As someone who's gone on record here on GAF stating how the original is one of my favorite MP experiences ever.... I thought I should weigh in
Respawn has done it again (^_____^)
***Notice, all impressions are exclusively pulled from nearly 3 hours of Amped Hardpoint matches***
Pros
+ Netcode -
I CANNOT express enough how fucking good the netcode is for this. Let me give you some context. As of right now, I'm currently in a NCO Dorm sharing Wifi with well over a hundred people. My PSN down speeds are sitting around 3mbs down (it took nearly 2 days to even download the client) pretty much all day except for the wee hours in the morning when all the other NCOs are asleep.
Titanfall 2's netcode STILL swims smoothly and its a testament to their network engineering team/backbone infrastructure.
For a tech-test, this is polished AS HELL and I'm so elated I actually get to play as I figured I was SOL.
It's also freaking staggering how quickly match-making will funnel you from match to match. I was often not even getting the chance to edit my loadouts because games were loading so fast!
+ Visuals - I have no complaints here.
I always felt that the series art-direction easily overcame it's technical limitations (IE Source engine) and has always been a looker. The technical test here is no different, only it runs at a higher framerate, resolution, and now with vsync. Also, everything just feels more cohesive (Titan animations, image quality, etc.) as far as tech and art.
I can only imagine that the final game will look and run even better, so i'm over the moon right now.
+ Sound Design -
Game sounds even better than the original, which is quite an accomplishment. Played with some Audio Technica M50x's and everything was crisp and satisfying. Weapons had familiar SFX but slightly different now for which I appreciated the distinction. Enemy players are easy to pin point on audio cues alone, which you'll find yourself relying on more due to the larger maps. Overall it lends itself to methodical play more, which is cool and different.
+ Gameplay - This is the big one and really the ultimate question at this point it,
is it an improvement over the original Titanfall? - Yes it is
While I initially recoiled at all the new ideas, I quickly became accustomed to them. As of now, TF2 really feels like it's trying to distance itself somewhat from the original and I appreciate that.... even though at first, I honestly just wanted more TF1, lol
Now sure, there are things that they can tweak (and they've already started to, like Titan drop times in Hardpoint), but as is, the core feels familiar, but the bits and pieces around it feel different enough. As of now this feels like a Titanfall sequel and not just a redux.
I know some have stated the game feels slower and I don't really think so. I think it's just the current wide-open maps that sorta forces pilots to be a bit more careful about not just sprinting around in the open maybe? I do agree that they could have at least threw in one of Titanfall's more signature vertically designed maps though.
Also, I thought I wouldn't like the Titan variety/specialty, but I've quickly come around to it as well.
Cons
- Still not sold on the 3rd person camera now for entering Titans. I'm not saying that it can't work, it just needs tweaking bad cause as of right now, it just feel jarring and not satisfying at all like the original's 1st person animations.... even if said animations were a bit janky at times.
- CAR SMG feels like it needs a damage buff, bad.
- Still kinda meh to Titans no longer being on a cooldown, but also appreciate that it forces players to do objectives
Anyway, off to play some more before bedtime and thanks for reading if you did!
(3)Bring back game modes like attrition. I used to complain about bots but damn I miss them now. Made the game feel frantic.
This, I COMPLETELY and UTTERLY agree on
