The Humungous Metal Ordeal that is Titanfall

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After having spent about little over a week with the game I'm confident I can give you a full picture of how the game feels. It feels strangely good. I'll be honest I'm not a fan of the whole Call of Duty franchise as of late and I'm about to insult every COD fanboy/girl out there right now in saying that I think it's a piece of copy and pasted crap. It provided no innovation within the last four releases which should sound a no-no alarm in every gamer that this is just another money maker. Is it a good money maker? Sure. But, by repeatedly hashing together the same thing with nothing new, it got boring even faster with each progressive title. I'm happy to say that with the first release of Titanfall that the spirit of the COD franchise has been renewed, even though the publisher as well as the IP is entirely different the developers brought over COD's distinctive feel, while you guessed it, adding something new!

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Story: With all the praise I'm giving to it, it'd be strange that there isn't something inherently wrong with the game and unfortunately this is it. The story is basically voice-over briefings before multiplayer missions begin. With sparse cut scenes, and annoyingly brief intercom injections while playing a multiplayer match. I understand the fact that Titanfall was to be praised entirely for its multiplayer combat, but why bother designing a campaign mode then? It would have been better if they left this out entirely and relegated the collection of the Titan models to some arbitrary completionist award in the classic multiplayer. Especially since doing well or utterly failing has not even the slightest impact upon the outcome of the story. I did like that they tried something new, but I'd have much enjoyed it if they polished it a bit more, this felt even more tacked on than the traditional FPS titles story modes. Story gets a 4/10.

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Gameplay: Undeniably good, albeit rather unbalanced. Like COD you rush to streak yourself to get your Titan as fast as possible, once in your Titan you try to streak for as long as possible to win the match. Titanfall's combat while polished inevitably falls into this realm of play style. Which isn't necessarily bad, but very limiting. Gun balance leaves much to be desired as rifles can hit targets as far away as snipers and still be able to kill with relative ease compared to them. The satisfyingly multiple ways of finishing off opponents is what really make this game stand out and the parkour really lends itself to this matter. Being able to rodeo streaking titans really helps to balance out the perk known as the: Titan. Anti-Titan weapons also help foot-soldiers ultimately feel useful unlike in COD where choppers are almost un-targetable or when nukes are dropped and the match is over. Bringing inherent balance to a moving wall of utter destruction makes this game feel much more palatable to players across all spectrums. Although speaking in terms of game mechanics this is still a game for the hardcore; it just welcomes the casual players and gives them many more stepping stones other than noob-tubing. Gameplay gets a 8/10.

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Graphics: As with most modern games graphical fidelity is a non-issue especially if you're on PC; occasional frame drops here and there if too many explosions occur at once but generally a non-issue. With the console versions its about the same. The attention to detail is really amazing as well. Some graphical loading issues when you're transferred from soldier to mech. Side panels on the interior of the mech don't load properly until you have successfully turned on the visual screen inside. It's a small issue, but for me it breaks immersion. Graphics get a solid 8/10.

Sound: Very rarely do I complain about a FPS soundtrack, they're usually pretty good. I have not much to complain about here either. Everything regarding the soundtrack to sound FX loops are done masterfully. Weapon firing sounds on a few SMGs as well as sniper rifles could feel more powerful. However, I think that is more a personal opinion than it is undeniable fact. Sometimes during high intensity fire fights. Audio may cut out due to simulation overexposure but those are rare occasions and I write it off as a programming bug rather than something inherently wrong with the game's audio. For making me feel like a badass giant robot, audio gets a 9/10.

This game is well polished COD-style FPS, while entertaining new elements which greatly help balance the overall feel of the game. Story was weaker than usual, but forgivable since all other aspects of playing the game felt really good. If I wanted to feel like I were a badass robot this is the game I would play. Otherwise it might be portal 2. Seriously physics altering robots. Not enough badassness to hold myself with there.  Overall Score 7.25/10 or 29/40

I would recommend picking this game up for hardcore Call of Duty fans as well as anyone interested in getting a foot in the door with FPS games. It's well balanced structure and manageable learning curve allow just about anyone to enjoy Titanfall. If you haven't already picked up a copy of the game you can get it here: