Why We’re Excited for Titanfall 2 PS4

Titanfall 2 is coming, and not only will Respawn’s mech-shooter sequel feature a fully-fledged campaign, it’s poised for a multi-platform release some point before April, 2017 according to the game’s publisher, EA.

Recent GameStop leaks indicate that an official reveal is imminent; if not during the crowded E3 corridor in June, then sometime before Infinity Ward pulls the curtain back on Call of Duty 2016.

Although given that Respawn’s blistering first-person shooter deployed across Xbox platforms and PC in 2014, at this stage in the game, it’s fair to say that the PlayStation faithful doesn’t have an awful lot invested in Titanfall — and that’s okay.

When Microsoft first announced the content partnership with EA, many were taken aback. This was, after all, one of the industry’s rare third-party exclusives in recent times, and if Titanfall was considered a flash in the pan back in 2014, part of that steep drop-off can be traced back to the decision to limit the shooter’s audience right out the gate.

Standby for Titanfall…Again

You have to remember as well that Microsoft and EA brokered said deal prior to Titanfall touching down on the market, during a time when the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were still known as the Orbis and Durango, respectively, and all signs pointed to the latter hardware blasting past any competition much like its predecessor.

Now, Sony’s current-gen console is setting the pace with hardware sales north of 37 million at the time of writing, opening up a much bigger audience for Titanfall 2 to harness. But should you, as a PlayStation 4 owner, be excited to make your first foray into the Titanfall universe?

Earlier this week, we recapped the overarching story found in Respawn’s futuristic mech-shooter, but now let’s circle back and assess what makes Titanfall such an exciting new property to begin with — no, really.

With Mass Effect: Andromeda slotting into EA’s fourth financial quarter (read: between January 1 and March 31, 2017) Titanfall 2 is likely to drop towards the end of 2016.

As always, you’ll know as soon as we do. But until then, you can share your own excitement, expectations and/or apprehensions for Respawn’s sequel below.

Related Shootin’ Reading:

Titanfall 2 Feature 3.11.16

We're Excited for Titanfall 2, Are You?

In anticipation of Titanfall 2, we recount what makes Respawn's shooter so good to begin with.
A Different Breed of Shooter

Held up as a revolutionary addition to the FPS genre, it’s fair to say that Titanfall risked being consumed by its own hype prior to release. It was considered to be Microsoft’s killer app — the one title that would fire the Xbox One off shelves and into the living room — along with the next step in competitive multiplayer. Even for a shooter that features hulking, futuristic mechs, the strain of expectation began to show like rust creeping over Titanfall’s steely exterior.

Digging beneath the hyperbole and there IS a nugget of truth to those claims. Titanfall didn’t rip up the rulebook; Respawn’s shooter is the rulebook on steroids. Hopping into a 20-foot mech is one thing, but the feeling of zipping between buildings as a pilot is intoxicating. Granted, there aren’t many game modes to experiment with, but Titanfall's free-flowing movement system doesn’t take long to get its hooks in you. Plus, that moment when you hunker down in a safe corner of the arena before calling in your Titan from orbit is pretty special, regardless of how many times you hear “standby for Titanfall.”
Mech-on-Mech Warfare

We can’t recount the highlights of Titanfall without addressing the elephant in the room. Yes, wall-running as a pilot is enough to get the blood pumping and pupils dilated, but Respawn added a whole new layer of intrigue to its multiplayer shooter via mechs. Hammond’s deadly machines come in three variations: Atlas, the entry point to your towering arsenal, along with the Ogre and Stryder. And those bipedal weapons of war would be enough to keep Solid Snake awake at night.

Controlling a titan may not be as intuitive as playing the boots on the ground, but by allowing players to switch their hulking companion to AI mode while running and gunning around the map, it allows for a more flexible playstyle, rather than the giant mechs being viewed as just another killstreak.
Addicting, Twitch-Based Gameplay

Remember the overwhelming hype that threatened to engulf Titanfall before release? Part and parcel of that hyperbole stemmed from the shooter's blistering sense of pace. Call of Duty may have instated 60fps as the multiplayer standard, but Respawn's debut took that one step further with its liberating wall-running system.

Granted, two years after release, said mechanics aren't as impressive, particularly now that they've been normalized via Advanced Warfare and last year’s Black Ops 3. Even still, the underlying gameplay systems gripped you and refused to let go, so imagine the ways in which Respawn will iterate on that design philosophy within a game built from the ground up for PS4 and Xbox One.
An Intriguing, If Familiar Story

Take a glance at the archives of science fiction — be it film, gaming or literature — and you’ll find that most stories rooted in a far-flung version of space colonisation involve a power-mongering conglomerate and a ragtag group of freedom fights. From Star Wars to Firefly, it’s interstellar ground that has been well-trodden, but Titanfall’s shoestring story still hues close to those tropes.

Igniting an intense war between the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation and the Militia, Respawn took the decision to layer the narrative over the multiplayer experience, meaning players were exposed to brief snippets of exposition during matches or even loading screens. Sharing more similarity with Turtle Rock’s Evolve than Star Wars Battlefront, it wasn’t the most effective means of world-building, and for a premiere episode of what is surely EA’s budding new franchise, Titanfall’s story was relegated to the sidelines.

But as our story recap proves, there’s plenty of potential bubbling beneath the surface — Titanfall’s story just needs the necessary screen time. Plus, having recruited Jesse Stern (NCIS, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare), we have every faith that Respawn will take full advantage of Titanfall 2’s new campaign.
Genre Heritage

First hatched by ex-Infinity Ward devs Jason West and Vince Zampella in 2010, Respawn Entertainment boasts considerable heritage in the shooter genre. This bleeds into the Titanfall experience itself, and picking up the controller to hop into a round of mech-on-mech combat feels intuitive. Slick controls and excellent first-person platforming are just some of the shooter’s high points, and considering that blistering multiplayer is Titanfall’s bread and butter, the resulting final product is a competent shooter experience.

It's by no means perfect, but as far as franchise-starters go, Titanfall has laid out a great platform for the oncoming sequel.