I never played the original Titanfall, and if it wasn’t for a clearance section, I might not have ever played Titanfall 2. Honestly, I saw, saw giant robot with a gun, and checked it out on my phone. The words single-player campaign stuck out to me, and the high reviews cemented it. I grabbed it six years ago and have played through it three times. To this day, it’s one of my favorite campaigns and one of my favorite first-person shooters.
Titanfall 2 offered everything a nerd like me wants. We got giant robots, warfare across space, fun characters, and lots and lots of guns. Players take the role of a Titan Pilot. A Titan is a giant robot that’s changed land warfare. Pilots are more than just pilots, they are essentially super soldiers.
Your character, Rifleman Third Class Jack Cooper, is a new pilot. In fact, he’s thrust into the situation and into the role of pilot. Along the way, he faces off with a series of eccentric and sometimes insane Apex Predators—pilot mercenaries who act as game bosses. Don’t forget an army of soldiers, robots, and in some situations, wild animals in the world you occupy.
It’s an insane game that’s a ton of fun, and the single-player campaign is worth the price of admission.
Titanfall 2 — Keep Moving
Titanfall 2 manages to keep things interesting by constantly mixing up the gameplay. They do this through the way your character moves. You can wall run, double jump, and slide. Movement is a huge part of the game and helps you survive both firefights and navigate the world as you play. It’s a ton of fun to gain speed with a wall run, double jump, and come falling down as you pull the trigger on a full auto shotgun.
Beyond the movement, Titanfall 2 lets you pilot your titan. His name is BT, and he’s seemingly sentient. He converses with you and is a constant part of your missions and gameplay. When you pilot BT, you get to decimate common troops and have to deal with the occasional titan fight.
We also get an environment that’s constantly changing with a variety of gimmicks. On one level, you are on a massive assembly line and have to navigate the world as it’s moving and assembling around you. For one level, you have a time travel device that allows you to jump through time throughout the level. This is necessary for navigating obstacles, and you can jump between times to position yourself in a favorable area to beat the bad guys.
You barely ever get a chance to slow down and take a breath before the game throws something else at you. It’s nuts but fun, and it’s never a slog or repetitive. The game never slows down, constantly throwing new things at you.
Storytime With Titanfall 2
The story isn’t that deep. It seems like it wants to be, with lots of lore and characters but the conflict is basically militia versus some form of corporation that’s also a political force. Your goal is to get some kind of super weapon from the enemy or something. I don’t know. It’s not exactly the focal point of the game. The story acts as an excuse to transport you from place to place to kill things.
Where the story does shine is with the characters. They are fun, versatile, and eccentric and the interactions between them is where the story is told. The Apex Predators are all great, and honestly, when the top dog offers you a spot on his team, I almost wanna take it.
I love the interactions you get to have and the boss battles you have with the Apex predators and their titans. The world-building is great, and I want to know more. Where is my Titanfall extended universe? I want comics, books, and more games, damn it.
Blasting Away — As a Rifleman
Titanfall 2 takes place in the far future. As you’d imagine, the guns are entirely fictional, although they are grounded in reality and take some influence from the real world. For example, as a militiaman, your main rifle is the V-47 Flatline. It’s clearly influenced by the real AK 47, even though it’s a bullpup. You get wood furniture, a magazine with a massive curve to it.
Guns like the G2 are very clearly inspired by real-world guns. The G2 is a high-tech M14, down to the manner in which it reloads. That’s not to say they aren’t creative. Guns like the Alternator are very sci-fi. It’s a double barrel gun that deals fast and massive damage at the cost of constant reloads.
My personal favorite is a shotgun pistol called the Mozambique that fires three rounds at one time. The name is a reference to the Mozambique drill. It fires two rounds from the bottom and one round from the top.
Weapons are broken down by the typical classes. You get your assault rifles, shotguns, light machine guns, SMGs, and handguns, along with a few rocket and grenade launchers. The gun variety is nice, and you can constantly switch and change and figure out what works for you. Most of the guns feature various optics, all with a futuristic touch to them.
The Titan Weaponry
Your titan starts with a 20mm rifle, but as the game plays out, you get access to seven different load-outs. They change up your main weapon, your secondary weapon, your defensive capabilities, and even your special move.
These weapons vary from a 20mm auto canon to a massive rocket launcher that fires four rockets at one time. There is canon that launches explosive projectiles, a minigun, and even a sword. You can swap on the fly to deal with other titans as you see fit. The thermite launcher is great fun to use on the infantry forces attacking you.
Protocol 3
Let me tell you by the end of the game you might shed a tear or two at the end. The bromance between you and BT is great and it’s such a fun single-player. You’ll hate EA even more after knowing that they killed Respawn to produce a micro-transaction-filled battle royale shooter instead of Titanfall 3.
Titanfall 2 costs nothing right now, and it’s one of the best single-player campaigns on console. Check it out and let us know what you think below.
