FINALLY! Mr. Mike's Titanfall Review (March,23,2014)

Titanfall Reviewed

By: MikeJ. Beyer

Played on: XboxOne

Titanfall was a game of mystery and wonder before the launch of the XboxOne in November 2013.   Well basically No, No it wasn’t at all a mystery but it was a great new wonder for gaming all around bringing at least for me a multiplayer shooter of my favorites of Mechs and soldiers.  Coming together finally in a mega cityscape arena for going head to head in a Call of Duty Esc. theme of a team vs. team war to the ultimate goal of victory.

   The game Titanfall and its whole history was derived and created by ex Call of Duty/Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella, former co-founders of Infinity Ward and creators of the multi-billion dollar Call of Duty franchise.   Now left from what made them big to their new venture at Respawn Entertainment which they had created to continue with new ideas and success.  Started off in their newly formed studio with nothing more than a white board, paper, & pencils plus probably a few other things they had a lot of work ahead of them.  

  At E3 2013 Respawn Entertainment had revealed their 1st game of the new company called Titanfall stating later that it would fall on March 13, 2014.

  Titanfall has now launched to great fanfare after 2 betas 1 being closed and 1 open, they had made sure that everything would be up and working at launch, getting servers and game tweaks to be as precise as possible for little to no lag or hiccups to gameplay.  Now for my review about the game and a non-review impacting side rant about Amazon.com and UPS, which Fucked up my shipping date of Tuesday March 11th to Wednesday March 12th which could not be shipped to me due to Buffalo NY’s so called snow storm so no one would deliver Wednesday! Until I had finally gotten my package on Thursday 3 damn days after launch! Which I had made a call to Amazon customer service got a man NOT from the USA but in India, who could not speak a damn lick of understandable English and kept stating to me that they were deeply sorry and that they would look into the problem. I then stated they never look into anything and this shit happened a lot with them and UPS and how come other shipping services can get the job done but not UPS???  Well the dumb non-speaking Indian man said he would give me another month of Prime for my troubles and I said that’s just bull shit and hung up! Now some would say I over reacted but I didn’t I expect a great service for what I pay for and I note as of today I will never preorder ANY video game from Amazon.com Again! Unless if they have a very special collector’s edition like the Fallout Survival Edition which was an Amazon Exclusive! Otherwise I say to all gamers out there if You want your game day of? Then preorder at your local Gamestop they let you pay in time, and always have the game day of unless if a big weather experience happens, which seems to always occur when I Mr. Mike has a game preorder coming? Go figure!

 

Oh sorry everyone I had to rant a bit, otherwise my collector’s edition of Titanfall had come and was great to open and setup in my house. I LOVE SCIFI STATUES!!

The Titanfall copy I had gotten was for the XboxOne which I had installed onto my XboxOne it didn’t take that long to install for 20gigs and the update installed like a quick breeze!  Starting the game up for the first time was an experience, watching a nice HD like movie of getting into space to then advance into futuristic ships that would take the men and Mechs to battle for what else resources!

  Ok we usually see the battle for resources a lot in games and movies but does it ever get old? Na I don’t think so just as long as the playability justifies the means for the game itself or if they need a simple placeholder to state why everyone is going head to head in battle which no one cares to ever look at just to only have a reason.  Starting the game was quick and simple to a nice menu system after the force training simulator you had to go through, which already doing that in my beta session made me say where was the skip feature? Oh well I guess most need that kind of stuff I don’t, but you may need to learn how to use some of the tech like the Mech’s shield to the Smart Pistol, which I’m trying to master at for easy kills.  When in the game except for Titan vs. Titan mode you start as a pilot meaning you will be able to drive a Titan when one becomes available to you but otherwise you’re a soldier of war taking out other pilots, grunts, & Titans.  Some other reviewers have said that they had some of the same problems with Titanfall like Call Of Duty with people scoping out the spawn areas and perching themselves to snipe everyone who spawned in the game, and that average gamers will have a hard time to advance in the game due to the game being out for over a week and a half now.  For me as a true average to maybe above average gamer especially in multiplayer games like GTA Online for example, I had no problems what so ever starting up, learning, and playing Titanfall.  The learning of the controls and abilities in the game were very quick to learn.  You will have to start the game with the tutoril first before you can play anything else! I already had played the demo so I wasn't so thrilled to replay that again, plus the levels I had gained were also gone. No game save carry over from the demo to the actual game oh well still leveled up fast.  This is another sort of weird topic on how leveling in the game seems a bit fast to me, even other players seemed to get prestiged a lot and even heard one did it 10 times maxing out in everything in not much time at all.

    There is always something new to find when playing Titanfall from new areas, creatures, and possibilities for a good advantage point to get the job done. Now as for me I like to explore with my smart pistol which is currently my weapon of choice right now.  Tried using the shotgun but it takes at least 2 shots to kill anyone and with the M16 machine gun aiming can be tricky if your new to multiplayer shooters.  Don't get me started about the sniper rifle I just don’t use that gun at all, you have to have steady hands, quick reflexes to stare through the scope and kill.  Using the different types of Titanfall esc grenades makes for a more unique strategy to the game choosing what could do a better job killing or defending against the apposing team with electric storms, fog, or just a regular blow them up grenade!

   But the game Titanfall is all about the mechs the main purpose to own the game for your XboxOne or PC!  They are customizable right now up to a point.  With the ability to add new abilities like shields, speed, strength, power, and so on.  Making one of my mech’s more limber and fast was key for me to maneuver around areas and the enemy quickly to get a kill or kills.  Sure you can make a fast bulky mech with a better ability to hold off against attacks more, but my feeling is lighter more limber is better for me.  You may have different approaches with customizing your mechs with abilities and weapons like my favorite the homing missile launcher and 2^nd the big rail gun shooting multiple bullets at the opposing force.  I have heard that down the road Respawn may implement even more ways to customize your Titan like a new paint job, which would be cool if I could name which Titan was which, due to the fact you can have multiple custom Titans in your roster in the change out / load out screen.

  Now for the burn cards! What are burn cards? Well burn cards are a feature that will temporarily give Pilots special abilities ranging from Amped Weapons, Ability Boosts, Titan Upgrades and much more that begin to unlock once they progress to level 7. As players continue to dominate within the many different game modes and level their Pilots, they will progressively unlock and be able to utilize a total of three Burn Card slots.   Now activating burn cards as follows:  Once players unlock the Burn Card feature, they will be able to access the Burn Card menu option from the main menu or in-game lobby and choose which Burn Cards they would like to equip. Remember to select and activate a Burn Card before the start of every match. You can also select and activate a Burn Card after you die. In both cases, the Burn Card will take effect when you respawn. Within each match Pilots will have access to three Burn Cards, so choose your cards wisely.  Each Burn Card perk will last one Pilot life, but the effect or upgrade will persist across multiple rounds during round-base game modes, like Last Titan Standing. Players will only be able to carry a limited number of Burn Cards, so once their collection is full, they will have the option to discard or use several Burn Cards in the next round in order to earn more. If your Burn Card collection is full, you will be unable to gain access to new unlocked cards, and they will automatically be discarded. It is key, to manage your collection at all times. To earn more Burn Cards look to the many challenges within Titanfall, as many of them will reward new cards once completed. The game will offer Pilots multiple types of Burn Cards. Players should remember to keep an eye on their collection, before maxing out and or discarding cards!   For example, the card “Titan Salvage” is a great Burn Card to bring in the game mode Last Titan Standing because it gives the player more XP for fighting Titans. Or the card “Adrenaline Transfusion” would be a smart boost in Capture the Flag because the constant, high-speed movement reduces the amount of time it would take to run across the map.

Burn Cards can only be obtained by playing Titanfall and progressing your Pilot’s level and completing Challenges. Players will not be able to trade Burn Cards with other players and they will not be offered for purchase via microtransactions. This was all stated best by Respawn themselves in a better explanation that I could do.   I rarely used the burn cards right now, but had used them a lot in the open beta testing out on what they can do for me in the game.  Even though I can hold my own right now not using the burn cards, I will be using them soon.  Due to the fact there is only 3 slots where you can use your chosen burn cards per match, you can collect and get unlimited amounts of burn cards which I may have around 30 or so with lots of duplicates!   The abilities you get with these cards can just be a new gun, special ability, or an overall look changing how you can dominate in your killing and dominating the battlefield. 

 

   In conclusion this article just scratches the surface on how you will love picking up a copy of Titanfall even if you think it may be too quick paced for you, trust me it isn’t! If I can play this game anyone can lol!  The game since I have gotten it has been nothing but great fun even the so called tacked on fake campaign which I will let you explore for yourself.  Yes I know Respawn stated there is No true campaign but this is a multiplayer version in general.  Think Bioshock’s audio logs with a smidge of visuals, but mostly a 6 vs. 6 multiplayer battle with goals and a audio story around the action.  I didn’t mind it plus it gives you the player even more experience points to level up in the game.  Maybe in the sequel we will see a true campaign or they will leave it as is, but think on what lore they could bring to this world?

  There is just nonstop action here with lots of maps to play in and game modes to explore.  Don’t worry about who to play with if you have no friends to play the game with yet, because there is always a full lobby to get your multiplayer fix on.   The game has been running very smooth so far, no hiccups even with me using my XboxOne on wifi within my house.  Having a strong connection and getting pinged to the nearest servers in my area for a better way to play, great!  

   Now for the fact is Titanfall a game changer? Yes! Or for me at least as a casual online game player.  Is Titanfall going to sell more XboxOne consoles? Or should I get this on PC? Well yes and no! Do you like Mechs and multiplayer gaming? Do you like playing on a console or PC? This answer is up to you, but my opinion is even though I do have a killer custom PC that can play this game, I like playing in my living room with my Xboxone on my 60inch TV with surround sound and not just playing on a 20inch monitor with a keyboard & mouse.  Yes I know I could use a controller but I love big! And a big TV is what I need not a PC which I mostly use for other things like video editing!   Now many debates will keep going on about this game just being a fad and that people will only play it for a few weeks and then nothing!  But I think this game will be played for a year or two till it’s inevitable sequel comes out, especially with the upcoming new content like weapons and map packs!

   In finishing up this screwed up, over the top, way too long review even though I could go on and on about what I find in the game every time I play.  I love this game! This game has basically made me stop playing my 360 altogether!  Especially when I also have 4 other great games for my XboxOne this game makes that so.  Thinking like you the gamer, warrior, even Titan lover you should get this game!   This definitely is a 5 out of 5 game in my opinion working right out of the box day one unlike other multiplayer experiences before it.    And playing with awesome mechs and jumping from rooftops to other rooftops, through windows to anywhere! It’s just Not another shooter like COD. Its an experience to be had.  So in closing just go out and get this game already! I personally have gotten a few of my friends to buy an XboxOne and get this game when they came over to try it, and were awed by its existence!

So My JuJu2Cast Game Score of 5 out of 5!

Played on the XboxOne console!!

Any more questions or comments about Titanfall and my late review Email me at: Corecast2011@gmail.com or Tweet and follow via Twitter: @JuJu2Cast, Visit JuJu2Cast.com for more!

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