When it comes to multiplayer, it’s evident that Titanfall 2 is the full-fledged version of its predecessor’s attempts. There are now six Titans each with their own unique combination of weapons and abilities. These offer a good variety of approaches to Titan-based combat for players. There’s the Ronin class donning a sword and shotgun perfect for close-quarters-combat, and the Northstar equipped with a sniper and the ability to briefly fly above the map. Despite these vastly different loadouts, each Titan felt like a valid choice when heading into battle. Though I personally leaned toward the Ronin class, many others adopted the Ion Titan thanks to its incredibly powerful laser beam.

For the most part, however, you’ll be on the ground as a Pilot and Respawn has offered plenty of different weapons and abilities to accommodate to a range of different playstyles. Credits, which are earned at the end of each match, allow you to unlock different options and weapons, granting players the freedom to further refine their loadout to suit their playstyle. Oh, and there’s a ton of customization choices for both your pilot and Titan, too. This is all cleverly tied into a Regeneration feature. Players can Regenerate either their character, Titan, or a particular weapon when it reaches the maximum rank. In doing so, they’ll lose all of their unlocks for that item, but can now unlock skins and other customization options that can only be acquired through reaching different Regeneration levels. It’s a nice incentive to give players a reason to keep on playing once they’ve hit the max rank.

Whether you’re running around the map as a pilot, swinging around the map with the grappling hook, or you’re crushing grunts below the titanium legs of your Titan, maneuverability has been placed front and center of the experience. Every sprint, slide, and wallrun is a sleek and  seamless transition from one to the other and even stepping into a Titan was responsive, albeit slower.

Playing Titanfall 2 online was a joy, and after playing a good few matches of all of the different game modes on offer (which there are plenty of), I didn’t find one that felt overly weaker than the others. Bounty Hunt and Amped Hardpoint are definitely the two primary modes, but the others offered nice alternatives after extensive time with these. The former sees you earn money for every kill that you get, whether it be an AI enemy that is dropped into the map or a human pilot. The team with the most money at the end of the game wins, but you can earn additional bonuses to the money you’re making by banking at upload points during different points in the game. Amped Hardpoint is essentially the classic Hardpoint game mode, but with Amped hardpoints getting you twice as many points.

Titanfall 2’s multiplayer is helped even further by its excellent sense of progression. Even if you’re not flying through the player levels quickly, you’ll probably have leveled up your weapon, or Titan kit, which will also be contributing to leveling you up. Considering I’ve struggled to find an online shooter that can keep me coming back, the fact that I’m itching to jump back in is a promising sign of compelling multiplayer done right.

It is worth noting, though, that this is a Titanfall sequel, and as such it’s very much more of what we saw in 2014. Don’t come into this game expecting huge changes if you didn’t like what you say in the original game. This is Titanfall, but far bigger and better than before.

Titanfall 2 is a solid package. Though its single-player campaign is a little lackluster when it comes to story, it does a good enough job at providing some context to the chaos of the online component, and the mix of platforming and shooting stopped the experience from getting too repetitive. In terms of multiplayer, Titanfall 2 is a sequel in every sense of the word. It’s bigger, better, and nips many of the issues with its predecessor in the bud. As it is, Titanfall 2 offers some serious competition for the online shooter crown of 2016.

Score: 4/5 – Great