Titanfall 2 is the second game from Respawn Entertainment. The original Titanfall planned to have a single-player mode but it was cut for a focus on multiplayer, so with its sequel, Respawn wanted to give players the full experience.

This time around Titanfall 2 contains the same impressive multiplayer but also a single-player campaign focused on a green pilot and his Titan. With this being their first single-player experience since the team left Infinity Ward, a question would be if they still have the same magic.

The story of Titanfall 2 is mostly set up with the player taking a position as a newer soldier in a larger conflict involving the giant Titans. In the first half of the first level, the player gains control of a Titan and assumes command. This is indicative of Titanfall 2’s style. Titanfall 2’s missions all have a reason, and it’s not going to waste the player’s time. Rather than try to tell the story as the player moves towards the Titan, Titanfall 2 pushes the player into the meat of the mission and lets them enjoy the experience.

That’s not to say every mission is just pushing story segments, but every mission in Titanfall 2 has a purpose in the main story, a couple of memorable scenes, and great gameplay that is found throughout the title. That’s the formula that made many of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty titles popular and it certainly has paid off again here.

The shooting in Titanfall 2 is very tight, and the controls are exceptional. Players can pull off amazing acts that will impress themselves consistently and always feel in control. The guns all feel solid and there’s never a point where players feel the need to change a weapon outside of the issue of finding ammo.

The titan itself is also a great addition to the usual arsenal, giving the player a larger weapons platform to control. The player’s titan has multiple loadouts, and unlike the player can freely switch between them. Each loadout has a purpose and is quite fun to use throughout the campaign.

But where Titanfall 2 really excels is that it doesn’t feel like a game that’s only focused on the Titan as a single trick. Titanfall 2 adds so much variety into a shooter, that players will be engaged for the whole game. Players can run along walls and slide around enemies, they can use the environments which have a lot of versatility to find new ways to take out targets. There’s also a triggerable cloaking ability that can change the flow of battle.

That’s before we talk about the amazing locations that Titanfall 2 finds its story, and there’s a lot of interesting sites to see. While I don’t want to give too much away, one of my favorite moments is when a player starts on a slab of concrete that’s moving through a factory. As the level proceeds the concrete gets grass added to it, then a box framework, walls, stairs, and even fake people. And then suddenly the player realizes his platform has been turned into a house that’s being assembled around him. This is just a short segment of a level but it illustrates how the progress of the player also tells a story of the environment that the player finds himself in.

If you can’t tell I’m a huge fan of the single-player campaign here. The action is exactly what I hope for in a First Person Shooter. The situations that the game throws at the player has a lot of variety and avoids repeating the same layout more than a couple times. The switch between human vs human and titan vs titan is refreshing and the levels are all worth replaying multiple times as they all are unique experiences.

But there are still some downsides to the campaign. As great as the experience is to run through a campaign, the experience will be on the short side of a First Person Shooter taking about six hours. Players can and should replay the game, but this is very short, even if it is one of the most polished experiences out there.

There’s also limited content for the Titan themselves. The Titan is the most conceptually unique and exciting part of the game, but he mostly feels like a larger version of the player, and while loadouts do change that up, almost all his combat is fighting other titans, and avoiding damage while using abilities that feel to be closer to a MOBA. That’s not to say Titans are a bad addition, it’s just that the Titanfall 2 excels more when the player is not in a titan.

Yet, I still feel the single-player campaign is easily worth the experience and worthy of praise. Of course, that’s not the only part of Titanfall 2.

Titanfall 2 also contains a robust and lively multiplayer experience where I was easily able to find matches even in the middle of the night. There are two modes. The first is the PVP with all sorts of match setups that involve Titans, pilots, and usually both combined. They also mix in several AI-controlled enemies as part of the PVP which makes encounters feel larger and are a great addition as they give players more to do. When the AI is added, PVP feels more like a large scale battle, even if the game is limited to 5v5.

The titans which struggle in the single-player game are far more interesting in the PVP game. Players will also be given better tools to deal with titans meaning that calling in titans is not an assured move to win the game.

The PVP multiplayer is exactly what I expected from Titanfall and was quite fun to play with for an hour or two. But I didn’t spend too much time with it, admittedly because I’m not big into multiplayer, so don’t fault Titanfall 2’s inability to keep me focused in that mode.

Finally, there’s an additional multiplayer mode called Frontier Defense which is a PVE mode where players protect a harvester, which is just a point on the map from wave after wave of pilots and titans. It has a similar but separate progression system from the PVP mode as well. If you enjoy the story and just want more combat, the PVE mode is worth playing and only requires three other players. Again, I was able to find a pick up game easily.

That’s what Titanfall 2 contains. I’m not sure if I would buy it just for the multiplayer and I do know fans who prefer the first game in the series, however the addition of the single player campaign is fantastic and well worth picking up just for that experience.

I give Titanfall 2 an arbitrary

9/10

It’s become one of my favorite FPS games, and while it’s short it certainly is memorable which most FPSes can only wish they were.

I dissect a single level of Titanfall 2, which you can see here if you’re interested:

I have a video with contains more of my thoughts on Horizon Zero Dawn which is available here if you’re interested: