Titanfall Beta Video Game Review

Final Verdict - Definitely Worth Playing

So one of 2014's most anticipated games finally graced the public eye in the form of a Beta. Toted as one of the major competitors to the Call Of Duty FPS throne, its debut at E3 was heralded with much praise and admiration. A fresh new outlook on the FPS genre and its potential for growth and breaking the mold; fast forward months later to the first accessible public build of the game. Does it live up to the hype? Has it met expectations and more? Join us as we take a look at the Titanfall Beta...

Titanfall is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts as an exclusive for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game was officially announced as Respawn's debut game at Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference, and is scheduled for release on March 11, 2014. In Titanfall, players fight in online multi-player-only matches set on a war-torn planet as mech-style Titans and their pilots. Its action is fast-paced, including abilities to run on walls and hijack mechs, and extended periods between player deaths. Respawn describes the game as bringing "scale, verticality, and story" to first-person shooter multi-player gaming, incorporating elements traditionally used in single-player campaigns. The game uses Microsoft's cloud computing services to offload non-player activity to servers and optimize the home computer for graphical performance. The game won over 60 awards at its E3 2013 reveal, including a record-breaking six E3 Critics Awards, and Best of Show from several media outlets. It also won official awards at Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show. Many reviewers predicted Titanfall to be the next step for the first-person shooter genre.

What’s Good:

Soundtrack: As a multi-player game, Titanfall has a large number of tracks to avoid repetition. The sound ranges from your typical dubstep heavy bass line type music to to your more melodious fast paced action sequences. Each side has its own identity and its own musical sound world, this helps keep the pace new and varied no matter what team you end up playing on.

Graphics: Respawn chose to build Titanfall on the Source game engine early in their production cycle due to their developers' familiarity and its ability to maintain 60 frames per second on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This is a very versatile and well known engine that is known for its use across multiple platforms and yields good results. The game looks especially great on PC's that can fully take advantage of the 60 FPS and hi-res textures.

Game Mechanics: The very well executed game-play design of Titanfall revolves around 3 main aspects:  "player mobility, survivability, and the merging of cinematic design with fast-paced action". All the aforementioned are seamlessly executed and integrated into the natural progression of the game.

Replay value: A fair amount of replay value exists as there are three main game-play modes: Attrition, Hardpoint, and Last Titan Standing. Essentially your typical FPS multi-player modes of Deathmatch, King Of The Hill and Last Man Standing respectively. Throw in a wide assortment of maps and you got yourself  some fun times ahead.

What’s Bad:

Story-line: There is no single player campaign. Still undecided if this is good or bad but leaning towards bad for the sake of feeling like getting an incomplete game.

Game Mechanics: Computer controlled A.I. is horrendous and most times just stands around waiting to get shot. Lack of Anti-Titan weaponry and ways for pilots to effectively fight Titans on the ground.

What Should Have Been Added:

I know the developmental team at Respawn Entertainment has their reasons for not adding a story mode to the game whether it be to focus on multi-player directly or due to the lack of man power but I feel a lot of back-story into the Titanfall universe could have been covered in an adequate story mode campaign. Also I feel like there should be a wider weapon set allowed than just a primary, a secondary, and a Titan specific weapon. Improved A.I. is also on the list of things to include as currently the computer controlled players offer little to no impact on the round proceedings except to act as cannon fodder and offset balance issues on teams.

Final Thoughts:

All in all a great game seeking to shake things up and give us a new way to play FPS games. I can definitely see the mass market appeal that will garner new comers as well as the classic Call Of Duty (CoD) play-style that may very well coax a lot of CoD players away from their copy of Ghost or whatever iteration of the franchise they are playing. Personally I had my own personal gripe with the game and how Titans feel a bit overpowered but all in all its a solid and enjoyable experience. Most times playing matches were fun and balanced until Titans came into play and that's when all hell breaks loose and Titan superiority plays a major role. For something that can be summoned every two minutes or so I really feel they should not have made the Titans so hard to fight when you are not in one. Granted you can rodeo kill a Titan but its a simple matter for someone to eject from their Titan and shoot you off the back of it before you can do any real damage. Also pro-tip side note; the Smart Pistol and Shotgun are the two most over powered weapons in the game. You're welcome...

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A Fresh Start With Criterion

Gameplay - 7/10

Storyline - 5/10

Graphics - 9/10

Game Score : 21/30

I tried, I really tried to get behind this game 120% from day one but its like EA like toying with my emotions. Its been a year already since the last Need for Speed (NFS) game was released. The highlight of my year in 2011 was without a doubt most likely NFS The Run, I had such renewed hope and praise for the NFS franchise; it was like new life was being breathed back into to it. Fast forward a year later which reveals the latest addition to the NFS family; NFS: Most Wanted (2012)...

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (commonly abbreviated to as NFS: MW) is a 2012 open-world racing video game, developed by British games developer Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. Need for Speed: Most Wanted takes on the gameplay style of its first installment, Most Wanted title in the Need for Speed franchise. Most Wanted allows players to select one car and compete against other racers to reach a destination. Cops are integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police deploy vehicles and tactics to stop the player's car and arrest the player, like the original Most Wanted. The game will feature a Blacklist of 10 racers, similar to the single-player section of the original Most Wanted, which featured 15 Blacklist racers. In this reiteration the focus shifts from Rockport, the city in the original to a new city called Fairhaven.

What's Good:

Simply stunning visuals, sadly you don't get to appreciate this as much on the console versions of the game but it really shines through on the PC version. Wide variety of cars to choose from in this game; over 120+ if memory serves including real-world vehicles, a mix of muscle cars, street racers and exotics. The game will use Autolog, the competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and since used in other titles in the Need for Speed series. Autolog in Most Wanted plays a larger role and gives more information to players. Autolog recommendations have now been integrated into the game world, rather than sit externally on the menu system. Most Wanted features a new social system called Cloud Compete, which strings together Most Wanted across all platforms in an inspired example of cross-compatibility. One profile will be used for all versions of the game. Driving engine maintains that arcade racing feel with a touch of simulation thrown in to maintain realism as you race for the title of Most Wanted.

What's Bad:

As you probably figured out by now the games primary focus is on multi-player. As such the single-player aspect is a bit on the thin side. The game lacks any semblance of a proper story-line which would motivate you to play the game over and over again. The game also has no option for those who want to drive manual as far as I saw which I know personally is a big turn off for many out there who were going to buy this game. Another thing missing any major car customization, this is a well established feature of any NFS game over the years for the most part with some exceptions. To top it all off there is no option for LAN (Local Area Network) racing for the PC release version, so this wont be making any appearances at LAN parties as a supported tournament. Performance parts are linked to the specific car and are not transferable so for every single car you may want to drive and/or effectively use. Couple that with the fact that you have to drive to every single race destination to start the race you quickly realize you spend more time randomly driving around Fairhaven than actually racing around Fairhaven.

What Should Have Been Added:

First and foremost a freaking story-line with a memorable cast and cut-scenes. Then focus more on the visual modding of the cars as that will also tie in with the multi-player aspect of the game helping you to personalize your gaming experience. Manual and semi-automatic driving would have been nice as well. For the umpteenth time where the hell is the DRAG RACING? Yeah EA and Criterion i'm talking to you... 

Final Thoughts:

Personally I don't consider this the newest addition to the NFS family I see this as more of an addition to the Burnout family as everything from the drifting to the take-downs to the cars used screams Burnout. Probably if I was reviewing this game as such I would give it a 28/30 as it really is a good game more or less as far as racing games goes. So if you are into racing games you can go ahead in good conscience and get this game; if you are a a fan of the original NFS Most Wanted or any of the NFS Underground games then this isn't really your cup of tea but you can still sip it and enjoy.

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