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Tag: Titanfall

D.J.’s top games of 2014

D.J.'s top games of 2014

If I were to start predicting my game of the year lists in January of that year, I think I’d usually be able to get at least one or two games correct. There’s often a notable game from a favorite developer or series that seems like a safe bet—sure things like Monster Hunter, Metal Gear, or anything by Yasumi Matsuno. Had I guessed at 2014’s list I would have struck out completely, which is disappointing because it means some of the games I was most looking forward to ended up falling short of my expectations. On the other hand, so many fun and surprising games appeared last year that I had no trouble filling the empty spaces.

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

Titanfall

Existing somewhere between Call of Duty and Unreal Tournament, Titanfall is one of the freshest first-person shooters I’ve played in years. The giant Titan mech suits, sort of a democratized version of other games’ killstreaks and vehicles, may be the feature attraction, but I found the parkour-inspired, out-of-mech movement system to be the real star. I quickly reached a point where I’d only climb into my Titan if I really had to—it was too much fun running on walls or discovering a new aerial route to the next objective.

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VGH #137: Be like Pete

VGH #137: Be like Pete

Titanfall is a first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts as an exclusive for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The game was officially announced as Respawn’s debut game at Microsoft‘s E3 2013 press conference, and was released on March 11, 2014.

In Titanfall, players fight on a war-torn planet in six-on-six online multiplayer-only matches as mech-style Titans and their pilots. The game’s action is fast-paced: as pilots, players can run along walls and link jumps together parkour-style, use a variety of futuristic military weapons, and employ special abilities such as cloaking; as Titans, players are equipped with more destructive armaments and special protective shields. Several gameplay elements were designed to increase the game’s accessibility to less experienced shooter players, such as a locking pistol, the supplementing of each team with weak AI bots for easier kills, and temporary power-ups. The game uses Microsoft’s cloud computing services to offload non-player activity to servers and optimize the home computer for graphical performance.

The game won over 60 awards at its E3 2013 reveal, including a record-breaking six E3 Critics Awards, and Best of Show from several media outlets. It also won official awards at Gamescom and the Tokyo Game Show. Many reviewers predicted Titanfall to be the next step for the first-person shooter genre, and IGN‘s Ryan McCaffrey declared the game “Microsoft’s killer app”. Upon release, the game received positive reviews from critics, many of whom praised the game for its balanced game design.

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VGH #133: Fo’ Free

VGH #133: Fo' Free

We’re all just waiting for our titan to fall—that is, Paul and D.J. spend some time with the elusive Titanfall beta on PC, and What They Think May Surprise You! Randy and D.J. have experience highs and lows in The Last of Us: Left Behind DLC and Steel Diver: Sub Wars—some emotional, and others because they’re in a submarine. Finally, D.J. explores the sultry side of Bravely Default and doesn’t know what to make of Yasumi Matsuno’s Unsung Story Kickstarter.

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