Titanfall Beta is Ridiculously Fun: 48 Hours Later – Impressions & Gameplay

Hello again Techfans! As most of you are aware the much anticipated Titanfall Beta began this past friday, and even went into full open status the saturday evening after. After having spent some time playing the different match types and messing around with option the beta has, I have to admit that I’ve been loving just about every moment of it. While numerous familiar FPS mechanics have made their way into the game (perks, familiar weapon loadouts), Titanfall features a number of changes to popular mechanics as well as some fairly obvious new/different ones, namely the jetpack freerunning and the eponymous giant robots called titans.

The Beta currently consists of 2 maps and 3 match types: Attrition, Hardpoint, and Last Titan Standings. Attrition is basically the deathmatch equivalent for the game, though the addition of AI controlled minions adds another source of scoring for players (though Pilots and Titans are worth more). Hardpoint is a straight up 3 point domination mode, and my personal favorite mode Last Titan Standing is a no respawn fight in which everyone starts in a Titan and teams must try to wipe out all opposing ones (note killing all titans is not synonymous with all players).

What has stood out the most so far from this beta, given from the limited data to pull from with weapon and map limitations, the amount of work that went into balancing pilots vs titans. While Titans are certainly a large menacing force capable of utterly ruining a player thats just standing around in the open, the amount of freedom of movement given to players gives them a guerilla tactics advantage when dealing with opposing titans. Teamwork, hit and run tactics, and even boarding enemy titans means that a skilled player can handle one if they’re quick enough in a one on one fight, and while Titans are useful, they aren’t game breaking win moves.

I also really like the approach Respawn has taken in handling some of these mechanics. Rather than make use of the ever currently popular killstreaks, players really only have two special moves to make use of, a tactical ability of their choice, and of course summoning their titan. The tactical ability (such as cloaking or a stim pack) runs on a cooldown timer, while summoning a titan is a timed event that can be sped up thanks to good performance. So while playing well is rewarded with the ability call your titan sooner, the ability itself isn’t barred from all players, and in any regular match most should be able to summon at minimum once if not twice.

The addition of AI controlled minions is another aspect that I really enjoy, it’s a move that does open the game up a bit more to casual playing rather than competitive, but more important than anything it’s fun. Minions can serve as a useful distraction or as support fire against enemy pilots, and newer or less skilled players can focus on wiping them out to both contribute to their teams score and speed up their titanfall cooldown.

The only mechanic that I’m currently on the fence about as shown in the Beta are burn cards. Burn cards are a feature in which occasionally players are rewarded with special one time use cards that grant them some kind of boost for the match. Some of these are fairly simple and useful like a speed boost or reducing your titan cooldown, while others can completely shift regular pilot fights in your favor like access to special weapons or permanent cloaking. On the one hand it adds a fun element of randomness to matches, and making use of one yourself is fun and at times make you just feel super powerful. On the other hand though something this random completely messes with the rest of the games balance, which might upset more competitive minded players. The fix for this is fairly simple in that they could just make it something you can turn off for certain match types, so we’ll just have to see how they’re integrated into the full game upon release.

Other than that, as I said i’ve been thoroughly enjoying the Titanfall beta, and those of you who have yet to try it should hop on while there’s still time, with its end date being this tuesday. If you end up missing out then you’ll just have to wait for the full release on March 11th, and if you still can’t decide if you want to pick it up or not then just wait a bit as we’ll be bringing you our full review ASAP after release. Make sure to check it out!