A round of Attrition in Titanfall is kind of like eating a three course meal. For starters, you'll mop up a few of those AI-controlled Grunts or Spectres to accelerate the arrival of your Titan: each AI extinguished equates to a few seconds off the clock. The main course consists of sticking it to other Pilots - dropping onto them from above with a loaded shotgun, snapping their necks from behind, tossing grenades through windows and what have you. And dessert? That would be when the Titans show up. As mother used to say, you can't have your pudding till you've polished off your vegetables. Unless you're playing Last Titan Standing. Last Titan Standing is all pudding. Every player on both sides begins the match riding a Titan, and the idea is to be the, you guessed it, last Titan standing. The effect this has on the feel of the game is considerable. Rather than easing into the match, sneaking out to a good vantage point in order to score some early kills, you'll stomp directly towards the nearest chokepoint and into a furious exchange of rockets with up to six other wannabe Metal Gears. Unbelievably, it's possible to survive these spats for entire handfuls of minutes. Unlike Pilots, Titans wear thick body armour and sport a recharging overshield. They're also equipped with thrusters with which to shimmy out of the way of slow-moving projectiles, such as the shoulder missiles that every Atlas Titan sports by default. Skilled use of the thrusters can make all the difference when you're outnumbered - particularly on Fracture, one of the beta's two maps, a heavily fissured yet picturesque sweep of grasslands and low buildings with relatively few tight spots. Don't spray the thrusters at whim, though - there's a cooldown time involved. The cherry on the cake is the Vortex Blocker, a starting Titan secondary ability, which allows you to suspend incoming fire by holding a button, then chuck it right back at the sender. Vortex Blockers also have a cooldown time, signalled by the colour of the energy shield; if you spot somebody who's in the red, hold off a few seconds before loosing your next volley to catch them with their trousers down. It's commonplace to find yourself repeatedly intercepting and tossing back the same bundle of ordinance, as though juggling a hot potato, but watch out - the longer you spend horsing around, the greater the dent to your peripheral awareness, and the more likely you are to be flanked. Lose your Titan, and you'll still be able to fight as a Pilot - perhaps landing right on top of your nemesis after ejecting from the cockpit. You can also, of course, leave your Titan at any time and fight alongside it - doubling your offensive capabilities, and allowing you to implement devastating find-fix-flank tactics. In a deliciously elastic instance of multiplayer design, a sudden deluge of Pilots can turn defeat into victory, as the victorious Titans suddenly find themselves contending with enemies who can hide in-doors, scamper up walls and cloak themselves. Play the beta and you'll have your first brush with Burn Cards. Unlocked when you reach a certain level, these perks award a one-life-boost in-game that can range from quicker Titan build times, through faster movement, to a wicked electrical grenade launcher in place of your standard Anti-Titan weapon. I've not had the chance to explore their impact on a battle at length, but the grenade launcher is quite the prize. Let's hope the options have been appropriately balanced. Save possibly for the recently revealed Evolve, Titanfall is already the multiplayer game I've had the most fun with for months, even years. The split between Titan-versus-Titan, Titan-versus-Pilot and Pilot-versus-Pilot is dramatic and well-considered, creating what's effectively three kinds of multiplayer shooter in one. I can't wait to find out what other modes Respawn has concocted using these ingredients, and to hear your own thoughts on the beta. You can view the videos below: http://www.xpgamesaves.com/topic/98882-video-discussion-titanfall-xbox-one-gameplay-last-titan-standing-mode/ http://www.xpgamesaves.com/topic/98883-video-discussion-titanfall-xbox-one-gameplay-longbow-sniper-rifle-tips/ Source - OXM
