Titanfall: the self-sabotage masterpiece

May 4, 2022

Titanfall is, at its core, a fast-paced multiplayer shooter, as you might expect from the creators of Call of Duty. But with the sci-fi setting comes the opportunity to innovate, and Respawn did just that. It starts with the new, core mode of the standard multiplayer campaign mode: Attrition. Both teams are supported by dozens of AI-controlled “grunts,” which have minimal weapons and armor, and none of the whiz-bang movement or special abilities of the player characters.

The first Titanfall reviewed well, but it seemed to lose steam after a couple of months. Part of this may have been its multiplayer-focused setup. The game’s short development time and relatively small development team meant that the story campaign, a rather placid tale of evil corporations and space rebels, was sandwiched into the multiplayer mode. Since the outcome of each story mission had to work in the narrative whether the rebels or the corpos won, there was very little tension or stakes.

Titan and its pilot

It basically boiled down to the same maps and modes you’d get in standard multiplayer, with some talking heads occasionally shouting at you from the corner of your screen. Reviewers noted the lack of variety and dinged the game accordingly. It didn’t help that EA wanted full price for this multiplayer-only title.

With Titanfall 2, which released just two years later, Respawn would remedy this deficiency in a big way.

Titan and its pilot in a playable multiplayer map

AN UNDERRATED MASTERPIECE

Titanfall 2 launched with the focus squarely on the now fully-realized singleplayer campaign.

It worked. Both gamers and critics praised the mode, which gently introduced players into the combination bounce-house shooting/robot punching gameplay. You play as... honestly I can’t remember who the player character is, because he’s a blank slate for the personality of the Titan he inherits to play off. BT, the giant robot might not be the most original AI character ever, but he has just enough charm and comedy in his writing to add a little enjoyment to the excellent levels and boss fights.

With incredibly unique multiplayer, now enhanced by grappling hooks and more Titan variety, and a single-player campaign head and shoulders above most of the competition, Titanfall 2 was poised to make a huge impact, like a giant robot dropping from orbit but...

Player executes another while playing multiplayer mode

THE COLLAPSE

Unfortunately, Titanfall as a franchise couldn’t catch a break.

Titanfall 2 released at almost the same time as two other gigantic shooters in October 2016. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare directly lifted several of the movement mechanics from the original Titanfall, and included AI robot characters as a deep part of its single-player campaign. And if that wasn’t enough, EA released its own competition just a week before, the critically-acclaimed Battlefield 1.

With the two biggest shooter franchises duking it out on store shelves, Titanfall 2 was left in the dust. Perhaps owing to a lack of a breakout hit years after the studio was founded, and likely more to the general consolidation of the game industry via mergers and acquisitions, Respawn was fully acquired by EA in 2017.

Titanfall 2 managed to be a sleeper success nonetheless, getting big influxes of players every time it went on sale. Coming to the PS4 probably helped but with a profile far lower than the original game, the writing seemed to be on the wall.

Burning money rain

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. A FAREWELL

EA and/or Respawn scuppering the third Titanfall game doesn’t necessarily mean that the franchise is dead.

But with Respawn’s hands full with two successful franchises (Apex and Fallen Order), and EA apparently trimming its corporate fat, the odds of seeing it reemerge anytime soon are slim to none. It’s enough to make even an AI-powered giant robot cry.