April Edition Live Magazine - April 2014 Issue. | Page 64

If I’m to be completely honest, the
characters are pretty weak, and while
they might initially feel like many
characters you’ve seen in a game
or movie before, they don’t feel that
important. Because the story takes
place in multiplayer matches, having
them fight alongside you (or for you)
would feel jarring to the multiplayer
experience, and because they don’t,
they feel completely ineffectual, or
worse, like politicians (in that they
don’t actually fight in wars). Despite
this, the campaign is an enjoyable
experience, it just tends to clash with
the multiplayer nature of Titanfall, especially when the enemy team could
be capturing points while you’re listening to your two commanding officers drunkenly bicker.

the battle after being defeated.
•

•

Pilot Hunter - Attrition, but only
pilot kills are tracked.

•

Capture the Flag - Two teams
must capture the opposing
team’s flag from their base, and
return it to their base. Having
Titans in Capture the Flag truly
shakes up the traditional CTF
formula. Do you hitch a ride on a
friendly titan, which will no doubt
make you a highly-visible target?
Or do you sprint on foot with your
cloaking ability active. You might
be thinking to yourself “Yeah
yeah, I’ve played CTF before!”,
but trust me, you haven’t played
it like this. Titanfall breathes life
into a classic shooter match type.

Multiplayer is the order of the day
though, and Titanfall truly does deliver a balanced and exhilarating
experience in that regard. There
are numerous modes available and
each of them is a blast:
•

Attrition - Titanfall’s version of
team deathmatch, this mode
sees players aiming to get the
most kills in a time limit. Killing
NPCs and pilots rewards points,
though killing NPCs doesn’t give
as many points as killing pilots
(players). The first team to 250
points wins the match, and the
losing team must extract from

Hardpoint Domination - The two
teams fight for control of three
key points on a map. Each point
begins neutral at the start of a
match, and can be captured by
either team. Holding a point adds
score points, and when the score
limit is reached, the losing team
must evacuate to their dropship.

•

Last Titan Standing - The two
teams both begin in their Titans,
and the game ends when all Titans on a team are destroyed.
Strategy and co-operation are
key in this game mode, and lone
wolves should consider becoming team players, as running off

solo will only lead to bitter defeat. You’ll want to learn the ins
and outs of different Titan weapons and customisations if you’ll
want to succeed!
Where Titanfall truly shines though,
is its shooting mechanics. I was beginning to think that something was
awry with the new consoles, as the
shooting games I’ve played on them
just didn’t feel quite right with the
Xbox One and PS4’s controllers,
but Titanfall works perfectly. Whether you’re on foot or in a Titan, the
controls are extremely accessible
and highly responsive. Experienced
FPS gamers will be able to jump immediately into the action with confidence, and it won’t be very long
before more inexperienced gamers
grasp the game’s controls either.
There are a total of 15 maps in Titanfall, and each one definitely has
its own identity while complementing the others. Unlike other shooters, there really isn’t one bad map
in the game. The free-running mechanics and Titans have a huge
influence on the map design, but it
isn’t an awkward mess of zip lines
and seemingly randomly-placed objects like in Far Cry 3’s multiplayer.
Far from it, these are logically designed maps with loading bays, office buildings, tactical areas, natural
scenery, destroyed buildings and

all manner of unique features that
have been used perfectly.
Some maps are military bases, with
open areas designed to gather Titans for immense battles, but with
rooftops that allow for sniping, and
damaged buildings and tight corridors which make for thrilling wallrunning chases and shootouts.
Other maps are huge outdoor areas, where players will want to find
a protected route to massive gun
turrets to help turn the tide of battle.
Weapons-wise, Titanfall has got you
covered. There isn’t a ton of variety
though, which has had other players tell me they’re disappointed as
there really is only one or two types
of some weapons. Compared to
other games, there isn’t very many
weapons at all, but Respawn have
managed to provide players of all
types enough tools to cater to them.
The weapons also have unlockable
mods (again, there isn’t many) that

will also help cater to different play
styles. Do you like to leap from rooftop to rooftop, sniping your prey and
then disappearing into the scenery?
Try a sniper rifle with a stabilizer
and an AOG scope (and use your
cloak ability!) Or are you wanting to
hold a fortified position and provide
cover for your team mates? Try the
enhanced-zoom scope and a suppressor instead.
The Titan weapons are pretty much
just Titan versions of Pilot weapons.
There are chain guns, cannons, rail
guns, arc cannons and more, so
your Titan can be just as friendly to
your play style as your pilot is. I prefer to go in with a high-damage, lowdefense Titan, and combine it with a
nuclear core that can destroy enemy
pilots and Titans upon detonation.
Sometimes though, I like to have
a Titan sniper, which is equipped
with a vortex shield (A shield which
can suck in enemy rounds and then