Why Titanfall Needs a Campaign

On 04/14/2014 at 01:06 AM by Casey Curran

If there's one thing the gamer community seems to hate, it's a tacked on multiplayer mode. I, however, do not think that tacked on single player modes get the hate they deserve compared to this. They may be less common, but it gets annoying when games like Battlefield 3 have this tacked on campaign for no other reason than to justify charging $60.

Except now apparantly you don't even need that to justify charging $60 for just multiplayer. I, however, am going to surprise you all and say that Titanfall is absolutely worth $60. Not because it's packed with MP content, but because it's just so damn fun that I want to play it a ton. Enough to justify paying $60 for this game. Remember when multiplayer games did that instead of trying to compel you to play more whether or not you're having fun? And I don't even really like multiplayer that much, mostly Pokemon with the occasional phase like DOTA or Halo. I'm just more of a single player and co-op guy.

However, that does not change the potential I see for a Titanfall campaign. Because this game can definitely stand out from the sea of other FPS games. The reason? Parkour. While everyone's comparing Titanfall to Call of Duty, the game I think it shares just as much in common with is Mirror's Edge. Wall running is an integral part of the game, it giving it a unique feel and making it really fast paced. Part of why I love it so much is because of how it feels like Mirror's Edge. And I, for one, would love an FPS/platformer hybrid with giant robots.

I see so much potential here. Potential to take things slow with platforming segments that push the wall running to its limit. Potential for giant Halo esque battlefields designed to encourage running on walls. Potential for boss fights against multiple Titans at once while you're using hit and run tactic with an area designed for that.

It has the tools to make a fun gameplay hook. It has the tools to pace itself properly. It has the talent to make a good campaign. It just needs a campaign without any fear of alienating players. Hopefully EA's acquisition of the brand combined with the Xbone ridding itself of the online DRM will mean that Titanfall 2 has a campaign. I'll be there either way if it's on PS4, but I'd like a campaign nonetheless.

Super Step Contributing Writer

04/14/2014 at 02:18 AM

I didn't know Titanfall was multiplayer only, if indeed that's what you mean by there being no campaign mode.

It looks awesome, but that would kinda suck for someone like me, who prefers single-player most days, though I suppose that's partly cause I've never so much as played a multiplayer game online. Hopefully, I'll get to fix that when Ultra Street Fighter IV releases on Steam.

EDIT: Okay, that's not entirely true, but when I've played online, I feel as if I'm just there to stand in, whereas I've had way more fun with a physical group of friends playing Halo 2 or Goldeneye. This is because I've never really had time to get good enough at the Call of Duty games I've played online to be at all competitive in an online environment, so I basically don't even count those experiences among my gaming experiences.

But yeah, parkour is definitely something that seems very fit for action-heavy video games. I'd love to try the real life version too.

ExtraLife

04/14/2014 at 04:45 PM

I'm ok with the campaign of Titanfall being what it is. That game is way more focused on being a multiplayer game. But I would have preferred they would have not charge the price of a full game. I want games that are focused on either single player or multiplayer to be a lower price and then just being charged for DLC. For instance a game like The Walking Dead that focuses entirely on story was less than other games.

C.S.3590SquadLeader

04/14/2014 at 04:46 PM

I like the look of Titanfall, maybe if I had a more reliable Internet connection I'd give it a shot.

TripOpt55

04/14/2014 at 09:01 PM

It sounds cool. I wish I cared enough for multiplayer to get into it. I am 360-less still anyway, but am a total sucker for wall-running so it does sound pretty rad.

Halochief90

04/14/2014 at 10:40 PM

I for one have a hard time seeing myself being attached to a game franchise without them even trying at single-player story. I can see this game being very unfriendly to new players as well because there's no single player to pratice on (at least to my knowledge).

goaztecs

04/15/2014 at 11:29 AM

I would be more comfortable with this game if it had a campaign mode. I like the new approach to it just being a multiplayer game but it also seems that you are at the mercy of the community. From an outsider point of view it seems that if interest for the game dies off, you're left with a map that might be filled with a bunch of AI controlled characters or if you were not a day one adopter you're character is serverely behind everyone else. I'm probably wrong about my understanding of the game, but if someone like me who likes to play the single player for these games, Titanfall would be a game I would skip.

KnightDriver

04/15/2014 at 03:09 PM

I heard an interview with someone at Respawn on Major Nelson's Podcast who said they had designed the multiplayer with campaign elements to kind of blend the two. I, however, would love a campaign single player mode. I'm pretty leary of pure multiplayer games, but I might get Titanfall if it had a single player campaign with co-op. I don't think they will do one though. Seems like they really just wanted to focus on multiplayer and blend in a little bit of story kind of like what Halo did with Spartan Ops.

04/15/2014 at 10:38 PM

From what I've read, the "story mode" is basically just commentary that plays over multiplayer matches. That's about as lazy as a story mode can get. Somehow, I'm not surprised the developers seemed to try to spin that into something that sounds new and interesting.

04/16/2014 at 04:08 PM

They're trying to get everyone on board, but they haven't got me yet. I need a solid single player story mode to get me in. You would think with all the bots they have in the game, they could make a single player mode out of it, but I guess not.

Nicoleb1989

04/16/2014 at 04:26 PM

I cant justify 60 for titanfall, Im glad others can but Im not big on multiplayer to begin with to pay 60 for a game with little to no story to be had.

NSonic79

06/10/2014 at 01:44 PM

Yes! Yes! Someone listen to this guy!

I will not believe that we have to give up single player aspects of a game just so the multiplayer can be run on the high specs, run at a high bandwidth and have to share processing power over the cloud.

Despite the reviews I still look at the long term of Titanfall and I can't bring myself consider it a solid buy, moreso with the anemic single player mode that plays out on inscreen cutscense during the heat of battle.

PixlBit