2014's Titanfall offered a great gameplay premise: super-agile troops fight on the ground until they rack up enough points to call in a hulking mech that falls from the sky, at which point they're free to switch between running along walls and engaging in small arms combat and tearing enemies apart in the driver's seat of their slow-moving but powerful mechanised ally
Though full of ambition, the major issue with the game was its lack of a single-player campaign. With no story mode to set the scene and explain the mechanics, it just never really took hold with a broad player base.
![The relationship between protagonist Jack and mech BT is trite, but surprisingly engaging.](/web/20170107045924im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/f/1/o/s/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsfzo6.png/1478056806819.jpg)
Not only does Titanfall 2 fix this issue, but it delivers a solo mode so good that even after I had finished playing it and jumped into the multiplayer, all I wanted to do was go back and play through the story again.
On one level the campaign is largely a retreading of familiar ground, a Call of Duty with robots spliced with a man-meets-machine buddy cop routine. Enemy characters are bland and repetitive, the broader story is generic sci-fi dystopia, and protagonist Jack Cooper's relationship with his Titan BT — that old 'robot slowly learns to understand humans and teaches cocky human something in the process' chesnut — is frequently groanworthy.
![Fighting in a Titan is slower, but much more destructive.](/web/20170107045924im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/g/2/n/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsfzo6.png/1478056806819.jpg)
Yet, while the cookie-cutter feel of the first hour had me a bit worried, the game builds into a fantastic blend of incredible scale, brilliant visuals, robo goofiness and — most importantly — thrilling combat.
Once you get your thumbs around shooting enemies while running along walls — and it does take some time — the sheer number of options for tackling a group of grunts makes you feel like you're really expressing yourself with your flow. Maybe you'll lob a grenade into the group from off the wall, jump onto a straggler for a mid-air melee knockout and slide along the floor to cover while peppering the remaining soldiers with machine gun fire.
Enemy Titans will require you to jump into BT for some slower but much more impactful gunplay, and the best levels of the game have you transitioning between ground, mech and clever one-off set-pieces.
Meanwhile the beautifully-rendered, wide-open theatres of battle are creatively designed to offer both a platforming challenge and a canvas upon which to weave your artful destruction. Massive scenery and interesting touches like aggressive native fauna give the world and narrative a fleshed-out feel, exactly what the original game was lacking.
![There are several different kinds of Titan to choose from in multiplayer, but none feel truly connected to the pilots.](/web/20170107045924im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/g/2/n/b/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gsfzo6.png/1478056806819.jpg)
By shifting its multiplayer design idea to fit a single-player story, developer Respawn has created a tight, focused experience that is sure to influence big players in the space with its fresh ideas and fluid movement.
Unfortunately Titanfall 2's multiplayer mode, while solid, isn't anywhere near as revelatory. The regular deathmatch mode replicates the thrilling battles of the campaign — but with even more chaos and the added danger of human-controlled pilots — but the other modes put the emphasis on arbitrary objectives and lose the Titan-human dynamic that makes the game special.
The application of expected competitive first-person-shooter staples — like loadout customisation, character progression and capture-the-flag modes — just doesn't gel really well with world being built.
The relationship between Jack and BT in the campaign might be cheesy, but it really sells the idea of a bond between pilot and vehicle — a co-operative team literally linked by the brain — which the online play seems to overlook. The multiplayer remains fun, but surprisingly it's the short-but-replayable campaign that's the star of the show.
Titanfall 2 is out now for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC
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