Opinions on Titanfall? [From the Forum]

So, I got to play the beta today and I want to hear some opinions and share mine.

To begin with, I wasn't hyped about this game. The wallrunning and mechs looked interesting but that's about it. Interesting at best + I had a few balancing concerns. The gunplay looked like a 1 to 1 copy of call of duty which was to be expected but still kinda disappointing for me. So my overall first impression after trailers and videos was: meh.

Now after trying it out for a few hours I can just confirm my initial impression. The gunplay is pretty boring, there is no recoil and just a tiny bit of spread if you go full auto at range. The wallrunning works fine and is definitely interesting, but you can't really utilise it that much on the maps, at least on the ones that we have in the beta. Titans spawn way too quickly and can take unholy amounts of damage even from the "anti-titan" weapons. (After reaching max rank and getting comfortable with all weapons I have to say that it isn't too hard to bring a titan down. They're still a very powerful tool and too easy to earn though.) Also, your titan spawns faster if you kill people, so if one team dominates they will get their titans back even quicker which results in pretty frustrating battles sometimes. The titans handle really nicely, they're really maneuverable and can do a lot of damage to the enemy players. I also like the feature that your titan will automatically engage enemies if you are outside of it and that you can change between "guard" and "follow" mode. Burn cards are kinda weird IMO. You get a totally overpowered weapon until you die and you have to use up cards that you get through ranking up, I smell micro transactions and I don't like that. Also there's some stuff that's just plain weird, like the smart pistol. I mean, lock on bullets? Really? Who the hell would actually want to use that? And why would you ever implement something like that?? The AI controlled cannonfodder that runs around the map is okay, they can't really harm you and they fill up the maps a bit. In general it seems like an okay-ish fast paced shooter to me.

I personally would really like to see a longer spawn timer for the titans. They should feel like a mighty power up that you have to earn, and not like a toy that you can activate every 60 seconds. They should also get rid of bs like the lock on pistol. I also hope that in other maps we can see the wallrunning utilised a bit more. They're really wasting the potential of a great feature here. Burn cards still seem a bit fishy to me. Whether they will implement micro transactions or not, using some items to get overpowered weapons seems like a weird concept to me. I also hope that the gunplay gets a bit more interesting with other weapons, the ones in the beta are REALLY boring to use.

Well, that's my opinion after a few hours. Anything you guys want to add/correct/etc.?

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What is this doing on the front page? What have I done!!!!!

Seriously though, it's very interesting to read through the positive feedback some of you guys provide. In regards to the wallrunning: I get that people really like it and that it can be fun. However, I really think that they're wasting their potential here. When I saw the trailers I was hoping for epic stunts you could pull off, for fights in urban canyons where you have to know what you're doing to survive. But what they're using it for is getting up a 2-story building quickly and escaping titans. That's pretty much it. Of course you CAN get fancy with it and do some cool stuff but it isn't necessary and won't really benefit you in any way. Get on buildings quickly or get on roofs to camp, escaping titans, hanging from the ceiling and dropkicking people when they enter the room. That's about it.

To the people saying that gunplay is solid, or good: Just no...... The guns don't feel satisfying at all. You can laser beam someone from accross the map with your carbine or a submachine gun without ANY recoil compensation. Although it isn't as bad as COD (submachine guns do have a little spread in Titanfall) it still is far from being challenging. Just give guns a bit of vertical recoil so you can't stay on target without any effort, this shouldn't be too hard for beginners and it would also provide some way to balance guns (Gun A does a ton of damage but also has really strong recoil while Gun B doesn't do as much damage but is nice and controllable)

Now, I'm not saying this game should try to be competitive or "realistic" or hardcore. I just want a game that isn't trying to pamper me all the time. There is a gap between casual friendly and fucking lock-on pistols...... And yes, I know that a bad player won't dominate with the smart pistol, but he can do pretty good without ANY effort of his own, and that's simply wrong in my opinion.

Now the Titans, I know that everyone wants to try out the titans in a game called Titanfall, but they still shouldn't flood the whole map after 2 minutes of EVERY match. I really think they should give them a longer respawn timer so you have to earn them with pilot kills. If you are a newb and you never get to a titan then you can just play last titan standing. Everyone gets a titan and you can enjoy titan gameplay without ruining the other gamemodes. And to make the games a bit more balanced you could add shortened titan respawn timers if a team gets completely steamrolled. As I said earlier, if one team completely dominates the other one they will get back their titans even quicker resulting in a pretty frustrating game. Shortened spawn timers could give the other team a chance for a comeback IMO.

Burn cards make no sense to me. Overpowered items shouldn't be in the game, or at least you should have to earn them. Luck of the draw + consumable items to gain them? No, just no. And as I said I'm really worried about them implementing micro transactions: "For only 4.99$ you get a package with 7 rare burn cards"-type of stuff.

@Logan, even though I'm pretty sure you would agree with the points I made on the game so far I still urge you to try it out yourself! It's just an opinion after all and it's best to form your own if you have the time.

I can really see this game as the better alternative to COD. Let's face it, if you seriously enjoy the latest COD titles then you are accepting pretty low standards. Now if they polish this game up a bit, remove the bs and make it more interesting then it could be the next mindless casual shooter (<--- I'm not being judgemental here, there IS a place for those kinds of shooters after all) If it takes a huge chunk of the COD crowd then that's pretty good and maybe shows the whole industry that it is time to try and innovate again. I'm hoping for this game to get better and to take off and to be the alternative to COD.

I probably missed something very important but I'll stop here for now.

And please understand that I'm not trying to hate on this game, I'm not a stupid fanboy of any other shooter and I'm not trying to make it look worse than it is. I simply see the potential that this game has and I see that I could really enjoy it with a few tweaks. I'm trying to provide constructive criticism here. Not to show the world what's wrong with the game and why they should hate it but because I want this game to become a lot better than it is right now.

if Gundam, Mirrors Edge and Call of Duty had a 3-Way love child the spawn would be titanfall. i don't know it looks promising but call of duty just ruined my whole taste for the military shooter genre as a whole.

I wasn't particularly interested in Titanfall, not until Robbaz uploaded some gameplay. It looks balanced and quite impressive. I will probably pick it up.

I was pretty hyped for it, but after a few games I didn't like it. Having assault rifles as lazer beams makes the game play boring. Parkour is interesting, and anoying at the same time. Titans feel like their mobility is extremely nerfed. The maps are pretty narrow for a game with huge titans and body blocking is a huge problem. Not to mention they brought back an explode when you die perk similar to MW3's dead man's hand. I think it was a brilliant idea, just poorly executed. It's still in beta, so there is time to change the game, but unless it does change, I wont be getting it. 

I have been having a great time playing the beta. 

It does feel very CoD-like. But the parkour is a ton of fun and I think you do get to utilize it on the urban map.

I don't think the Titans are too difficult an opponent.  I actually feel they are quite easy to take down.  I think their maneuverability really gives you the feel of them being giant mechas... adds to the realism.

I have clocked about 15hrs on it already.  I pre-ordered it before the beta what TS had the GMG promo.

 

I got my beta key and have played a couple of matches and frankly, I'm still going to play counter strike and battlefield over the beta for 90% of my time. I don't really feel the game has long term playability. It feels like cod where its fun for a week or two with a new cod, and after 2 weeks, I go back to battlefield or counterstrike. Even now the beta isn't as captivating as Black Ops 2 was (didn't even buy ghosts after the reviews it got). Black Ops 2 tried really hard to be better, and it shows. I still only played it for 2 weeks, but it wasn't as harsh of a drop into boredom. Compared to previous cod. Titanfall to me, is not looking very hot. I'll wait for destiny to see if it does anything new, right not I'm playing older battlefields in the place of Titanfall, and I don't see that changing.  

i agree looks good

 

It never hurts to have more games. Good or bad!

I just don't recommend buying it for full price if you buy it, not like your going to get tons of hours out of it. The beta sure would suggest that.

I usually purchase games at half price. Grab them at US prices with the use of a VPN, encryption service or similar tool. Well... not all the time. When I am *unsure* about a certain game, or the prices in the UK are phenomenally high.

I just watched a video of it and it looks far from impressive.

Also it's EA which gives me a sour taste.

Interesting to see so much positive feedback. But I can't really understand it tbh. The gunplay totally ruins the game for me, if I wanted laser guns I'd play Quake or UT where you actually need skill to kill someone. You die so quickly and the guns are just so accurate it makes no sense to me. I don't feel challenged when playing Titanfall, not even the slightest bit. I could read an e-book on my second screen and still do decently well and even though that may be relaxing it isn't what I'm looking for in a shooter.

If people like it then that's fine but I really don't see the point in another COD with mechs. Except that COD has become absolute rubbish in the past years. Maybe it's because I never was a huge fan of the COD series, but I can't get myself to really enjoy it. So, is it going to be the better alternative to COD? I don't know. Do we actually need an alternative to COD?

There are games where I value certain shooting characteristics and realism. I like the look of Titanfall because it appears to favour those that are agile and take different kinds of risks. The kinds of risks and manoeuvres I couldn't hope to perform in something like Red Ochestra. Ordinarily, I hate Halo-like games. 

I'm not looking for realism here, I just want to be challenged when playing a game. The gunplay just isn't demanding, you don't have to think you just aim and press LMB to win. I'm actually a huge fan of futuristic shooters, but that doesn't mean that you can ignore recoil and spread.

It's probably like that to compensate for all the parkour and stuff. It looks as though you're supposed to value the ability to evade and jump around more than the ability to control a gun. I can see the trade-off. The game has a very different emphasis on play-style. Titanfall appears to favour those that have a little bit of vision and can use the environment.

Typically, shooting skill and futuristic shooters don't go hand-in-hand, in my experience. We're probably going to have a difference of opinion here, but my idea of rewarding shooting experience is shooting at pixels over long distance with a bolt-action rifle and iron sights. It's a very different kind of game. I'll play either style of game, depending on my mood.

Played two rounds and I was bored, will skip this and ESO.

I like it. Its kinda cod like but not new crap cod old decent cod. Plus the mech and parqour are fun. Its not worth $60 but i'd pay $30.

Well... this post pretty much convinced me to stay away for now. It looked like fun when I was watching it at PAX Prime... but I was really worried it would go in this direction. 

Personally i like the fact that the titans don't take to much to earn. The problem that i see with making the titans harder to get, is that once you make them harder to get it makes it harder for the people who are barely starting the game to get titans. it allows everyone a chance to get a titan at some point in the round. but i agree the game is not worth $60, i will probably wait for the game to drop significantly in price.

This was going to be the most anticipated game for me because it was a mech shooter with footsoldier combat and it was made with source engine. The first red flag for me was the fact it was published by EA. When I learned Respawn was ex infinity ward, I lost almost all interest in the game. 

I really wanted Hawken/Battlefield hybrid, but all I see is COD with robots. And since infinity ward is involved, the PC version will never reach its full potential because mod support will be limited to non existent.

I really wanted to like the game, but I feel very disappointed.