Titanfall 2 was easily the highlight of EA’s E3 presentation on Sunday, announcing that it was addressing its predecessor’s widely regarded shortcomings of not having a campaign and hosting a thin progression system. At this year’s E3 however, Respawn unveiled new details that point at more changes to the franchise than expected.
Titanfall 2’s multiplayer has decided to partially adopt a class based system for the Titans. Scrapping the original behemoths from the first game, Titanfall 2 introduces 6 new Titans that will make up the full roster in the final build when it launches this October.
Of the 6 Titans, two were shown: Scorch and Ion; both have a number of defensive and offensive attacks and abilities. Scorch can be primarily identified by its super, the fire shockwave that’s seen in the first multiplayer reveal trailer. It wields an incendiary mortar launcher that empties its magazine with every shot. It can also deploy a flame shield as well as a heat radius that sets everything around you on fire.
Ion differs as its a more direct energy Titan. Its primary Splitter Rifle has an alternate fire function of consuming some of the Titan’s energy to fire off a powerful three-round burst. It also has a secondary weapon that shoots a beam that will splatter a Pilot in one shot. The Ion’s super is a high energy beam special attack that was seen twice in the trailer. Respawn CEO Vince Zampella states that the intention of segregating Titans into distinct classes now was to have players alter their tactics whenever they see the silhouette of different Titans.
Aside from the implementation of classes, Respawn has reworked some of the core systems of Titanfall’s multiplayer. First, Titans have to be earned as they’re no longer made available overtime. This puts a larger emphasis on players to earn their way to Titanfall. Secondly, rodeoing is less effective single-handedly. Instead of simply ripping open the hatch and emptying your clips into its innards, you’ll bust open the hatch and be tasked with removing the battery instead which can be used to heal friendly Titans. It makes the process of taking down a Titan more of a team effort than it was in the previous game.
Players looking forward to getting an early hands-on with Titanfall 2 can sign up for the beta here, though there’s no word on when the beta will begin.
Titanfall 2 will release on October 28 2016, and will be available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
