Anyone else have MP shooters ruined for them by Titanfall alpha videos?

[J_Allard]

PenguinZ said:

J_Allard said:

PenguinZ said:
Actually I am not impressed at all... In fact I am almost a bit disappointed, because I expected more from a "Next Gen" shooter. Don't get me wrong, it looks like a lot fun, but it doesn't seem special. I don't see it having the same effect CoD 4 had on shooters. The one thing that holds it back the most is the bots.

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I don't understand why some people are so caught up in the bots, even after watching videos. I've even seen some people still complaining that the bots are so dumb and easy to kill. I think it will take a lot of gameplay watching/playing for some people to understand why the bots are there and why they aren't a deterrant or negative aspect of the game. Especially in videos that show the more objective based gameplay like Domination. They funnel the human combat straight to the objectives. Even in games like Battlefield or CoD when you're playing objective modes you still have people running off doing their own thing. Or camping in certain spots trying to pick people off as they go for objectives. This won't happen in this game because of the AI. Not only can they take the objectives themselves, but killing them increases your score and gets you a Titan faster. So CamperMcDouchebag actually has to play closer to the objectives and get into the gunfights more. It's a brilliant way to control the action.

My son and I just played some Awesomenauts on PS3. It is a MOBA game and is only 4v4. The objective is to destroy the enemies turrets and make your way to their home base and destroy that. But the game also floods the level with respawning AI creeps, who do basically no damage to you, are dumb as soup, easy to kill, and give you points when you kill them. They mindlessly run to the turrets trying to destroy them. But since they actually CAN destroy the turrets if left to their own devices, and they give out gold for being killed, human players actually engage them. This is what leads to a majority of the player v player gameplay. Titanfall is no different.

Also, there appears to be varying levels of AI in the game. We have seen grunts, which are just like the creeps I described above. But we have also seen spectres, who appear much stronger and while still easy to kill, can actually take down player pilots. This is also no different than a MOBA, where you can upgrade your creeps or are spawned stronger creeps at different times throughout the game.

It's just one of the areas where Titanfall separates itself from the pack and does something new in the genre. It's going to be amazing.

I am sceptical about the bots purely from a strategic standpoint. Campers still won't camp the same way...? That's a pretty bold prediction, and honestly I don't see much of a change in how campers will camp. Campers will more than likely still do their own thing off in some random dark spot in the map. At this point it's just pure speculation, but I'd predict that bots will have more of an effect on organized teams or teams that try to dictate map and spawn control. The old strategies that worked in other FPS games might not work in Titanfall, because bots will constantly be pushing objectives... which in effect would likely shift spawns around and make it hard to impossible to lock down a map. I think your right about one thing... The AI can control the action, but how well recieved will that be by some players? Do players want the action to be dictated by a bunch of bots or actual players? I'd say this, anyone comparing Titanfall to the play of other FPS's like CoD, becuase of the variables that the AI bring into play will create a different experience. We'll see if this is viable model going forward for the genre when Titanfall is released. Again this game looks like a lot of fun, but will it have the same long lerm appeal to the players that Halo, COD, or Battlefield has had. 

Well if someone is camping away from the action, then they are missing out on quicker Titans and more points. You're still going to have some people who sit back and try to pick people off, especially snipers, but the nature of the game will dictate they get involved more. You can see in videos already, snipers camp around but for the most part people are pushing objectives and trying to prevent the enemy teams from farming their AI. It works very much like a MOBA game. I don't think people will mind at all because it keeps every single match intense and full of action. People were bitching about 6 vs 6 but you watch the alpha videos and it looks even more action packed than CoD or BF, and that's without jets and tanks and mines and choppers and nukes and missile strikes.

The main things I think will affect the camping are the AI, streak rewards, and the Titans themselves. Not only are people going to want to stop enemy teams from killing their AI, they are going to want to rack up AI kills themselves. And since the AI are always moving and always pushing objectives, that forces players to run into each other far more often. And then you have the Titans. In alpha videos players are going into hunter mode once they are in the Titans. But players also go into defense mode when they see an enemy Titan and you see alpha players actually going out of their way and risking death to take them down. Which ties into what I think will make the biggest difference, the game not revolving around streak rewards over and over. You can still get kills and it can still get you a reward faster, but you don't have to play cautious and string the kills together. Imho that's why we see people going for objectives and rushing in the open and risking death to take out Titans. If someone was 8 kills of 10 towards a Titan, would they risk poking out from a corner with a missile launcher just to damage a Titan? Hell no. But since they can die and not lose any time off the Titan timer? Yes.

I agree longevity will be a test, like any other shooter in this CoD world. Especially since it's supposedly going to be 3 years before Titanfall 2. The praise the alpha is getting though from every day gamers has been shocking, even for someone like me who was super hyped for the game. It's going to be huge.