10 Things We Learned From The Titanfall Beta

This weekend, some gamers lucky enough to get a hold of a Beta code have been putting Respawn Entertainment's Titanfall to the test, the very first game from studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, who previously helmed the Call of Duty franchise. With 38 ex-Infinity Ward employees in their roster, there's much hype that Titanfall will be a "Call of Duty killer", and it's easily one of the most anticipated games of the year, but now that we've had a chance to play it, what say we to that? Bearing in mind it's a Beta, Titanfall is a very impressive beast indeed. It remains to be seen whether it's going to eventually be crippled by the enormous press hype, but having spent a good few hours looking at what it has to offer, I can safely say I've gone from a "maybe" to a "definitely" in terms of purchasing it on day one. Did you get to play the Titanfall Beta? Let us know what you thought!

10. It's Not Just "Call Of Duty With Mechs"

One of the common complaints about the gameplay footage shown off is that, given the prior work of the developers, it's just going to end up being a Call of Duty clone with mechs and little more. Though as an FPS it obviously has some similarities, there's very little that feels gleaned from the mammoth franchise, and really this feels like it probably has more in common with Gears of War and Halo aesthetically and gameplay-wise. Still, Titanfall is very much its own beast: the ability to run along walls adds a totally different plane and dynamic to gameplay, and the Titan combat is a lot more involved than just being a larger-scale version of the normal on-foot shooting. Yes, Titanfall has a similar progression and challenge system to Call of Duty, but so what? It's popular and it works, but it far from defines the game. I think it's safe to say that Titanfall is better defined by a player running up a wall, jumping on top of an enemy Titan, and "rodeoing" it around the map while firing at enemy combatants.