it makes you play the tutorial, but if not, make sure to check it out! They split the tutorial up into different parts, each teaching a different thing and testing you at the end. They also added a little cut-scene type section before and after the tutorial, which was pretty cool.

I really enjoyed the tutorial.. Either it’s awesome, or I’m boring.

How could I write a review of Titanfall without writing more about the titans? The titans are one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game. You take control of a giant robot (with it’s own customizable loadout too!) and wreak havoc on all the players and NPCs not in a titan, or go head on with another titan. The titan has sort of like jet boots, kind of, as it can quickly slide in any direction to avoid bullets. One of my favorite features of the titan is it’s shield. It has a shield type thing that comes out of his hands, can catch bullets, and then you can throw them back at the enemy. That’s pretty amazing. When you see your titan fall to the battlefield for the first time, it’s an amazing sight. The animation of the titan crashing down is just SO epic, you’ll be amazed.

I caught the bullets! You are OUT! #Titanball

In Titanfall, there are many different weapons from the normal SMGs, shotguns, snipers, and pistols to a one-shot lock-on pistol that is pretty amazing. Many players believe this pistol, called the “Smart pistol” is overpowered, however I feel it is fair as it takes quite a while for the pistol to lock on (it only does maximum damage if it locks on) and gives you plenty of enough time to escape. Much like other first-person shooters, you can customize your own loadout and add attachments to your guns as well as have unlockable guns and a “perks” system.

That’s one smart pistol.

My biggest issues with this game, and the reason it’s not a higher score: As previously mentioned, no steam support makes me sad. I prefer Steam to Origin or Uplay any day. Second, the campaign is just terrible in my opinion, sorry Respawn. Finally, no single-player yet still costing $59.99 Please developers, if you are going to give us half a game, give us half the price. Other then those problems, mainly the campaign, this could easily be a 9 out of 10. Titanfall is very enjoyable and an awesome game. Do you agree with my rating? If not, feel free to add your own views in the comments!

How beautiful…
Oh right, I’m supposed to be fighting. Sorry team!

Now if only I had a few PC gamer friends to play it with…