Titanfall Open Beta

Titanfall is the much anticipated title from Respawn Entertainment with a focus on multiplayer and balls to the wall super-fighting-robot action. Titanfall will be released on Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC on March 11. These are my first impressions of the Open Beta released earlier this week.

Titanfall is nothing short of exhilarating. The amount of freedom you are given due to the jet pack and parkour systems feels liberating in more ways than one. It really changes how you look at the fight at hand. There are countless opportunities to gain an edge on your opponents and for your opponents to get the upper hand on yourself. You feel vunerable from virtually any angle, it's not about paying attention to single corridors in a building anymore, it's about positioning yourself to not be in those situations where you can get picked off easily. It's no longer just a wall, instead it's a sort of stepping stone that can launch you to new heights and vantage points. It's not just about shooting your enemy anymore (although that is a huge part) it's about how you do it.

Same goes for the Titans, there's a ton of strategy involved when trying to gun down your enemy to your full potential. You may not be as maneuverable as when you're on foot, but there's still quite a bit of depth with how you approach an encounter even more so with the addition of the boost dash which allows you to dash in 4 directions allowing you to cover ground much more easily or make a quick getaway. Sure, you could run in guns blazing not thinking of the implications of what will happen but more often than not this will get you killed. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to play it safe is key to running a successful Titan streak. But aren't you overpowered when you're in the mech? Well, actually no. If anything, you're actually much more vulnerable. Sure you have a lot more firepower now, but you're also a big lumbering target and thus draw in much more unwanted attention to yourself. Human Pilots are always looking to do some flashy stunts in Titanfall and there's nothing more satisfying than taking down an Iron Giant so watch out!

The thing about Titanfall is it's a game of opportunities and trade-offs. There's a lot more strategy involved here than most other FPS titles being released nowadays. The levels are well balanced and designed for both the Titans and Pilots. There's plenty of walls and ramps for the Pilots to slingshot off of and careen into battle, there's also plenty of cover for the Titans to take a breather. The loadouts and options all have unique attributes and roles to play, but as well as losing some advantages given by other options.

Titanfall is a really cool game, and a refreshing spin on the ever degrading genre that is the Shooter. A lot of people have been looking forward to this game simply so that CoD can finally have someone show them up. Will Titanfall really be the game to do this? As far as what I've seen from the Beta, probably not. I can definitely see Titanfall losing a ton of steam and hype if Respawn doesn't play their cards right. It's a fun and original Shooter but it may not be the proverbial giant leap for FPS kind that people were hoping for, but at the very least it's definitely a step in the right direction. We'll just have to wait and see what Respawn has in store for us come March 11.