The original Titanfall was a great game marred by a considerable lack of content. Though it nailed its fundamentals, from its frenetic run-and-gunning action through to the giant, imposing Titans themselves, it suffered from a dearth of things to do. When compared with the likes of the Call of Duty series, which offers players a variety of modes outside of its main online multiplayer component, it was clear that its shelf life was limited.
But Respawn Entertainment are reportedly returning with Titanfall 2 this winter, and it’s imaginable that such a talented team would have learned from the mistakes made in the first Titanfall game, creating an online shooter that could legitimately become the “Call of Duty killer” that many predicted its predecessor would be.
Let’s take a look at how Titanfall 2 could achieve this:
Customizable Titans
The Titans were the star of the show in the first Titanfall. Plummeting to the ground in a blaze of fire, their presence changed every match and ensured that players had to be cautious with their movement, evading their impressive firepower whilst working to get their hands on their own. However, while their loadouts were able to be swapped around and there were separate classes to choose from, there wasn’t much fiddling you could to do your Titan outside of arming it with different weaponry and special abilities. That should change in Titanfall 2.
First-person shooters’ leveling systems are becoming more reliant upon players showing off their progression to their rivals and teammates, with games that employ a wealth of customization options offering players an extra incentive to keep playing. These options should therefore be made available for Titanfall 2‘s Titans, given that they are the focal point of the series and, if you want to show off cool stuff you’ve obtained in a video game, what better way to do it than by using a giant mech?
Respawn Entertainment would do well to take a leaf from out of the Forza Motorsport series’ book, which offers such a vast array of customization options that it stands to make each car in your garage feel unique. Granting players the ability to both tinker beneath the hood of their Titan – granting them more ways to have them suit their play style outside of simply arming them with different guns and abilities, alongside providing a plentiful selection of aesthetic options to boot – would go a long way to keep them invested in the game long after its launch. Considering this was the major issue the original faced, Respawn will certainly be looking for solutions to this problem, and being able to transform our respective Titans into mean-looking towering behemoths through a variety of upgrades is arguably the best route for them to take.
A weird and wonderful single-player campaign
Single-player campaigns are often overlooked in multiplayer-focused shooters, though the reasoning behind this is understandable. With these campaigns requiring a lot of money to pull off effectively, many developers would rather put that cash into the online component of their games, which is where most players will be spending the vast majority of their time. In an ideal world every FPS would be like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but in reality it’s difficult to create a shooter that is as enjoyable for solo players as it is for those who want to battle it out online, without requiring an absurd amount of money in order to do so.
Despite this, the first Titanfall could have really benefited from a single-player campaign in order to establish its setting. With recent Call of Duty games, players know they’re fighting a futuristic war pitting US soldiers against some sort of terrorist organization or corrupt government, but the Titanfall universe was far more expansive though essentially off-limits for players to explore. Often, the most interesting aspects of the game took place around a map’s perimeter, unable to be interacted with by players. Take the gigantic Leviathans seen stomping around in the distance, for instance:
Respawn Entertainment have confirmed that Titanfall 2 will include a single-player campaign, and with the game likely set to release on the PS4 this time around alongside the Xbox One and PC, it would greatly benefit from staging a proper introduction to the series’ universe with its newly widened audience. Its sci-fi leanings make it fertile ground for Respawn to do something interesting with, and there’s a huge amount that has been left unexplained by the poorly explained events of the first game that could explored this time around.
We know that the folks behind Respawn are capable of developing a wonderful FPS campaign given that they were the team responsible for the original Modern Warfare, which many cite as having the best story of any shooter. On the other hand, the modern Call of Duty series continues to struggle with producing a compelling plot, with many overlooking the campaign altogether as it narrows its focus upon progressively underwhelming set pieces. This is where Titanfall 2 could step in, courting the solo players that CoD has lost over the years with a brand new story – one that will hopefully see us finally able to go and shoot those big, lanky Lovecraftian nightmares right in their terrifying faces.
Modes that take advantage of its off-the-wall concept
Titanfall‘s concept is absurd. Two teams of “pilots” battling it out by entering into giant mechs that smack each other around maps surrounded by weird-looking aliens? It ain’t your run-of-the mill military shooter, that’s for sure.
However, one major gripe many had with the original game was its lack of game modes, a notable issue considering that the game was already suffering in the “things to do” department. However, a much larger problem was that the modes that were put in place really didn’t take advantage of how much fun players could potentially have piloting these giant mechanical war machines, instead pitting them in scenarios that would be found in your typical shooter such as Capture the Flag and Domination.
This is where Titanfall 2 should take a leaf out of Halo‘s book. With Halo the series’ creators Bungie acknowledged that, while competitive play shouldn’t be undermined, there should also be modes that deviated from kill/death ratios and obtaining high scores for those who were predominantly concerned with having fun. This is why modes such as Infected and Grifball were introduced, with them having previously been community-created game types that Bungie recognized would be worthwhile additions to their official playlists. Titanfall‘s Titans offer a wealth of possibilities when it comes to varied modes that would provide players with other things to do outside of shooting one another, and Titanfall 2 would do well to capitalize on this. Hopefully Respawn acknowledges the inherent ludicrousness of its game’s concept, and uses it to its advantage.
