'Titanfall 2' beta test leads to sweeping gameplay changes ahead of its release

By Danny Cowan Published August 24, 2016

titanfall 2 beta test leads to sweeping gameplay changes titanfall2tweaks — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Developer Respawn Entertainment is overhauling its competitive first-person shooter sequel Titanfall 2 after a recent beta test met with a mixed reception from experienced players.

Respawn outlined its plans to tweak Titanfall 2‘s core gameplay mechanics in response to player feedback, noting that future builds will feature faster character movement, improved Titan survivability, and more varied map designs, among other requested changes.

The upcoming Titanfall 2 follows up on 2014’s Titanfall, a competitive first-person shooter designed by veterans of Call of Duty series developer Infinity Ward. The original Titanfall lacked a single-player component, placing its emphasis entirely on multiplayer matches in which players fight for control of towering mech-like Titans.

Respawn Entertainment previously announced that it would add a single-player story mode to the upcoming Titanfall 2 in response to player requests. The sequel will also mark the end of Titanfall‘s Xbox console exclusivity, and the finished product will be available for the PlayStation 4 in addition to the Xbox One and Windows PCs.

Many series fans were disappointed after participating in a recent weekend-long beta test for Titanfall 2, with many reporting a noticeable drop in character movement speed compared to the original Titanfall. Respawn notes that character sluggishness is an unintended side effect of the team’s efforts to make close-quarters combat less chaotic.

“Changes to pilot mobility stemmed from a desire to improve our gunplay, and not a desire to slow down movement,” Respawn explains. “We’ll be tuning air speed and wall-running speed to be faster, [and] players should once again accumulate and retain more speed when chaining wall runs.”

Players will also be given more frequent access to Titans in future builds, and Titans will take less damage from enemy firepower. Other planned changes include a faster recharge period for Titan dashing, a tweaked head-up display, and increased variety in map designs, including “more traditional Titanfall maps.”

Future updates to Titanfall 2‘s gameplay will be detailed on the game’s official forums. Titanfall 2 launches for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PCs on October 28.

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Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

Gaming

Hogwarts Legacy set for a holiday 2022 release window

A wizard wearing the sorting hat.

After over a year of silence surrounding a new RPG set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Avalanche Software and WB Games finally revealed more about Hogwarts Legacy in a State of Play presentation. Most importantly, we learned that the game would finally be released this holiday season, though the game doesn't have an exact date yet.
Hogwarts Legacy | State of Play | March 17, 2022 [ENGLISH]
Players control a fully customizable character who's coming to Hogwarts for the first time as a fifth-year student in the late 1800s. After getting assigned to a house, players will have to attend various classes and explore the giant campus that is Hogwarts. They will then have to use the skills they learned to explore the wider Wizarding World and work with Professor Figg to deal with a Goblin rebellion and uncover the mysteries of ancient magic.
Obviously, the game features a robust spellcasting system for combat. The player will be able to upgrade their talents and other skills with experience gained while completing games and augment their abilities with potions. There's also magical gear that can be bought, crafted, and upgraded, as well as companions that can accompany the player on their journey.
While the idea of a big-budget Harry Potter game seems like a slam dunk on paper, enthusiasm for the title is mixed. That's due to the series' controversial creator J.K. Rowling, who has repeatedly been called out in recent years for transphobic comments. That's putting a damper on the game's pending release, as the controversy has closely followed the game's hype cycle.
For those still planning to pick the game up, it's clear that Avalanche went all out in making the most thorough and detailed Harry Potter game ever. And while Hogwarts Legacy got its own Sony State of Play stream, it isn't a PlayStation exclusive. Harry Potter fans can expect the game to launch on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S sometime during the holiday 2022 season.

Gaming

Inside the unlikely Final Fantasy spinoff that time forgot

King Regis runs through Insomnia in A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV.

Did you know that Square Enix released a retro-inspired beat ’em up based on Final Fantasy XV in 2016?
Even hardcore Final Fantasy fans might not remember the forgotten game well nowadays, but it’s quite the hidden gem. Titled A King’s Tale: Final Fantasy XV, the unlikely spinoff game was released as a pre-order bonus with Final Fantasy XV. It follows King Regis as he tells Noctis a bedtime story about defeating Ultros, a monstrous crystal thief causing daemons to spawn all over Insomnia and Duscae. In practice, it's a side-scrolling beat ’em up that pays homage to the classic brawlers while implementing Final Fantasy magic, enemies, and more.
A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV Is Available Now For Free!
Though A King’s Tale only lasts an hour and doesn’t have co-op, it’s a polished and exhilarating experience that Final Fantasy fans shouldn’t forget. It was a pleasant surprise to find this deep within my backlog ahead of the fifth anniversary of its stand-alone release, but its existence also raised many questions.
How did this project come to be? Why is it so polished? And why aren't more short but sweet games like this used to excite fans for notable game releases? I spoke to Cord Smith, executive producer and creative director on the project, to learn its history and how this forgotten Final Fantasy spinoff connects with everything from Dead Island to Masters of the Universe to Stranger Things.
At its heart, this is a story about an ambitious marketing agency that created a new kind of game through a multi-studio effort on a tight budget. And it all starts with Dead Island 2.
Retro Revenge
In the mid-2010s, Smith worked at a creative agency called Platform. This agency would often produce screenshots and trailers used in the marketing of video games. Around the time Dead Island 2 was in development and set to release, Smith and other people involved with channel marketing at the company pondered whether it could make a retro game that marketing could use to sell a notable game.
Smith asserted that it was possible, but thought it had to be done the right way to avoid producing a bad game. He found game development and animation partners to craft a small but satisfying retro game that could tie into the then soon-to-be-released Dead Island 2.
While his pitch had a high budget, Dead Island 2 developer Deep Silver and Platform accepted it. Smith and his partners now had to build something that wasn’t done much before and hasn’t been done much since. “Sure, it was a promotional game, but we were putting it on console, and we were treating it like a real game project,” Smith tells Digital Trends.

When designing it, Smith and his development partners didn’t have a playable build of Dead Island 2. They got a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of what that game was supposed to be and additional information to draw from. The result of this effort was Dead Island: Retro Revenge, an on-rails beat ’em up set within the Dead Island universe.
“I love taking someone else’s IP and doing something that respects it and honors what they’re doing. but surprises them by where we can take it in spite of our limitations,” Smith explains. Ultimately, Deep Silver and Smith were thrilled with how Retro Revenge turned out. But there was a problem: Dead Island 2 was never released.
“Dead Island 2 did not make it to release, but Dead Island: Retro Revenge did, so they put it in a collection,” he explains. “That was a shame as we didn’t get to see it reach what we built it for. It never got to be the pre-order promotional thing that we wanted.”
"Sure, it was a promotional game, but we were putting it on console, and we were treating it like a real game project."

Gaming

The Wolf Among Us 2 will launch in five parts next year

Bibgy smokes a cigarette in front of a full moon.

More than two years after its reveal at The Game Awards 2019, Telltale Games re-revealed The Wolf Among Us 2 on The Game Awards' YouTube channel today. A new trailer was released and a 2023 launch was confirmed.
The trailer follows Bigby as he discusses his tactics as a private investigator to a support group and confronts some magical criminals, including the Scarecrow and Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. His opponents get the upper hand, but Bigby becomes a werewolf to fight back.
The Wolf Among Us 2 - OFFICIAL Full Trailer (2022)
In an interview after the trailer, the developers explained that this game takes place six months after the first game. It will follow Snow White and Bigby as they try to rebuild Fabletown in a less corrupt way. The presentation also confirmed that Adam Harrington and Erin Yvette will reprise their roles as Bigby and Snow White, respectively. The actors teased increased tensions between the two characters as Bigby is a loose cannon and Snow White doesn't want to pick favorites while she's mayor.
The whole season will last five episodes, though Telltale and developer AdHoc teased that episodes won't come out until all of them are done and can be released in quick succession. As such, it seems like all episodes will be out in 2023, and we won't have to wait several months between each piece of the story like we did with season 1.
The Wolf Among Us 2 will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. The PC version will be an Epic Games Store exclusive at launch.