2016 was a pretty good year for shooters.
Overwatch established itself as an eSports title for years to come, DOOM blew everyone’s expectations out of the water, Call of Duty made another solid entry into the franchise with Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1 met all expectations as the most anticipated online shooter in years. However, I have to admit that one game did slip by me — Titanfall 2.
Titanfall, released March 2014, was well received for the distinctive gameplay that developer Respawn Entertainment brought to the FPS genre. The fast-paced, parkour running, giant mech fighting game brought its own style to the industry on the way to selling over 7 million copies despite being an Xbox exclusive.
The game, however, did not have staying power, and the player base quickly dwindled to only hardcore players.
It’s safe to say then that Titanfall 2’s launch — with release across Xbox, PlayStation and PC— was a big deal to the game’s many fans as a potentially successful sequel that could save the beloved series. But that wasn’t the case.
While publisher Electronic Arts hasn’t released much of the sales data, the situation looks bad. Reports by SuperData Research stated that at launch, Titanfall 2 brought in $18 million in revenue, only 28 percent of what its predecessor earned at launch. Player counts at launch were also a fraction of Battlefield 1’s.
While I don’t have access to current player counts, it seems that the status, especially on PC, is dire. So what happened?
First, the marketing for Titanfall 2 was awful. Think for a minute if you can remember any advertising for this game. It wasn’t until right around release when I noticed any.
The more likely culprit for the terrible launch is the worst release date of any video game ever. Titanfall 2 released on October 28, right in the middle of Battlefield 1on October 21 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfareon November 4.
Going up against the two biggest titles of the same genre mere days apart was a serious blunder. It’s a shame though because Titanfall 2 is actually a fantastic game.
While I previously said the playstyle of Titanfall is not my cup of tea, I can tell Respawn Entertainment nailed exactly what fans of this series love so much.
The fast-paced run, jump and shoot action can be insanely fun and intense. Knowing the best way to move around maps, and being able to execute the wall running, jumping and sliding moves separates the amateurs from the pros with its great feeling movement.
Titanfall 2 fixes the biggest complaint from Titanfall: lack of variety in game modes. With eight or so game modes, everyone is bound to find something they love. However, with poor sales, having so many game modes may come back to hurt Titanfall 2 as it splits the player base.
Multiplayer is the main attraction, but the single player campaign stole the show for me. You take control of Jack Cooper, an “everyman” character, as he gains control of a titan named BT. Their buddy-cop style relationship plays off the dry, logical wit of BT’s AI, and Jack’s quippy remarks as a man who finds himself the unexpected hero of our story.
The storyline is more than serviceable as we get to experience the growing relationship between a titan and its new pilot, with some drama and surprise twists along the way.
When a game is based on fast movement, developers have to find a way of making levels seem large and expansive with room to run around, while also keeping the level contained enough to provide the linear level progression you want, not giving players a sense of being lost.
Titanfall 2 absolutely nails this with its excellent level design. Each level offers beautiful areas of playground for gamers to explore.
The level design opens up enough for you to use every parkour trick as you speed your way around enemies for super satisfying attacks, assuredly leaving you feeling like a badass.
Add in a large arsenal of weapons, great platforming puzzles and solid enemies, and you get one of the best campaigns in a shooter I’ve played in years.
Titanfall 2 is without a doubt the most overlooked game of 2016. It’s rare that a sequel is able to improve on every aspect of its predecessor, but Titanfall 2 has. If you missed out on this game, you should take another look; the single player alone is worth the price of admission.

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Respawn Entertainment

Titanfall 2, released Oct. 28, is a first-person video shooter game.