• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Titanfall 2 Multiplayer Technical Test Impressions (XB1/PS4)

- Ability to customize the Pilot body without it being linked to any ability. Don't like using the robot class for the hook.
I'd really like to see this too since I pretty much only use the grapple and stim. It seems much more interesting when humans are moving like this, not robots.

A male/female option would be nice as well.
 
Honestly the terrible maps are the one thing pushing me towards cancelling my preorder.. can't believe I'm saying this about a Titanfall sequel :(
I'm still getting it probably. Even if the Multiplayer sucks the campaign can't be that bad.. right?

No matter how many changes they make, if the maps are terrible the game isn't going to be fun to play.

The game needs a delay to sort out the map design.. including fixing the current 3 maps or scrapping them completely. But I doubt that's gonna happen, by the time they finally release it they could have been half way through Titanfall 3.
 
I'd really like to see this too since I pretty much only use the grapple and stim. It seems much more interesting when humans are moving like this, not robots.

A male/female option would be nice as well.

Yes, would love to play with a female Pilot - sleek ninja if you will.

--

The main problem with some design changes for R2 is that the game director took the chaos and unpredictability of the first game as a bad thing. In fact, that's what people loved the most. Titanfall was always about a crazy battlefield where shit is going down in an unpredictable manner. A lot of their changes are meant to give players "awareness" - a big change with that was Titans becoming hero characters.

I prefer the chaotic nature of the first game where players had to learn on their feet and think quick. They still have a lot of time to dissuade players from camping, but sitting in a window and sniping should never be a valid strategy for this game.
 
I feel like I constantly get killed in the back and get frustrated for it. I am trying to damage a Titan, and sadly I glow and the map is so open any dude can come up to me and deal with me.

Sadly, the Anti-Titan weapons that aren't charge rifle do so little damage it's not worth running about and doing damage, because it's damn impossible when there's nowhere to go.

I'll EA Access the campaign and wait until this game is like $20 or less to finish it. Maybe then they will have fixed the fun into the game.
 
After this, I'm placing my bets on a delay to next Feb/March. Even if they don't want to change that much about the game, I fear that the reception to this beta has killed their arrogance over releasing on such a suicidal date. Let the big boys duke it out in Oct/Nov, and come out in a few months when people will have fewer options.
 
Hm, so speed/movement I guess is a bit better, but still slow and floaty compared to TF1.

And the new map is easily the worst out of the three.

Back to TF1.
 
With the addition of passive gain in the Titan percentage meter, that mechanic is functionally identical to the timer in TF1. It just doesn't present itself in a time format. So I think we can cross that off our lists.
 
Have they fixed any of the party issues on PS4? Last weekend I could only party up a few times all weekend and it disbanded after every map.
 
With the addition of passive gain in the Titan percentage meter, that mechanic is functionally identical to the timer in TF1. It just doesn't present itself in a time format. So I think we can cross that off our lists.
Honestly, the timer was much easier to understand IMO.
 
Yeah what the hell is this about? I know TF is team fortress and all but R? What does that even stand for?

R1 is what Titanfall was referred to internally at Respawn long before they ever named it Titanfall. I don't know why people are using it still but I keep drawing parallels between this and Resistance 2 and how that game veered off course from the original and got shit on by it's fanbase as well.
 
As someone who has yet play the beta, do you guys/gals think having the grappling hook as a standard ability would help at all with the more-open map designs present? I mean, Respawn could probably re-map the other tactical abilities on L1+R1 or something and leave L1 as the dedicated grappling button, but this change may be too severe this close to release.
 
Well after getting a couple matches in today I gotta say I like the new map. There are quite a few places to use some good movement and that the game does feel better. A few more tweaks and good maps and I'm back on board
 
So what did they add content wise for this tech test that's different from the last one? I saw all the gameplay changes and don't see a new mode. Is there a new map to play on?
 
So,

I think these are probably my final thoughts on the beta. I may play it some more over the course of the weekend, but this is where I sit:

1) The shooting mechanics are ok. the TTK is way too short and needs to be improved. The guns are actually all pretty well done though.

2) Pilot upgrades generally feel more important than those in the first game and I really like the amp giving you little bots to lay down around points you need to hold.

3) The grapple hook is too important to be a perk. The maps were clearly built with the grapple hook in mind and should be standard equipment.

4) Movement is better than last weekend. It generally feels pretty good now.

5) The Titans are far far worse than Titanfall. Too slow, not enough boost, no personal shield means once your Titan is low health it is worthless.

6) The gameplay just isn't the same. People are generally camping on spots and it feels very very different from Titanfall. Not hectic enough, not enough moving around. I've seen 3-4 squad mates sticking together to cover entries and exits to areas. Which is something you see in other FPS, but not really Titanfall. I don't know if it's the maps, the objectives, the Titans or the movement. It's probably all of the above.

7) The maps are the single biggest issue with the game. Even if they fixed every single issue above, the maps are just bad. Wide open spaces, choke points, long corridors with little cover. The game modes also encourage sitting on rooftops or poking out of windows and camping.

I don't think this is by any means a terrible no good game. I think it's an ok game. It's probably in line with a sort of bad version of BLOPS with mechs and bad map design. It's just not Titanfall, and it's not a game I really feel compelled to own or add to my collection. With CoD and Battlefield both releasing this Christmas, I want to wish Respawn good luck with this, I just don't see how this is positioned to do very well. It seems destined to run off the people who loved Titanfall, and will likely fail to attract anyone from the CoD audience since it doesn't offer much that CoD does not already have. I'm sure negative feedback all over the internet isn't helping to build hype for their game.

I like Respawn as a company, I hope Titanfall 2 does well for them, I think the way the exit from Activision happened was absolutely criminal, but I seriously doubt I'll be there day 1 unless I hear about massive changes, really good maps or a single player experience that I just have to play. But given where I'm at now, I doubt we'll see much more than mediocre to bad impressions.
I have to agree here and to add to this, something I've been saying since last weekend, is the presentation.

The game feels lifeless and empty. The lack of bots (until the bounty is up in which they're relegated to certain areas of the map), radio chatter, audio feedback (Nice streak, Pilot!), Titan customization to make them feel more personal, etc. all turn me off this game.

It's not terrible but it's also not the Ttitanfall 2 I wanted and frustratingly so. I want to like this game but I just can't.
 
After this, I'm placing my bets on a delay to next Feb/March. Even if they don't want to change that much about the game, I fear that the reception to this beta has killed their arrogance over releasing on such a suicidal date. Let the big boys duke it out in Oct/Nov, and come out in a few months when people will have fewer options.

They can't delay if they wanted to since they have a promotion
Screen_Shot_2016-08-15_at_11.12.05_AM_large.png
 
I do think the criticisms of the game mechanics aren't so important compared to the maps.

Even things like the TTK and Titan combat are drastically impacted by the map design ethos.

It doesn't matter if I move faster, or have more health, if I have to traverse a map that could have been pulled from EA's Battlefront. If it was it doesn't show.

Enabling smooth and dynamic traversal should have been a priority over lanes and sight-lines.

The campaign could be awesome though.
 
Honestly, I think the reason for this is two fold:

1) I still don't really know what the hell I'm supposed to do in bounty. It was never clearly explained.

2) Many players just want to try out the movement, weapons, etc during this short beta. Fuck the objectives :)
In bounty hunt you basically have to kill the waves of AI enemies that spawn at point A and B in the exact same sections of the map every time. You get money for every kill and once every enemy in the wave is dead, you have to go to two of the banks which are marked on the map and are in the same place every time and deposit your money. The team with the most money in the end wins.

It's a really bad mode because it just puts a big emphasis on camping because:

1. The waves of enemies and banks are always in the same locations, so the opposite team will always know where you're going to be headed. It's particularly annoying on Homestead because there's plenty of sniping locations (I still think sniper rifles have no place in a game like this)

2. You lose far too much of your money when you die., so it's more advantageous to just hide if you're carrying a large amount of money.

Having to return to the bank at the end of each wave really breaks up the flow of the game too which I'm not a fan of at all.

Burn cards are stupid too, they would work if they all did things that were impossible.

Stuff like the ticks.
Burn card were fine. They added a nice element of strategy to the game, and I liked the randomness of them too.

As someone who has yet play the beta, do you guys/gals think having the grappling hook as a standard ability would help at all with the more-open map designs present? I mean, Respawn could probably re-map the other tactical abilities on L1+R1 or something and leave L1 as the dedicated grappling button, but this change may be too severe this close to release.
In my opinion the grappling hook is pretty much essential due to the map design. There really is no reason to pick any of the other equipment over it.
 
One thing I don't understand is how Networks work. Is it possible to just play simple matchmaking without joining a group? In the tech test it seems to just place me in one.

I mostly play Titanfall solo.
 
How often do you guys get killed by some scrub on the other side of the map? Seriously. This was a rare occurrence in Titan fall 1, and in this game it feels like it happens all the damn time.

One thing I don't understand is how Networks work. Is it possible to just play simple matchmaking without joining a group? In the tech test it seems to just place me in one.

I mostly play Titanfall solo.

Trance, invite me
 
How often do you guys get killed by some scrub on the other side of the map? Seriously. This was a rare occurrence in Titan fall 1, and in this game it feels like it happens all the damn time.



Trance, invite me

I'll be home later and downloaded on the PS4, but can do so on Xbox also. I remember we used to play R1 until 4 A.M. lol.
 
I was pumped for this weekend after seeing the patch notes. I don't even have words....this somehow feels worse. Which makes no sense. That can't be right. Maybe I just got my expectations too high again like prior to weekend 1 test, just to see them crash down again.

This just isn't Titanfall. I have to get over that and move on.
 
Top Bottom