3. Titanfall 2
Ed McGlone
Let’s take a trip in time to 2007. Nearly ten years ago, as many first person shooter fans are well aware, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare released, changing the FPS genre forever. It carved out an entire niche for itself and quickly grew into a juggernaut, largely unchallenged certainly in sales, but even in gameplay. Most other FPS games like Battlefield and Halo, for example, opted for a unique style over going head up with Call of Duty. As a result, the franchise created a new popular style of first person shooters and has largely monopolized it for the better part of a decade.
It’s 2016 now, and in terms of sales, that’s still unchanged. Call of Duty is still king, but in terms of gameplay, Titanfall 2 does Call of Duty better than Call of Duty does itself.
The single-player campaign never wears out its welcome. It’s short, but very sweet, and the relationship between BT-7274 and Jack Cooper is one that I’ll remember for years to come. Titanfall 2 keeps the action up without needing to bog the game down with excessive cutscenes that tell players what and who they should care about. Instead, the game’s strong writing, especially the lines written for BT-7274, naturally create an emotional experience for the player without beating you over the head with it.
More importantly though, it’s a blast to play through. After setting the stage through the first two missions, rarely will any two story chapters feel the same. Between time-travel, all out Titan warfare, and even a dash of platforming, Titanfall 2’s campaign never becomes a chore because it constantly evolves into something different. Somewhere along the line, FPS campaigns stopped being exciting and became afterthoughts to the multiplayer modes. Thankfully in 2016, games like Titanfall 2 are making them cool again.
While Titanfall 2 reinvigorate the single-player FPS though, it outclasses the competition in multiplayer too. Other shooters use tools like cutscenes, big explosions, and hyper-realistic visuals to create memorable experiences. Titanfall 2 instead leans on its own gameplay to take care of that. The speed and momentum-based movement that the game encourages opens up every map, creating dramatic moments out of otherwise routine matches. Sliding and wall-running aren’t gimmicks; rather, they are integrated into the game’s DNA and make killing enemies that much more satisfying. There’s no wasted space or surface in Titanfall 2, and if you learn how to use those tools to your advantage, you’ll have a leg up on anyone trying to play traditionally, and feel superhuman in the process.
Even with all this high-tempo action, Titanfall 2 is simultaneously a slow and tactical chess match once Titans enter the map mid-game. Titans need to work together and cover each other’s weaknesses to gain a positional advantage over their enemies and survive. All the while, Pilots, which feel like pesky flies at this point, can still use their superior speed to harass and even bring down the massive mechs.
It’s thanks to the successful marriage of Pilot and Titan gameplay that Titanfall 2 is able to outclass its direct competition while also being something fresh and new. It’s hard to compare games across genres. However, if we’re looking at leaders of genre packs, Titanfall 2 is the best total FPS package this year.
You can read Ed McGlone’s full thoughts on Titanfall 2 here.
