Titanfall made a big splash when it originally launched on PC and Xbox One back in March 2014. The next big shooter from many of the creators of the Call of Duty franchise certainly impressed, though it wasn't without problems.
Lack of a single-player campaign, few customization options and other issues held the game back from achieving true greatness, but there was no denying it laid out some solid groundwork for a sequel to build upon.
With the arrival of a Titanfall 2 teaser trailer earlier this week, it looks like more information about that sequel will be coming soon. The trailer promises even more mech-on-mech action to come (this time with swords!), but we ultimately still know very little about Respawn Entertainment's next installment in the shooter series.
That got us wondering: what features do we want to see most in Titanfall 2? The first game was fun, sure, but what would make it better?
Rather than wait two more months for the game's full reveal, we have a few ideas of our own on how Respawn can make Titanfall 2 the best sequel it can be.
An Honest-To-Goodness Single-Player Campaign
The original Titanfall's multiplayer story campaign was a cute attempt to try something new, but it ultimately proved to be one of the game's most disappointing aspects. All of the aspects the former Call of Duty devs were known for in their previous games - explosive action set pieces, badass characters - were nowhere to be found. Having two teams fight one another as the "main" characters chat in the background failed to create any kind of meaningful story, especially as the majority of players are too busy trying to not get killed by the other team to pay attention.
It's no surprise then that one of the longest-running Titanfall 2 rumors claims the game will feature a full-blown single-player campaign. We can only hope this turns out to be true, but even if it isn't, Titanfall 2 needs some kind of mode separate from competitive multiplayer.
More Customization
Aside from lack of single-player content, one of Titanfall's other major pitfalls was a severe lack of customization. From too few weapons, to having too few personalization options for both the Titans and player characters, a sequel would be smart to give players more to work with across all fronts.
It does seem like Respawn realizes this too. A few months after the game's release, an update that added emblems for Titans and additional Titan AI voice packs gave players a few more ways to make their Titan their own. Titanfall 2 should kick it up to an entirely different level. Let players truly customize the look of their metal behemoth, from changing the Titan's paint job to covering it in decals. Same goes for player characters. Like recent Call of Duty games, let players fine-tune the look of their multiplayer avatar. Give players the ability to add skins and decals to their weapons.
Add more ways to fine-tune weapons in terms of scopes and various attachments. Present to players a reason to keep playing and unlocking new content, rather than reaching the game's max rank in 24 hours and moving on to the next big game.
Way More Weapons And Titans
Building off the idea of more customization, Titanfall 2 needs more tools for players to play around with. The first game was lacking in the gun department, and only sported three different Titans to choose from to boot. Sequels are meant to be bigger and better in every aspect, and that means Respawn Entertainment needs to get creative when it comes to adding new weapons for players to use.
Titanfall is set in the far future, but you wouldn't immediately know it if not for the giant robots. The game's weapons don't feel particularly futuristic, especially with SMGs, assault rifles, pistols and shotguns rounding out your arsenal. Titanfall 2 would benefit greatly from some more experimental future weaponry. Whether it's laser weapons or something else entirely, the franchise desperately needs more variety, and that includes adding new types of Titans for players to bring into battle.
Rethink Burn Cards
The idea of "burn cards," one-use power-ups that lasted until you were killed, always stood out from the rest of Titanfall's formula. Having a player spawn with a super-powered shotgun didn't make much sense, especially when other players had no way of telling who is and isn't using a powered-up gun until they've already been killed by it. The burn card system also reeked of microtransactons, though to Respawn's credit, it never came to that.
For Titanfall 2, a re-examining of the entire idea of burn cards is in order. More than a few players would simply horde cards and never use them. Other times players would activate a powerful card they had been saving only to be instantly killed upon spawning. Neither scenario is fun for players. There is still likely a way to incorporate some of the good ideas from burn cards into the game, but moving the system from the original game into the sequel would be a major issue.
A New Engine
Titanfall looked good when it first released, but it was far from the best-looking next-gen game on the market. Flash forward two years and the game looks seriously dated running on Valve's Source engine.
Thanks to Respawn's partnership with EA, the developer is in a great position to use one of the most powerful game engines we've seen for first-person shooters in the form of the Frostbite 2.0 engine. You've probably seen how absolutely gorgeous games like Battlefield Hardline or Star Wars Battlefront can be, and Frostbite 2.0 from DICE is to thank for it. Judging from the brief teaser trailer, it certainly looks like Titanfall 2 is running on a brand-new engine, though it's hard to tell if it is indeed running on Frostbite 2.0 or not. We can only hope.
What do you think? What features do you want to see in Titanfall 2? Should burn cards make a return, or would you rather have them left behind? Let us know in the comments below.
