Usually multiplayer shooters have no real story, they’re more like a sport, where matches are played over and over again. This idea of narrative multiplayer is quite new and it’s one of the reasons people are so interested in Titanfall. In the ‘campaign mode’ you’ll follow a story that strings these matches into a narrative experience, complete with cinematic sequences between matches, as well as briefings and plot twists within the match itself.
TITANFALL ASSAULT SERIES
How is it structured? As in most online first-person shooters, the action is divided into a series of short competitive matches, in which the aim is to shoot more of your opponents than they shoot of your team. In standard multiplayer matches, participants will get to play on both sides. It’s basically a gigantic fracking protest in space. The militia is made up of colonists who object to the IMC’s invasive and destructive procedures. The IMC is an aggressive mining and tech company that explores the galaxy looking for planets rich in minerals and then moves in to exploit the resources. Wait, who is fighting and what are they fighting over? Titanfall follows the conflict between two factions: the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) and the militia. If you’re shot as a pilot, you can “respawn” and join the game again. Although much tougher than pilots, titans can sustain damage and when the shields completely fail, players are able to eject and play on as pilots until the build counter reaches zero again. Again, there are different types of Titan – the Atlas, Ogre and Stryder – and they all have different roles in the game. When it arrives on the battlefield, you can then clamber in, then stomp around the environment with a whole new set of weapons. As you play a match, a timer counts down and when it completes, you get to call in your Titan, a massive bipedal tank. The different classes have different weapons and items designed to facilitate different approaches to play.īut that’s not all you get. At the start of a match, you choose the type of pilot you want to be – for example, a straightforward soldier, a more stealthy assassin or a ‘close-quarters’ specialist – these are known as classes, and more become available thoughout the game. In each match, players start out controlling “pilots”, who battle on foot with a range of weapons, including smart pistols (which automatically target enemies) and assault rifles. If you have a microphone headset for your console, you’ll be able to chat to other players on your team, though there is often a lot of “interesting” language (which can be switched off in your console’s settings menu). It is multiplayer only, so you need to have an internet connection, and you’re going to be competing against other players from around the world.
The basics Titanfall is a first-person shooter, which means the action is viewed from the first-person perspective, as though you’re in the game environment. Titanfall is their first game since the departure. When the duo were fired by Infinity Ward’s publisher Activision in 2010 (for alleged breaches of contract and insubordination), they took many of the studio’s senior creative staff and set up Respawn. The founders of Respawn, Jason West and Vince Zampella, were once the studio heads at Infinity Ward, the company that created the multimillion-selling Call of Duty series. The background Titanfall is published by Electronic Arts and developed by Respawn Entertainment, a new studio based in Sherman Oaks, California.
So if you’ve only just started gaming, or want to know why your friends or children are so interested in this sci-fi shooter, here are the basic facts. March will see the launch of the first really big “Triple A” game release of the year – and for once, it’s not a sequel or the latest annual installment in a long-running series – it’s something new.