'Titanfall' Beta Impressions and Gameplay Video

Game Rant

By Anthony Taormina

Published Feb 19, 2014

In our latest gameplay video, a few members of the Game Rant editorial team play a couple matches of the 'Titanfall' beta while sharing their early thoughts on the game's initial tease.

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Over the last week, Xbox One and PC players have been diving head first into the Titanfall beta for their first tease of Respawn Entertainment's new title. There have been stumbles, but ultimately most would call the beta test a success, as it generated a ton of additional buzz for what is already one of the year's biggest releases.

Now that the Titanfall beta is on the verge of concluding, it's time to take a look back and highlight what was and what wasn't good about the experience. Join Game Rant editors Rob Keyes, Ben Kendrick, Andrew Dyce, and Anthony Taormina as we share our thoughts on the Titanfall beta in the above video.

While most of our 45-minute experience online was without fault, there is a 5-minute chunk where the four of us struggle to get into a Last Titan Standing match. It's unclear whether the fault is with the Titanfall servers or the Xbox One party system, but whatever the case something wasn't working right. Sure, we could have easily edited this portion out for pacing purposes, but it's important to include the Titanfall beta experience warts and all.

Once in a match, however, Titanfall still continues to impress. The fluid movement speed, the verticality, and the variety are still as exciting as they were back when we previewed the beta two weeks ago.

But beyond the appeal of a multiplayer shooter with two dynamics (Pilot and Titan), Titanfall stands out because it supports a variety of play styles. Someone like GR editor Ben Kendrick, who isn't a die-hard multiplayer shooter fan, can still contribute without being a detriment to the team. In fact, as you can see in our first Hardpoint Domination match, he's actually the MVP.

That seemingly insignificant element might be Titanfall's biggest appeal: it's accommodating nature. This isn't a game where only the best players get Titans or better weapons, everyone has access to them and everyone can contribute, even if it means picking off A.I. grunts and spectres.

That being said, we still want to see more of Titanfall in order to better evaluate the full package. The beta was certainly a nice tease, but its limited options in terms of maps and Titan types left a lot to be desired. Which is a good thing.

Game Rant will have a full review for Titanfall when the game launches in March, but for now our feelings are pretty clear: we want to play more, especially with friends. You can't ask for much more than that.

How have you enjoyed you time with the Titanfall beta? Has the beta convinced you the game is worth picking up next month?

Titanfall releases March 11, 2014 for the PC and Xbox One; and March 25th for the Xbox 360.