Titanfall 2 Tech Test Impressions - This is a Long One
The first part of the Titanfall 2 Tech Test(not a beta, but is a pre-alpha build) finished up this past weekend. And like I did for Titanfall with its beta, I wanna talk about it. Overall, I am disappointed. Mainly with design decisions for the Pilots and Titans.
The Pilots definitely feel slower compared to the original game. Part of me believes this is to keep balance with the new grapple hook and the modified stim boost. But when your Pilot isn’t equipped with either of those a speed drop is very noticeable. I like the addition of the slide maneuver. It’s fun.
Pilot abilities and grenades also got a significant change(grenades more than the abilities). Grenades are now under a cooldown timer along with the Pilot abilities. The thing that frustrates me about this is how Titanfall 2 makes the same annoying decision to not reset the cooldown timer after Pilot death. I was annoyed by this kind of thing back in Destiny(don’t know if any change has been made there). When I respawn all cooldown timers should reset! My ammo resets. Why doesn’t my ability and grenade cooldown do so as well? Am I not a new soldier on the battlefield when I respawn? If my ammo for my guns restock, my abilities and grenades should be ready for use as well! At least DOOM(2016) gets this right! Why don’t you?
Guns for the Pilots are at least nice to use. Although, I had a moment where auto target moved my gun away from the enemy Pilot that I was aiming at when another jumped by ADS targeter. But! Instead of being able to choose a side arm and a anti-Titan weapon, you can only choose one or the other. This weakens a Players versatility for what the match asks of him. Side arms will essentially be forgotten or not even thought of again because this is TITANFALL. Players are going to be facing off against Titans and they need to be able to adequately deal damage to them. Why would you hinder a Player’s ability to respond to as many situations as they can when you allowed this in the previous game?
One thing that I am okay with for Pilots is the addition of unlockable perks or equipment while in a match(This seems to have replaced burn cards from the original game). You unlock them by performance only. BUT!! They did this kind of system for deploying Titans as well! Getting a Titan is now behind a SKILL WALL rather than a TIMER that speeds up as you perform well! This means that Titans are now dropping in less frequently. THE DRAW OF THE GAME IS NOW RARELY THERE OR IS SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR RATHER THAN BE READY FOR USE AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME!! Why would you decrease the appearance of the main draw of your game? This kind of thing can make matches very one sided for the team that is dominating(at least that is how I see it turning out). I do hear that the system is being adjusted so that Titans can drop more frequently, but they should have kept the timer.
I sadly can’t say much for how the Titans work because of how we have only been let to use 2 out of the 3 showed. That said, Titan dashing is more restricted in this game. The Ion Titan, with a chassis that looks similar in design to the Atlas, only has one dash. The Scorch doesn’t even have a dash to use. I do like how both play. My only problem is that instead of a boost type of core like in the original(Dash boost, Shield boost, Power boost) the core is now a special attack. My problem with this is that activating this isn’t assigned to an attack button. It is assigned to the same button as the D-pad was for the original game. I have hit and held both bumpers thinking that it would activate the special attack only to remember that the game is designed for me to use the D-pad instead. Sorry, but I want to still be in control of movement and aiming while I attack or shoot in any way.
My one major concern for this game is that it has a currency. A currency was added to the original game after launch, but it was used to purchase burn cards and Titan voices. This time the currency is used to purchase weapons and other Pilot/Titan equipment earlier than you would normally unlock them. I am worried about micro-transactions and how fast this currency is earned to make it worthwhile for actual use. This is a problem that is in Rainbow Six: Siege.
I loved the original Titanfall game, but to see changes like this makes me feel sad that this is the direction that the game is going in. I feel like this is in service to the Hardcore MLG crowd of gaming, but it doesn’t seem that way. Halo: Guardians seemed to do this and it made me feel unwelcome thanks to its changes and focus(they definitely promoted themselves that way). I started to get this feeling while playing. it comes from(I can’t remember where I heard this) a line that was said about the Titans being called “Heroes” you get to choose from. I’m not interested in the kind of play that LoL or Overwatch has to offer. I like being the same(or at least playing the same in basic mechanics) as everyone else. It makes me feel more accomplished to beat people who are setup the same as me, makes me feel more skilled when I do well. I like team based gameplay for sure, but it is only good when I have people who I can play with and talk to consistently. I’m not social. I like to play for the fun of it. But, that looks like a very unlikely route that Titanfall 2 is going in.
I still plan on getting Titanfall 2 even though I have so many problems with its multiplayer gameplay and design. I’m really interested to see how the campaign goes. I like that they give me some options to respond to BT with(the Titan you pilot throughout the game). Should be fun. I have heard that people are hoping that they delay the game to make the changes to some of the things I also had a problem with.
