Titanfall Beta thoughts.

[Vigormortis]

Now that I've had some time with it, I have a few things to say:

First, it's bloody fantastic. Easily some of the most fun I've had with an online game; or even just any game; in years.

I had my concerns and my doubts about certain aspects of the game, but I'm glad to say most or all of those fears were unwarranted. Respawn managed to find a near perfect balance between the Pilots and the Titans. As well, the movement systems are as fluid as they are responsive[footnote]'Course, I would expect as much from a Source game.[/footnote]

The game is incredibly hectic and dynamic. The maps are large yet feel distinctly populated. Even with most of the characters being AI controlled, it still feels like a real online battle. Also, it's definitely not hard to find other pilots to fight, especially when a Titan is involved[footnote]Most player fights seem to revolve around them. Whether between the Titans or from the other players staying in the vicinity of the Titans.[/footnote] All the nay-saying and poo-pooing about 6 v 6 were way off the mark.

Titan combat is visceral and fast but their movement has a distinct weight to it. Pilot combat is more frantic and offers quite a lot of tactical options.

The tutorial was a nice touch and, while a little long, was a great introduction to the mechanics of the game. Though, it made me sorely wish there was a solo campaign in the game.

The art assets and sound design, while a little rough in the beta, are top notch.

There are a few issues, though.

On occasion, I will find a few ally and enemy Grunts or Spectres standing in a room staring at one another; usually only jumping into action when I start shooting.

As well, it seems a bit too easy to destroy the end-of-round evac vehicle. Especially if the other team has more than one Titan left at the end.

Weapon fire is well compensated for in regards to ping, but melee'ing, especially in a Titan, is a bit less reliable.

Most of the other issues I've come across are likely attributed to the game being in a beta state or issues with the servers and matchmaking.

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All said and done, I'm really excited for the final build. This could very well be the best multiplayer title of the year, if in the very least a front runner.

Well done Respawn. For your first outing, this is a hell of a start.

Now if only you can add a campaign at some point...

 

[Ham Blitz]

I am loving the game so far. Fast paced shooting action and some free running for mobility that essentially allows you to go almost anywhere in the map, which is awesome. I can see why only 6 players are allowed per team because when even 6 titans are out and about (I don't just mean all of one team's, it could be 3 v 3) it gets really crowded in spots.

As well, it seems a bit too easy to destroy the end-of-round evac vehicle. Especially if the other team has more than one Titan left at the end.

I have had the opposite problem with my teams, usually the ship never blows up.

 

[Vigormortis]

I am loving the game so far. Fast paced shooting action and some free running for mobility that essentially allows you to go almost anywhere in the map, which is awesome. I can see why only 6 players are allowed per team because when even 6 titans are out and about (I don't just mean all of one team's, it could be 3 v 3) it gets really crowded in spots.

Agreed. Frankly, 6 v 6 feels perfect. Any more and the flow of the game just wouldn't be the same.

Besides, do we really need another "clusterfuck" online shooter like Battlefield and Planetside?

I have had the opposite problem with my teams, usually the ship never blows up.

Seems to be getting harder and harder to destroy now.

Could be they're tweaking the game on the fly. Respawn's talked of being able to do seamless tweaks and updates to the game without having to drop people from their games.

So who knows?

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On a side note:
There's something incredibly cathartic about calling in my Titan and having it drop right on top of an enemy Titan. Just the satisfaction of the instant kill, the sound and the animation.... Makes me grin ear to ear.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

I've been having problems with it...it seems no matter what I do, I either have...
1. Input lag from triple buffered vsync
or 2. Screen tearing and borderline unplayable stuttering on double buffered and no vsync

It's actually effected my gameplay. I nailed the controls down, tweaking my mouse settings to my desire, but the game randomly stutters, even when I'm well above 60FPS (with vsync off, I rarely fall below 90FPS, even in high action)

It's quite disappointing...I've been looking forward to my beta access, and now that I got it, I can barely play. Even worse, the beta ends in, what...3 days?

 

[Corven]

Apparently EA really wants me to play this game since it just performed black magic on my download speeds to get it up to 16 MB per seconds (I can only get about 2 MB on steam and other services).

I'm about to play it now as soon as I finish installing the game, and will report back with my impressions.

 

[Terminate421]

[
On a side note:
There's something incredibly cathartic about calling in my Titan and having it drop right on top of an enemy Titan. Just the satisfaction of the instant kill, the sound and the animation.... Makes me grin ear to ear.

I personally think hearing the phrase "Stand by for Titanfall" then hearing the rocket sounds increase on the spot and having it land right in front of you will never get old.

 

[Creator002]

I've played on PC and Xbox One.

I think it's pretty good so far. The free-running is really nice and works quite well. The on-foot combat feels a lot like Call of Duty and Battlefield combined (fast-paced, bit a little difficult). The Titan combat however contrasts a lot to the on-foot combat due to the Titan being a lot slower. It feels sluggish to me, but I guess that's the point of it. Also, fighting someone's Titan with your own seems to put a lot of shit on-screen and makes it harder to see, but that's what makes it awesome, so I don't care.

I really only have one complaint, and it's PC specific. I can't turn toggle off for sprint. That's it. If they include an option to change the sprint function from toggle to hold, I'll be happy.

Which version is better? I prefer the PC version, but I've been gaming on a PC almost exclusively for 2 years. My friend prefers the Xbox One version because his PC can't run it well and he's been primarily a console gamer since the original Xbox. I guess you're going to go with what you're used to.
Not 100% sure if it's a purchase for me yet, since I'll probably have to get the Xbox One version if I want to play with my friend.

 

[Falcondynamite]

Been playing it for the past few days. Honestly I haven't seen any glaring issues with the game. Combat is frantic, weapons have weight, I don't feel like I get cheaply killed. Titan combat feels nice. Weapon variants are pretty versatile.
I'm not such a big fan of the "attrition" points thing though. Yeah I know that's the equivalent of its primary points system. But if say I say "Fuck the pilots I'll just kill bots", I could easily land myself in first place in the match just because I equipped a silencer and aimed primarily at the grunts. If you happen to stumble across a pilot, you can either attempt to kill him or just barrage the next area that's going to be filled with grunts. Meaning you could deliberately ignore making any contact with players and probably come first place. Reason why I bring this up because I tried doing it. Once you get a titan then it just gets easier, you can either just attack the grunts still or attack players that think they can take a Titan and then forget if you leave your titan, activate follow mode and gun him down while he's attempting to destroy it, if he tries to run the auto aim can easily disperse of them. Now I just state this as an experiment I tested, however perhaps this was also done on purpose?
Let's say if we're talking a tournament based match or something and certain players on a team or literally designated to specifically target grunts, then that could technically be considered a form of tactical advantage, or perhaps I'm over thinking it.
Honestly I've heard some people complain about some weapons being "OP" while I primarily think all of them are situational (But shotgun people tend to be very "campy").
Hard point is basically attrition but capture the points... Which could be lead up to one half of team stays on primary point, other team gets secondary, primary offering support if possible. This basically leads up to being a king of the hill scenario, but even if you lose that point as long as you have team members literally planted on the primary point you can still win mainly because you get rewarded pretty frequently while planted.
Finally there was Titan Battle... Don't care for it and think it's meaningless because I like to infinitely respawn.
I will greatly consider purchasing it because of this well made beta, but those were just some key things I wanted to point out that may come of a tad "broken" or "purposely imposed".

-Julio

 

[JettMaverick]

I thoroughly enjoyed the living christ out of the beta, I comfortably sat for 3 hours on the Beta mix-match playlist, and didn't even take notice of the time passing.

Fast paced action, hella fun with so much stuff going around you. Awesome title. I actually died once or twice just watching the ships above me duke it out as the land battle was reaching it's close.

Definitely gonna invest alot of time (& since it's EA, probably alot of £££ for DLC) But hey, if it's this good throughout, i'm totally throwing my money into EA's pockets.

 

[BakedSardine]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

 

[electric method]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

That pistol is, indeed, a pretty much guaranteed kill. It gets used a lot. Mostly I see people camping with that thing with cloak. And if you try to rodeo a Titan who's pilot is using a smart pistol you are dead, dead, dead before you can even respond. That's pretty much how most encounters against the Smart Pistol go, especially after the player unlocks an attachment that speeds up the targeting time. The really messed up part is that the smart pistol ALWAYS generates a headshot and the bullets track the target too. Easily the most hideously OP'ed and ridiculous gun Infinity Ward now Respawn has ever come up with.

Edit: funny as hell captcha this time: "It's time to overdo". Yep, that pretty much describes the smart pistol.

Edit part 2: Forgot to mention that the Smart Pistol tracks multiple targets as well. It's a weapon that can literally take out 3-5 people at a time and every shot will hit and the final one, as I stated above, will be a headshot.

 

[BakedSardine]

That pistol is, indeed, a pretty much guaranteed kill. It gets used a lot. Mostly I see people camping with that thing with cloak. And if you try to rodeo a Titan who's pilot is using a smart pistol you are dead, dead, dead before you can even respond. That's pretty much how most encounters against the Smart Pistol go, especially after the player unlocks an attachment that speeds up the targeting time. The really messed up part is that the smart pistol ALWAYS generates a headshot and the bullets track the target too. Easily the most hideously OP'ed and ridiculous gun Infinity Ward now Respawn has ever come up with.

Edit: funny as hell captcha this time: "It's time to overdo". Yep, that pretty much describes the smart pistol.

Edit part 2: Forgot to mention that the Smart Pistol tracks multiple targets as well. It's a weapon that can literally take out 3-5 people at a time and every shot will hit and the final one, as I stated above, will be a headshot.

Seems odd something that would even get through QA - I see no solution other than banning that gun. It will be like the old days of the Rocket Launcher in DOOM - there will be no point in using any other weapon.

 

[electric method]

That pistol is, indeed, a pretty much guaranteed kill. It gets used a lot. Mostly I see people camping with that thing with cloak. And if you try to rodeo a Titan who's pilot is using a smart pistol you are dead, dead, dead before you can even respond. That's pretty much how most encounters against the Smart Pistol go, especially after the player unlocks an attachment that speeds up the targeting time. The really messed up part is that the smart pistol ALWAYS generates a headshot and the bullets track the target too. Easily the most hideously OP'ed and ridiculous gun Infinity Ward now Respawn has ever come up with.

Edit: funny as hell captcha this time: "It's time to overdo". Yep, that pretty much describes the smart pistol.

Edit part 2: Forgot to mention that the Smart Pistol tracks multiple targets as well. It's a weapon that can literally take out 3-5 people at a time and every shot will hit and the final one, as I stated above, will be a headshot.

Seems odd something that would even get through QA - I see no solution other than banning that gun. It will be like the old days of the Rocket Launcher in DOOM - there will be no point in using any other weapon.

I found it odd to see it in game as well. It's a gun that would be good for single player campaign. Multiplayer? Hell no. Two things that make it lose some utility are that it's no good at range and if you choose to use it, it occupies your primary load out slot; So no Smart Pistol and long range weapon too. Amusingly, they make absolutely sure players know how to use that pistol as it's the first weapon they teach players how to use in the tutorial. In fact they shine a huge spotlight on it and say "The Smart Pistol is a pilot's best friend and constant companion on the battlefield" or something very similar to that. I find it sort of surprising that nobody at Respawn, EA or Microsoft didn't go "This seems like an exceedingly bad idea and will be abused and easy to abuse by players." Then again, maybe not. These are developers that have never made a multiplayer game that is actually balanced or fair.

 

[Kyrdra]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

That is bullshit. I actually dont use the smartpistol because it doesn't suit my style.
The carbine or Smg are both better if you can aim at any range and the shotgun is better at middle to shortrange. Also the lock on range is relativly short.

And just to address the cloak campers: Open your bloody eyes you can see someone who is using cloak quite easily

 

[RaginDrage]

So far i'm having a blast with the beta!

It's a fast shooter where everyone pretty much moves like the scout from TF2...with wall running! The smart-pistol feels slightly overpowered at a first glance, but can be easily outmatched from a distance with any other gun.

 

[Vigormortis]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

Anyone telling you the Smart Pistol is "overpowered" and makes all other weapons useless is either someone that hasn't had much, if any, time with the game or a liar.

At best, the Smart Pistol is a marginal improvement on the basic pistol filling the secondary slot. The time it takes to get the full three-point lock on a Pilot makes it all but pointless in Pilot-v-Pilot fights.

There's no doubt it's great for taking out packs of Grunts, which in turn can get you to your Titan fast, but in most other cases, it's at the bottom of the "usefulness" ladder.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say the basic, starting assault rifle is the only "OP" weapon in the beta. It's damage, accuracy, rate of fire (even while hip-firing), and range allow it to outclass every other Pilot weapon. The number of times I've been sniped from halfway across the map with that thing VASTLY outnumbers the times I've been killed by a Smart Pistol.

Besides, by the time you get the tri-lock on a Pilot you'll either already be dead from the person you're aiming at or by someone else near by. You'd be better off just popping your target with a few rounds from any of the other weapons.

How anyone can claim the Smart Pistol is "OP" after actually playing the beta is beyond me...

 

[thatonedude11]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

Anyone telling you the Smart Pistol is "overpowered" and makes all other weapons useless is either someone that hasn't had much, if any, time with the game or a liar.

While I don't think it is overpowered per say, every death because of the smart pistol feels cheap and undeserved. It is just plain not fun to play against, even if it isn't a very good weapon.

OT: I'm overall having a boatload of fun with the Titanfall beta, and I'll summarize my thoughts in easy-to read bullet-point form!

- 6v6 is just about the perfect number of players for this game. Any more and there would be too many damn titans on the map, and running around as a pilot would be very difficult. The only way they could make the number of players bigger would be to make the maps larger, or not let everyone have a titan. Both of those choices I feel would make the game worse.

- The weapon balance doesn't feel there yet. From my personal experience, the 40mm launcher is by far the best titan weapon, and I have had way more success with the shotgun than with any other anti-personnel weapon. This might just be me though, so take that as you will.

- Respawn, please give us player-hosted dedicated servers on the PC. That would just be a nice thing to do, you know. Also, text chat would be appreciated. Neither of these things are a deal-breaker for me personally, but I would really like these features.

- The game runs pretty well on my PC, could be better if I bothered to turn some settings down. Then again it is a source game, so that's to be expected.

- The A.I. characters, while very easy to take down, do a good job at fleshing out the battlefield and making everything more intense. Battlefields would be a lot more boring without them, especially at the beginning of a match before the titans start coming in.

- It takes way too long to unlock weapon attachments and sights, and until then, your weapons are pretty boring. I'm also worried that some guns will be practically useless until you unlock some stuff for them, which would just suck.

- The game is oozing, atmosphere, from the grunts shouting things to each other, to the dropships flying overhead, to the com chatter, the game world really feels alive and hectic.

- I'm really concerned about potential DLC for the game. DLC ruined Battlefield 3 for me, and I'm worried it will do the same for Titanfall. Hopefully it won't, but I'm not buying the game until they talk about their plans for the DLC are.

Overall though, the game is insanely fun and intense, and I am definitely considering picking it up once it comes out.

 

[electric method]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

Anyone telling you the Smart Pistol is "overpowered" and makes all other weapons useless is either someone that hasn't had much, if any, time with the game or a liar.

At best, the Smart Pistol is a marginal improvement on the basic pistol filling the secondary slot. The time it takes to get the full three-point lock on a Pilot makes it all but pointless in Pilot-v-Pilot fights.

There's no doubt it's great for taking out packs of Grunts, which in turn can get you to your Titan fast, but in most other cases, it's at the bottom of the "usefulness" ladder.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say the basic, starting assault rifle is the only "OP" weapon in the beta. It's damage, accuracy, rate of fire (even while hip-firing), and range allow it to outclass every other Pilot weapon. The number of times I've been sniped from halfway across the map with that thing VASTLY outnumbers the times I've been killed by a Smart Pistol.

Besides, by the time you get the tri-lock on a Pilot you'll either already be dead from the person you're aiming at or by someone else near by. You'd be better off just popping your target with a few rounds from any of the other weapons.

How anyone can claim the Smart Pistol is "OP" after actually playing the beta is beyond me...

Perhaps you forgot that when you edit a quote then remove said edit it still shows who you quoted what you actually said. Yes I've played the Beta, Yes the smart pistol is a piece of crap weapon that does not need to exist in any shape or form. Yes, It absolutely wrecks packs of grunts. 4 Grunts, got a smart pistol? No problem. They are all dead in the blink of eye. Add the mod that speeds up targeting (and bc the game *doesn't* tell pilots they've been targeted by it) and it's a close range monster. Yes it will lost cqb battles to a smg user, but that is only because of the smg's obnoxious rate of fire, that can be modded to make it spew out even more! But wait, there is more op'ed crap to come... Burn Cards that allow someone to literally remove the entire build time of their titan, get a primary weapon that is "amped" and can literally outclass every pilot weapon. That Amped R-101c is why you are getting nuked from across map, or perhaps it was the Amped Krager Sniper Rifle with AP rounds.

You are correct in semi-assuming (then editing out) the fact that I don't care much for Titanfall. There is a reason why I've been harsh on it; Because it does not deserve praise; It's average to mediocre at best. I swear people are only on this thing as hard as they are, gargling Respawn's every word and action like a pack of $2 hookers, because of how Zampella and West got done by Activision. Fuck, those two have rode the "We got screwed by Activision and lost our studio and billion dollar a year mediocre franchise we created" card for so long now it's like their fucking mantra. Doesn't it shock you that not a single games journalist has been openly critical about this game? Doesn't it make someone wonder that not a single outlet has even mentioned the rather bad framerate issues this game has on the xbox1? Seriously, you accuse me of not even playing the game, watching some let's plays etc then making wild guesses, then edit that out of your post. Right... This is the type of craptastic personal attack based on blind defense of a game just because someone else doesn't share your opinion.

 

[karloss01]

My only problem (whilst also a big strength of it) is that it is very frantic. You're practically never still. And while that makes for a good time whilst playing, it can also be a bit "mentally exhausting" to be over-dramatic.

That's what I like about Titanfall, it feels old school with a new school spin on it; like the good old days of Unreal 2004 and back.

 

[Amaror]

I haven't played it, but impressions seem pretty positive. Anyone have issues with everyone using the Smart Pistol? From what I've read, that weapon essentially makes all the other weapons useless because it's almost an auto kill.

I can't speak for consoles, but on the pc not so much. I personally really like to use the shotgun. When i am not in a titan i am nearly always running around in buildings, so the shotgun is perfect.
The auto lock and high damage from the smart pistol is nice, but half a second lock on is just way too slow, when you have a mouse to aim.