I wrote up some thoughts and feelings based on the game's recent Tech Test, designed to stress out Titanfall 2's server infrastructure and gather feedback on a very early version of the game. I'm not a fan of the game's new Titan battery gameplay mechanics, the increased penalties to movement, and the apparent pivot to more open, ground-based maps. Even though I enjoyed Titanfall 2 overall, across social media opinions on Titanfall 2's 'updated' formula were mixed at best, leaning a little towards the negative side.
Titanfall 2 game designer Steven DeRose dropped an extensive blog post on the game's official website, detailing the ways Respawn Entertainment are going to address the considerable amount of feedback the team has been receiving.
For more detail on why Respawn Entertainment made some of the changes they did, make sure to check out their full post over here, but the key points are as follows.
- We'll be tuning air speed and wall-running speed to be faster.
- Players should once again accumulate and retain more speed when chaining wall runs.
- Pilots will once again acquire a small passive amount of Titan meter every few seconds.
- Titan dashes will recharge faster.
- We'll be showcasing more maps over the next couple weeks on our website, including more traditional Titanfall maps.
- We're going to bring in the fade distance for enemy outlines, so they don't reveal pilots at extreme distances.
Respawn said that they slowed the game down to increase the 'predictability' of combat, claiming that death often felt the result of random chaos, rather than skill in Titanfall 1. The goal was to improve gunplay, rather than reduce movement speed. They said the next Tech Test would improve upon the momentum you can gather while chaining parkour abilities together, limiting dampening factors on things like repeatedly jumping.
When it comes to Titan gameplay, Respawn said the battery mechanics — which forces players to hunt for batteries to give friendly Titans shields — were designed to reward teamwork. Rather than remove the system, they want to monitor how it performs when players have full access to it. As I speculated in my feedback article, various aspects of Titanfall 2 are balanced around abilities we don't yet have access to, according to Respawn Entertainment.
Stephen DeRose closed the article by encouraging players to leave even more feedback when the Tech Test returns this Friday on Xbox One.
Thanks again very much for participating in the first weekend of the Tech Test. We're looking forward to hearing from more of you this weekend, as these tests are amazingly helpful in ensuring we have a successful launch. As you can see, your feedback is already being heard and impacting the final game.
Are you encouraged by these changes? Do they go far enough? Let us know in the comments.
