Titanfall Beta Review

[virtualTune]

After playing the game for about 5 hours, I figured it would be a good time to do a review. I hope it isn't too cluttered

 

Full Review

First Impressions

 

1. The tutorials are very good. They do a nice job of introducing the player to the controls and the environment of Titanfall. However, unfortunatly they do not cover everything, which can lead to come moments of confusion ones you are actually playing the game. For example, they do not explain that a Pilot can mount a Titan and do significant damage to it.

 

2. The graphics while not as beautiful as a game like Crysis 3, are still very good. Since the game, or at least the Beta, is so fast paced, There is really not much time to look around and enjoy the environment, like one might do at the beginning of a match in Battlefield. That being said, there are a lot of lighting effects such as lens flares and "colorful explosions" that I find rather distracting. Also, right now most of the maps are either in direct sunlight or soft shade. I would like to see some darker areas or maybe a nighttime map in the full version of the game.

 

 

Performance

 

I was really expecting the game to play somewhere around 30-40 fps on my system. I run an overclocked GTX 670 with 2Gb VRAM. In the video settings there is a disclaimer that for the highest Texture setting "Insane", 3Gb of VRAM are needed. That is a lie [] I play the game with all settings to highest, except for 4xAA in 1440p and the game runs super smooth at 60fps. I am assuming that I am getting such good results due to the Valve Engine.

 

 

Controls

 

I know i will get some hate for this, but I like to play all my FPS on an xbox controller (except for Counter-Strike). the controls are much like the ones from other shooters. Of course, it takes a couple games to get used to all the abilities, but that's to be expected. When aiming down the sight the camera movement speed is decreased by a lot. Especially with a Sniper Rifle it can be very bad. Since it is the Valve Engine, I would assume that this can be modified through the console (might be wrong though). If not, an option for it in the controls menu would be nice.

 

 

Gameplay

 

I love it, for the most part. I will say that I had always preferred fast paced games to more realistic approaches like Battlefield. That is not to say I hate those games, I just don't like to run around for a long time without any action. That NEVER happens in Titanfall. You would have to actively try to hide from everyone to not be caught in a gunfight of some sorts. I will say that the maps are very small (of course I have seen only 2 so far), but they have levels. Since you can double-jump and wallrun, the game gets an entirely new dynamic compared to traditional shooters. It allows for a lot of freedom, even on a small map. Players can chose between Cloaking and running on the ground, or "stim" (which speeds the player up significantly) and wallrun across the map which I find to be the most fun. The addition of minions of course also greatly helps increase the action and as far as I can tell, act as somewhat of a passive radar for your team.

What bothers me a little about the gameplay is, that it is over rather quickly. I would say, the average game lasts about 6 minutes. I'd rather the spawn timer on Titans would be longer.

 

 

Titans

 

Yes in the beginning it was awesome, but after a while it becomes a bit dull. The main reason for that is, that once you are in a Titan the action decreases. Yes, there are more explosions, and you may even get more kills, but you aren't running around anymore. You will tell me they are the core part of the game, and of course you are right, but they still need some work. I am more of a run-and-gun player. I like objective game modes where I can run around the map and capture hardpoints etc. . Once I am in a Titan I can't really do that anymore, because for the most part it takes a Titan to kill a Titan (unless your teammates know what they are doing). To counter that, they included the AI Mode, which is a fantastic idea. Obviously, the AI isn't as smart as a player, but it is better than not calling it in at all. The problem is, that right now there are only two AI Modes: Follow and Guard. Follow is quite impractical because your Titan will end up trying to keep up with you, which of course it doesn't, so the only kills you get is if you are lucky and it steps on an enemy. Guard on the other hand is a much better concept. However, the Titan does not prioritize any targets. I would like to see an option that allows you to modify the AI Modes. For example, have your Titan always attack enemy Titans first. The abilities are still wasted, but at least it will do some damage where it matters.

Additional Input:

- I would like to see something like a red light on your Titan that lights up when an enemy pilot is on top of it. That way, your teammates will might actually see him and do something about it. As it stands, the only way to communicate that to a friendly titan next to you, is through Voice Communication which most users have turned off anyways. It is also very hard to actually see an enemy player on a friendly Titan if you didn't see him jump onto it.

- It would be nice if there was an option to allow teammates to use your Titan.

 

 

Weapons

 

Rifle: Does a lot of damage even at long range but also works well at short range. I think the long range recoil could be a bit bigger.

 

Shotgun: Surprisingly long range. you would think that it is a one hit kill at short range, but even across an entire building it still does good amounts of damage. Very well balanced though, because of its slow rate of fire.

 

Smart Pistol: Frustrating Minion Slayer would be the alternative name for it. And I think the frustration goes both ways. In some sense I despise players for using it a little, because of its automatic lock-on. On the other hand, especially without mods, it takes quite a while to target a pilot . I feel like players should be rewarded less points (for the team) for minion kills though. Another idea would be to add a small "tik" noise to the lock-on for the targeted player. On the other hand, if you get killed by it, you are simply reminded that this is a fast paced game and you were probably not helping []

 

Submachine Gun: My favorite gun so far. Completely ineffective at long range, but very high fire rate and quite a large clip (magazine?). Especially in combination with the STIM ability and a silencer, it is a very effective way of getting around the map.

 

Sniper: Probably the least effective gun in the game. When you start out, it comes equipped with a 6x scope, which I find pretty useless. Now I will say that I have seen players do well with the Sniper, but only with the right scope ( AOQ). In combination with that, it is like a long range shotgun and can be very effective in the right hands. Sadly, it takes a while to unlock it and on these small maps that is rather impractical.

 

Anti-Titan: The launcher is quite effective, while the 25 little grenades are rather useless. Arch grenades on the other hand are very effective and also work well against pilots or to kill minions.

 

 

Abilities

They are absolutely fair and well balanced. The cloak makes you invisible on the radar and to minions for roughly 4 seconds. Players can still see you as a somewhat transparent white shape but if they aren't on a vantage point or looking right at you they will most likely miss you. In a Titan it is extremely hard to see you and looks a bit like it used to in Halo 3. The STIM lasts for a little longer and fades out just like the cloak. I always like to use it at the beginning of a match to catch someone off guard or capture the B Hardpoint. It's also a good way to get away from Titans.

The Titan Abilities are also nicely done. The defensive one forces you to chose between protecting yourself from enemy Titans vs. Enemy players. I always use Electric Smoke, because it allows me to use the Nuclear Ejection. i find it much easier to dodge missiles, than to jump out of my titan to kill a player on top of it. It also takes quite a while, so by then the player has usually done a lot more damage than a couple missiles would.

 

Conclusion

This really isn't much of a Beta but more of a mix of advertisement and server stress tests. I have never encountered any crashes or connectivity issues, and while my ping is quite high with ~25ms, it is still perfectly acceptable. The game runs well even at 1440p on mid range systems, the weapons and abilities are overall well balanced and make the game a lot of fun. There are some small things that I would like to see patched, but none of them are game-breaking. Considering that this is only a fraction of the final game, it makes no sense to criticize the lack of weapon or map variety. It is nice to see something new in the genre, and while it may not appeal to all I think that most FPS players will enjoy this game.

-vT

PS: If you want to join me, my Origin-ID is eXtinct_Meph

[SirReallySam]

This game reminds me of Blacklight: Retribution SOO MUCH though !

[TheRuke]

They said no console or .cfg files

[TechTheWorld]

Great review. Thanks!

[Lays]

I was expecting the graphics to be a bit better on maxed out 1440p, but I don't have any complaints. 

 

My biggest issue with it, the 2 games I played were a bit iffy..  I got spawn killed like 20 times by titans, and didn't have my own so I'd just get 1 shot.  

 

(i understand the logic behind a giant suit shooting you with a giant gun, you should get 1-2 shot)  

 

It sorta seemed to me unless you had a titan suit you were at a disadvantage. (I only played 2 games, will play more later)

[CoffeeBlack]

I was expecting the graphics to be a bit better on maxed out 1440p, but I don't have any complaints. 

 

My biggest issue with it, the 2 games I played were a bit iffy..  I got spawn killed like 20 times by titans, and didn't have my own so I'd just get 1 shot.  

 

(i understand the logic behind a giant suit shooting you with a giant gun, you should get 1-2 shot)  

 

It sorta seemed to me unless you had a titan suit you were at a disadvantage. (I only played 2 games, will play more later)

Yeah, 2 games is not enough to get a good feel for it. Pilots are actually very formidable opponents for a titan. You just have to know what you're doing to not get killed by titans as a pilot. It really only takes a few matches to catch on tho.

[JcGross]

I will read your review later, but right now, has anyone been able to put the steam overlay on it? It's pretty annoying since I can't talk to my friend without the steam overlay in-game.

 

Right off the bat though I have to say the extensive tutorial is VERY annoying. The game is pretty much self explanatory, if you've played ANY FPS game you can catch on in 2 minutes. A lot of the tutorial sequences are very boring and has pretty much no information value to 90% of the people. Other than that it's not that exciting. It looks alright, the combat flows very well, titans are a little disappointing though. They are a lot more squishy than I expected and I prefer going on foot to being in a titan. Which is pretty sad in a game called Titanfall. I would actually like it if they'd put in a game mode where you don't have titans and it would be a bigger player count, maybe 10v10. Levels are too big, sometimes I go for 1-2 minutes without encountering any enemy players. So far this is pretty much all I've got to say. I'll play a bit more later.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Graphically it is pretty unacceptable IMO, because they've been hyping it as 'next gen'. This is so far from next gen it's not even funny. It has the same stretched 512p texture sizes that some of the backgrounds had in Mass Effect.

 

Gameplay is amazing though, I won't hate. Really been playing my brains out on this game, but it's not really worth $60. Going to keep it on the radar for future sales though as I haven't bought a $60 title for almost two years and I'm not about to start again.

For it to be worth $60 it would need at least 20 maps, ten times as much customization and different titans, at least one of which having to be a super light "fast" titan that retains pilot movement style. The Strider type titan that you can drop with a burn card could have been it, but it's just another ground-bound titan.

Titans are the weak part of the game, whenever my titan finish building I just drop it in follow or guard mode while I run around on rooftops kicking suckers in the teeth.

[virtualTune]

@That Norwegian Guy: I agree, the game does not look like a $60 game right now, but remember this is a beta. They have anounced 15 maps so far. Customization includes camos, attachements and stuff like extended mags or silencer etc. I am sure there will be other things too, like emp bullets etc. Also I think the burn cards are probably forewshadowing some of the abilities to come. There will be at least 3 different Titans. The beta one appears to be an allrounder. So I guess we will see one with high damage and no shield and one with double shields and less damage.

 

I also wouldn't mind some more game modes. For example 2 or 3 large maps with 20v20 teams, or game modes without minions/titans.

 

@JcGross: I suppose making the tutorial optional would make you happy. Remember though that this is a beta, so you will probably play with randoms who for the most part suck

The squishyness really depends on a lot of factors: how good are you in a Titan, how good are your teammates and how skilled are the enemies. Sometimes I drop my titan and die to three enemy titans within 30 seconds. Other times I can get 4 Titan kills before I eject. If I see my team doing well, I usually use the titanfall as a way to kill an enemy titan and then just leave it there. If we lose, I will get in the Titan myself. Like I said in the review, having an option to give allow teammates to enter your titan would alleviate that pressure of having to call it in and actually use it

 

@Lays: 2 games is definetly not enough. You gotta get used to the maps, understand where players usually spawn and stuff so I'd say 10 games at least. Now I have only been spawn killed twice but I did get at least 10 spawn kills thus far. Usually you spawn near your minions and if they happen to be in a fight with an enemy then that's just unlucky. However, I prefer those spawns over the ones that are predictable as in Call of Duty for example.

 

@TechTheWorld: Thanks, it's my first written review

[CoffeeBlack]

Graphically it is pretty unacceptable IMO, because they've been hyping it as 'next gen'. This is so far from next gen it's not even funny. It has the same stretched 512p texture sizes that some of the backgrounds had in Mass Effect.

 

Gameplay is amazing though, I won't hate. Really been playing my brains out on this game, but it's not really worth $60. Going to keep it on the radar for future sales though as I haven't bought a $60 title for almost two years and I'm not about to start again.

For it to be worth $60 it would need at least 20 maps, ten times as much customization and different titans, at least one of which having to be a super light "fast" titan that retains pilot movement style. The Strider type titan that you can drop with a burn card could have been it, but it's just another ground-bound titan.

Titans are the weak part of the game, whenever my titan finish building I just drop it in follow or guard mode while I run around on rooftops kicking suckers in the teeth.

It will have 15 maps, I think 3 titan chassis, and more guns and customization. I still don't think It's worth $60 tho. And yes, graphics leave something to be desired. Some idiot on Youtube has been arguing with me that the Xbox version looks as good as PC even though xbox is running at 792p.

[AlexGoesHigh]

They said no console or .cfg files

well they are CFG but limited to the same options as the menus 

[TheRuke]

well they are CFG but limited to the same options as the menus 

Technically yes, but you know what I mean  :rolleyes:

[ccaian]

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought it looked like anus. Oh well graphics aren't everything. Titans should be more overpowered IMO cause you have to wait to use them and theres not much point in using them. I got mvp on my very first game just by running around shooting people and blowing up mechs. Still really fun but not what I was expecting. I was expecting a battlefront or battlefield style game but what we got is somewhere along the lines of call of duty. Not complaining though call of duty is a great game.

[ACatWithThumbs]

Graphically it is pretty unacceptable IMO, because they've been hyping it as 'next gen'. This is so far from next gen it's not even funny. It has the same stretched 512p texture sizes that some of the backgrounds had in Mass Effect.

 

Gameplay is amazing though, I won't hate. Really been playing my brains out on this game, but it's not really worth $60. Going to keep it on the radar for future sales though as I haven't bought a $60 title for almost two years and I'm not about to start again.

For it to be worth $60 it would need at least 20 maps, ten times as much customization and different titans, at least one of which having to be a super light "fast" titan that retains pilot movement style. The Strider type titan that you can drop with a burn card could have been it, but it's just another ground-bound titan.

Titans are the weak part of the game, whenever my titan finish building I just drop it in follow or guard mode while I run around on rooftops kicking suckers in the teeth.

The graphics suck because it was originally not a Next Gen game they started developing 4-3 Years ago.

That's why they're also using Source Engine because they wanted to hit 60FPS on Xbox360.

The next Titanfall will probably use Frostbite 3 just like all new EA games.

 

[Skcorpion86]

I've played around 5 matches of the Titanfall beta. I love the game. It's super faced paced, the verticality in the maps is awesome, Titans, Wall running, double jumping all AMAZING! And I expected all that to be fun.

But one of my favorite parts about the game is how afterward the losing team has to retreat, while the wining team tries to finish them off. I've never seen this done in a game, and it really add a bit of fun in my opinion. When you lose, generally you don't feel too good about yourself. Well, when you lose you get the chance to retreat to your ship and if you make it into the ship you just feel better, and if you get away in the ship you honestly feel like you won the match, even though you just lost. It just makes you feel better. 

Also, when you win, it is a good feeling just to finish off the other team while they are trying to flee, and if you kill a few pilots and your team destroys the enemy team's ship, it feels like an "ultimate victory". The feeling of total annihilation is just amazing.  

Too bad my internet shut's off every time I try to play titanfall, it shuts off before I can even get into the Multiplayer menus and I'm un able to look at my stats. I don't understand why Titanfall turns off my internet, but it does. It's the only games that does it. I hope they somehow fix this issue in the final release. 

 

[virtualTune]

@Skcorpion86: I agree, the Epilogue is a nice mini-game after the real battle. Sometimes it is a bit annoying though, when you won the match and then your teammates decide that's it and the enemies can evacuate.

As far as internet connectivity goes, I actually had a similar problem yesterday. I think there was a small patch, because before last night, you couldn't adjust the HUD size at 1440p. Anyways, after the patch it seemed to mess with my LAN adapter. I had to reset it a couple times after playing the game. Also for about an hour, my ping was at a whopping 140ms.

 

@ccaian: How would you make Titans more OP though? If you just increase their damage/health it will only make the games shorter/longer. I think they are very well balanced as they are. The only problem I see, is that somebody sitting in a corner for 2 minutes is getting his titan only 15 seconds after someone who was playing the objective. Since games usually last about 6 minutes, I think the start timer should be 5 minutes, and go down 10 seconds for every kill/ captured hardpoint etc.

 

Btw. When I say Valve Engine I of course mean Source Engine