Titanfall Review: Will The Score Have A Say In Pushing Xbox One Units?

Titanfall will be out on March 11^th in North America, which means in less than two days. While there may be the occasional early player here and there, this will mark the opening of the floodgates for gamers everywhere. Ever since it debuted at E3 2013, Titanfall had made a strong impression across the industry. The concept looked new and yet felt so very familiar, with the movement and giant robots feeling almost too fluid to possibly be real.

"Why did Titanfall opt for a purely multiplayer experience? Why did it release only for Xbox platforms? How would it compete with the likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty?"

It wasn’t until the recent beta that we actually realized it was. Titanfall was everything we could it would be and so much more. It not only showcased its strengths but proved that they were nothing but second nature – it was the tight map design, over-arching structure of combat, balancing of Titans versus Pilots and overall, showcasing your skill within these parameters.

However, Titanfall has come under enormous scrutiny for some reason or another. It’s felt that the 12 player cap is ultimately a hindrance for the experience and that having bots just makes the first person shooting dumbed down. There were criticisms of the lack of environmental destruction, especially in the sense that giant robots should be able to easily shoot through walls with their giant guns to eliminate pilots. Why this was ultimately skipped was obvious when it comes to game balance.

But that’s not all. Why did Titanfall opt for a purely multiplayer experience? Why did it release only for Xbox platforms? How would it compete with the likes of Battlefield and Call of Duty? Would it live up to the massive expectations of its creators, with the men founding Respawn Entertainment having been the architects of Medal of Honor and then Call of Duty? While many of these issues were somewhat resolved with the recent beta, there are still many factors to consider with the release of Titanfall.

"In fact, it shows those of us who don’t partake in video games or just restrict ourselves to single-player titles or abhor first person shooters altogether just why the genre is so cool."

For instance, while Sony will have inFamous: Second Son and DriveClub in the coming months and having surpassed Microsoft in next gen console sales with the PS4, Microsoft only has Titanfall to boost sales of the Xbox One. We haven’t had news about Sunset Overdrive and Halo as of yet, and Gears of War is a long, long way off. But Titanfall not only represents one of the bigger exclusives currently available –it’s also one of the biggest multiplayer games ever.

That being said, what is it about the game that feels so worthy of critical acclaim? Put everything else aside – just what is it about Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall? Why does it feel like such a big deal?

It could be that it’s just fun.

It caters to a long-lost gaming nerd sub-culture without losing sight of the mainstream. In fact, it shows those of us who don’t partake in video games or just restrict ourselves to single-player titles or abhor first person shooters altogether just why the genre is so cool. Titanfall is cool. It’s serious, it’s played straight but it’s so much fun and so cool to play. It’s that classic case of being so deceptively simple yet so very complex to get into.

"Maybe you just want to stick to the Smart Pistol and capture points for your team. Maybe you just want to run around with a shotgun. Heck, maybe you just want to feel powerful and overwhelmingly awesome – Titanfall caters to all these whims."

You don’t even need to be hyper-skilled to enjoy it – either become more skilled at utilizing your Titan or become a hardcore Pilot that is skilled at close combat. Maybe you just want to stick to the Smart Pistol and capture points for your team. Maybe you just want to run around with a shotgun. Heck, maybe you just want to feel powerful and overwhelmingly awesome – Titanfall caters to all these whims.

It’s probably why the beta managed to attract 2 million unique users. It’s probably why most players, like with Call of Duty and Battlefield, will ignore the reviews and just dive into the experience without worry about the critical response. It’s why they’ll accept the so-called “limitations” of the game and just enjoy it for being a new experience that it is fun and awesome to play.

It could be the most critically acclaimed multiplayer title in a long while, even judged by the usual standards by which first person shooters are judged. Regardless, it will be one of the most memorable games of the year, if not the decade. If that’s not enough to push Xbox One unit sales, what is?