Titanfall 2

The first Titanfall was just a multiplayer deathmatch type shooter, so I jumped into the second one because of the campaign mode. The campaign is a standard call of duty style linear missions, but with a twist - very fluid and enjoyably fun parkour style platform jumping, and mech combat.

The bulk of the game has you going through linear levels platforming, running across walls, jumping in low gravity, climbing, to reach new areas. The combat feels pretty great in terms of impact, but I have one big personal problem. I never was a fan of fantastical scifi future type stuff , and here the aesthetic isn't very appealing to me. The guns don't particularly look appealing to me, so I never really enjoyed using them or really cared which one I had. I just picked up whatever gun and ran through the campaign. They're all extremely bulky looking like giant slabs of metal  and overly futuristic. It's a personal taste thing for me I guess. it's just not my style.  The writing/story is completely drab, boring, and generic. I did not give a single shit about the story here. Just a means to an end. You have a 'buddy buddy' mech that talks to you the whole game, and its kind of cool for a sidekick type perspective, but at times a little bit corny.

So while the boots on ground, parkour, run and gun combat is pretty damn fun, very fluid and enjoyable, well the other half of the time you're inside a mech doing mech combat. And these segments I personally didn't really enjoy too much. Was more like a chore everytime I was forced into a mech. As expected, you move extremely slow, your field of view is incredibly cramped and tight, and everything turns into slow methodical corner peeking extreme explosion / minigun shooting. It's not really boring, but for me its more the setting of the whole thing. If I'm not into the setting or premise, then its hard to really get into the gameplay. These mech segments happen about every second level and while there are some pretty cool boss fights that get thrown in, it's still the weakest point of the game for me. But again, the boss fights mostly turn into hiding behind a piece of wall, peeking out and shooting off some rockets, repeat or run for a health pickup.

The level variety is decent, some levels are big industrial factories, others are jumping across flying ships in the sky, some outdoor segments where your wallrunning across cliffs and things like that. Its standard really. There's one level with a 'time travel' device that I thought was pretty boring and gimmicky but it didn't last too long thankfully. The enemies are either squishy human military guys that are the most fun to fight because of the mist of blood that pop out from them,  or you have various types of robots/mechs, or fucking dinosaurs??? I never understood why the hell theres dinosaurs in the game but OK.

 Really for most people Titanfall 2 would be enjoyable if they are into the whole mech scifi futuristic military shooter, but for me It's just not an aesthetic I personally enjoy too much, and thats the main thing that hindered my enjoyment. I can't comment on the multiplayer, this review is not about that. Just the campaign. I played on second hardest difficulty called 'Hard'  and I will note that the challenge was just right. When I died it was mostly my fault, and overcoming a tough checkpoint felt rewarding.

6.5/10