Game review: Titanfall

Online first-person shooter Titanfall has been hailed as the title to rejuvenate the popular but overcrowded genre. Overhyped perhaps, it does promise an intense gaming experience - if you can survive long enough to enjoy it.

Titanfall is a brilliant mix of the frantic parkour-like mobility of the "pilots" and the explosive action of the giant mech "titans". As indicated in the name, Titanfall is all about the Titans, and the anticipation builds as you await the point when yours will fall. A few minutes into the action, a voice instructs that your titan is ready and the carnage is set to begin.

A crackle and a boom later, your Titan drops down to Earth. There are three Titan classes, each with different abilities and weapons.

As a pilot, you can explore the 15 maps through athletic leaps, wall runs, and double jumps, enabling players to find vantage points in nooks and crannies and obtain ridiculous elevation.

Gamers can play several classic game modes, including Capture the Flag, Last Titan Standing, deathmatch-style Pilot Hunter and Hardpoint Domination. There is a campaign mode, with each of the classic levels tied together with a plotline. However, the storyline is weak and it seems clumsily tacked together. It would have been preferable for the game to have a proper offline campaign mode, so gamers could become better accustomed to operating both the pilots and the Titans.

Titanfall is online multiplayer only (up to 12 players), so gamers who aren't used to online gaming may find themselves repeatedly cursing the username of some foul-mouthed kid from abroad who defeats them soon after they spawn. However they'll also get a real kick if they can exact their revenge once they've gotten used to the hectic speed of the game. There are AI grunts, so newbies can get some kills under their belts, but it's the online human rivalries that this game is all about. Defeating a real gamer from somewhere else on the planet beats killing an AI enemy any day.

When you are killed, a replay will show you your demise from the view of your slayer. Often this will reveal a weakness in your game plan which could be tweaked to improve your chances of survival in battle. More often than not it will showcase the impeccable skill of your rivals, who perhaps have strung together a series of impressive wall runs and jumps before firing off a few rounds in midair in your direction to finish you off.

Because everyone gets a Titan, Titanfall is accessible to novices who don't often play online. Regardless of your skill level, no one misses out on the thrill of tearing through the streets in a humungous mech.

Though the game will be frustrating for those new to online gaming, Titanfall is geared towards ensuring players of all abilities can get something out of it.

Platform:

Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

Rating:

PC

Click here to buy Titanfall.

- TimeOut