There was also a similar degree of ingenuity with interactions between Titans and friendly pilots. Titans could “give a lift” to ally pilots, allowing pilots to ride on their shoulders and assist with gunning down enemies. Though this was the extent of such cooperative features exhibited during the demo, it’s entirely possible that Respawn will incorporate additional interactions between allied Titans and pilots prior to the game’s launch.
A carefully constructed environment allowed for flexible combat between Titans, pilots, and any combination of the two. There were a variety of smaller, indoor areas that allowed for fast and dirty conflicts between pilots. The game’s diverse set of weapons and strategies ensured that the ingenuity of the game was not lacking even in these more traditional settings. Players had the option of choosing between customary rifles and more dramatic lightning guns. Though the combat itself was fast and explosive, Respawn has scarcely neglected gamers who prefer a more stealthy approach; when one player managed to sneak up, undetected, behind an enemy pilot, they were rewarded with a gruesome neck-snapping animation.
The more open spaces on the map allowed for intense Titan on Titan combat. If their original Titan is defeated, a pilot could request a new Titan every two minutes. This Titan could only be engaged by the pilot requesting it, which further aids the balance of combat by ensuring that the Titan falls are equally distributed over the two teams. As with the pilots, the Titans could be equipped with different loadouts. Defensive maneuvers included a bullet stopping force-field that could then be unleashed back on opponents. In close range, one Titan could reach inside the other to tear out the enemy pilot and toss them aside like a ragdoll.
These features combined made for impressively balanced and varied gameplay. The transitions between mech warfare and more traditional FPS gameplay were seamless, as were the interactions between Titans and pilots despite that aforementioned difference in scale. Titanfall seems poised to revolutionize the multiplayer FPS genre, and it is set to fall onto Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC in Spring 2014.
