Which game is better?
Danny Stueber, Staff Writer
Titanfall 2 improves on its predecessor on all fronts so much so that the first game does not even matter anymore. In my mind, this is the first game in the series and it’s amazing. Everything from movement, gameplay, unlockables, story, etc. are improved upon completely and it’s the game I have not been able to put down.
The biggest improvement is the story since the first game did not even have a campaign mode. It had some lose dialogue here and there in multiplayer matches but that was it so if you didn’t like playing with other people you were out of luck.
This time you have an entire campaign where you play as a soldier and his robot. The whole gameplay premise of Titanfall is that half the time you are a ground soldier who can wall run, double jump, and many other things that every shooter has ripped off these days since the original and the other half of the time you’re in a giant robot fighting other giant robots. Its every little kids fantasy and it always feels good to do so.
In the story, you take control of the mech you know as BT and are ordered to finish a mission a dead squad mate has already started. In the beginning, it starts slow and feels like any normal shooter but about an hour in the gameplay is cranked up to an 11 and it never stops there.
Amazing set pieces, level design, and humor abound in this 6-7 hour campaign and I enjoyed every second of it. Normally shooter campaigns can be pretty lazy and just reuse maps from the multiplayer but this campaign was built from the ground up with its own themes and levels where you are never doing the same thing twice.
There is a part mid-way through the game that I can’t spoil here but when a button prompt pops up saying “press LB to ___” it was the coolest thing I have done this year in video games.
All the boss fights are fun, the collectables are worth getting since it tests your skills with the controls, and the story (while not the best) has a great set up and ending to where you can’t wait for a Titanfall 3. BT really is the shining light as a form of Optimus Prime and through the campaign his dry robot humor really gets a laugh out of you many times.
My one complaint is that it is kind of short and I feel like they could have added more but that just gives me hope for the next one. Also, the characters do not look too good even if the rest of the game looks stunning and it’s probably because this game is not as big budget as EAs other shooter which just came out, Battlefield 1.
The multiplayer is just as much of a shining star as the single player. It ramped up everything from the first one and as a result it has still kept my attention these past few weeks unlike the first one. We now have 6 titans to choose from instead of 3, we can customize our players and titans with skins and art when you couldn’t do that last time, there are more weapons and abilities than last time, and now skills that don’t run out instead of dumb one use cards for equipment during each battle.
They essentially doubled everything that was in the first game and it’s all for the better. You move so smoothly and fast that it’s hard not to be mesmerized by the character when you hit a good pace but you never feel cheated in death like other shooters. If you die you can see how you messed up and can plan accordingly next time.
I also fairly enjoy the level up system which instead of experience points like every other game you are rewarded merits after each fight. 10 merits normally get you a level and your rewarded for things like having a good match, being helpful to the team, getting creative kills, etc. you are rewarded for playing and improving instead of just how many guys you shoot and that’s a breath of fresh air for a shooter.
My biggest surprise was that all the titans are pretty balanced compared to one another. A few stand out to me (the Tone which can stay far back but cause a lot of damage and the Ronin which is a quick shotgun mech that’s hard to hit) but all in all every titan fight is fun and fair. That’s the best thing about this multiplayer is its fun yet fair. I do not see myself stopping anytime soon with it.
The good news is that Titanfall 2 succeeds on all fronts from fantastic single player to fun, hectic multiplayer with only a few small hiccups here and there. The bad news is that it did not sell well as a result of it being put out so close to the studios other shooter Battlefield 1.
As a result, the servers do not have many people playing that often. On Xbox One, the most people I have seen at once is 10,000 nationwide and about 2,000 on the east coast I could connect to. Those are abysmal numbers for a multiplayer game and hopefully it picks up soon because of the 3 shooters released in the past 3 weeks, this one is the best.
The cherry on top is that all future DLC for the game will be free unlike Battlefield and Call of Duty. No $50 season pass but instead normal free drops of maps and weapons through the games life span which is a giant A+ for me. I love this game and I plead with you all to go buy it and show we still support good single player and free DLC instead of always having to pay extra. Buy Titanfall 2 and you will not be disappointed.
Titanfall 2: 9/10
Edited by: Sara Gunter
Wingate Triangle 