Titanfall 2 (PC) Review

Titanfall veterans will immediately notice the inclusion of single player, a feature that wasn't available previously. Originally, Titanfall was meant to be a multiplayer-only experience that threw in chunks of story in-between matches. A rather sloppy way of world building and developing a universe, Respawn Entertainment has, thankfully, strayed away from the unorthodox method in favour of something more conventional.

Conventional as a single-player campaign would be, Titanfall 2's story mode is far from that. The politics and battle scenes that take up the majority of most other FPS campaigns are put in the background in favour of a more personal plot that's almost entirely character driven. Cooper and BT, the two human and Titan protagonists, respectively, develop a charming relationship that lands somewhere between buddy cop duo and life partners. It's their dynamic that drives the heart of the story and it's only heightened by Matthew Mercer and Glenn Steinbaum's fantastic performances.

Quality of sound stands out as one of the bigger strengths, both in single-player and multiplayer. The chaos of war is effectively shown and heard through excellent audio cues and mastering. Most importantly, dialogue is rarely drowned out by gunfire or combat. There are a few moments in single-player where characters may talk over each other, depending on if Cooper triggers a new event too early, but those moments are few and far between.

Aesthetically, Titanfall 2 is beautiful. Great colour usage and imaginative design breathes life into each and every map. The campaign, especially, is heightened by the top-notch art direction. Due to the nature of the mechanics, many maps find themselves on a slant, but crooked towers and mountains never feel out of place. It's this focus on creativity that really allows the solo mode to stick out amongst all of the available content. While only nine stages long, each one is tightly crafted and offers Cooper and BT multiple ways of tackling scenarios. Sneaking by a potential battle by utilising wall runs, slides, and Cooper's double jump is a refreshing change of pace from the constant onslaught of gunfire that other FPS campaigns stick to. Just being able to change BT's loadout on the spot offers an enormous amount of minute to minute strategy.

The level design shows a surprisingly good idea for platforming, as well. Cooper is a naturally fast character and his double jump and wall run add quite a lot to what he's capable of. This is masterfully acknowledged during the course of each stage, where quick movement and a mastery of the controls can smoothly take Cooper from point A to point B.

Great level design aside, going it alone is at its best during a boss fight as these are adrenaline-filled, Titan-to-Titan battles that challenge a player's knowledge of the mechanics. Boss arenas are appropriately built with hiding spots that can lead to a hunter versus hunted scenario, or a straight up shootout using Cooper and BT's incredibly different play-styles.

Thankfully, Cooper and BT's differing move sets and controls transfer over to the generic Pilots and Titans in multiplayer. Pilots are smaller targets that can manoeuvre through each map's many intricacies and take advantage of the land, while Titans are appropriately colossal and can cause massive damage at the expense of forgoing a sizeable chunk of the map.

While Pilots and Titan play differently from one another, they do so in a smooth way that never strays away from the core mechanics. Titans don't have access to the many acrobatics Pilots do, but they feel like a natural, heavier progression of the Pilot play style, making sure any awkward changes in control don't occur.

As good as the actual gameplay and map design of multiplayer is, Titanfall 2 is lacking when it comes to variety. Most modes are effectively variations of deathmatch. There are in-match objectives that can distract from standard running and gunning by letting players take on swarms of NPCs, and they serve as a great way of making sure less skilled players don't feel discouraged, but the modes never really get as creative as the solo adventure.

Perhaps the fault of EA's less than stellar marketing for the game, the multiplayer is already quite barren with at least two modes being unavailable to play via matchmaking at any given time. These are problems that can be fixed via private matches, but it's discouraging when modes are effectively locked out due to a low player base.

Despite the let-down in multiplayer diversity, the different shades of deathmatch still offer plenty of fun, and it's the single-player this time around that really shines as Titanfall's strength. Filled with a respectable amount of replay value and fair difficulty options, it's hard to believe the series ever existed without a dedicated campaign.