My Time with Titanfall 2's Pre-Alpha Tech Test

This past weekend Respawn Entertainment released their “Multiplayer Tech Test” for Titanfall 2. The test is open for everyone to enjoy regardless of pre-orders. It showcases some of the new features players can expect to see when the new game is finally released in October. Two new maps are playable, as well as a new game variant called “Bounty Hunt”. There have been some tweaks for gameplay classes and Titans. Respawn Entertainment stresses that the test is a “pre-alpha” model of the game, meaning that the game is still in development there are known problems so it does not reflect the final product. Overall, my time playing this weekend was enjoyable but I did make notes of certain aspects of the game that may need some heavy tweaking.

The two new maps, Boomtown and Homestead were fun to play on but large in scale. Homestead is a rural sprawl with a large circular tower (perfect for snipers) front and center in the middle of the map. Boomtown has a more urban setting, allowing for intense street firefights that requires you to use buildings for cover. I did not find anything particularly irritating about the map builds. They are big but once you get into your Titan scale no longer matters. Homestead’s open fields places less emphasis on wall running and rocket boosting but the tower in the center of the map was made explicitly for intense wall running clashes, king of the hill style. Boomtown is made for chaotic close combat fighting. The buildings and streets make wall running a necessity and also provide quick escapes for when an enemy Titan spots you. I look forward to seeing what the Forward Base Kodai map brings to the table during the second weekend of the test.

The new game mode Bounty Hunt adds a small breath of fresh air to the predictable game modes in FPS games like Titanfall 2. Each team is required to attack non player controlled bots that air drop into the map. Each kill earns money for the player and their team. At the end of a round a cash box is opened on each end of the map for players to deposit the funds. Be careful though, enemy players that kill you cut your funds in half. The team with the most earned cash at the end of the game wins. At first I was skeptical of this game mode because I felt more comfortable playing classic ones like Team Deathmatch or Hardpoint (Domination), but it quickly became my favorite. It offers the best opportunity to use every item in your arsenal. What is more fun than crushing masses of dumb NPC bots in a giant robot? The game mode gets even better when an NPC bounty Titan comes down to fight and you have to take it on and the enemy team Titans as well. I could see Bounty Hunt becoming a great mode for competition play. It calls for your team to communicate and work together to ensure you maximize profits during a match. The flip side is it can become extremely frustrating when you lose after your team decides to ignore communication and just lone wolf it the whole game.

Character classes and weapons have also received some tweaks from the original Titanfall. One of the most interesting changes I have found is both primary and secondary grenades are on a timer. In the first Titanfall and other similar FPS franchises, grenades are usually limited to one or two every life. But the developers on Titanfall 2 decided to try out a cool down option for them. I think this is a really nifty idea seeing that is can become annoying when you are in a bind and need a grenade during a match only to find out you used them all. The only problem I could see arising with this is that trolling players may spam one location with many grenades instead of trying to attack objectives with their primary weapons. However this could easily be fixed with a longer cooldown. One problem I found is that the secondary pistol is extremely overpowered. Players were just wasting me with it even thought I was using an assault rifle that should have easily out matched them.  Secondary weapons are not meant to be replacements for primary ones, they are supposed to be used as a last resort, not for a full frontal assault.

Finally Titan gameplay left me feeling mixed. On the one hand using a Titan allowed me to become the ultimate vehicle of destruction in a match I wanted to be. But getting a Titan can take a long time. Titans are no longer on a timer and getting one depends on how well you are playing. It is similar to a kill streak in Call of Duty, just without the reset after death. This can make matches extremely boring at the beginning when all you want is some massive steel on steel action! It can also create imbalance by giving a team access to Titans when they are completely outperforming the other team. Titan classes have also been introduced in the tech test. The class I used the most called Ion had a giant laser that absolutely destroy Titans once fully charged. The Scorch Titan uses fire for attacks as well as defensive abilities. Ronin, as the name implies uses a sword as a primary weapon. Unfortunately it will not be introduced during the tech test which is pretty lame seeing as Titan melee combat was what the first trailer for the game advertised.

Based on what I have seen in the multiplayer tech test, I think Titanfall 2 has the potential to competitive with other big name FPS franchises this holiday season. It builds on the original by offering some fun and innovative features. Potentially it can offer the best of both worlds by shooting for Call of Duty’s signature 60FPS on consoles, and the vehicular combat of the Battlefield series. The Battlefield series is desperate to come out of the shadow of Call of Duty and a lot of hype has been raised for Battlefield 1. Call of Duty’s rise has started to flatten out and this could be the first holiday season where it doesn’t come out on top. Now is the perfect time for Respawn Entertainment to show the world why Titanfall 2 should be a household name. Hopefully what they learn from the pre-alpha tech test will help them rise to the occasion.