6 ways the Titanfall 2 trailer blew us away

If that one episode of the Simpsons taught us anything, it’s that the wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea.

They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by robots.

Titanfall 2 is that war of the future, and it just got revealed at EA’s pre-E3 conference. If you thought the original was jam-packed with stompy shooty things, get ready to be blown away by what’s coming later this year.

We’ve pored over every second of footage from the first trailer to pick out the things you need to know. Here’s six:

BOOTS ON THE GROUND

After spending hours calling down giant mechs in the original game’s multiplayer modes, we can’t wait to see what developers Respawn have planned for the sequel’s full singleplayer campaign.

From what’s been shown so far, it looks like you’ll be starting out as a lowly Militia rifleman, without a Titan to call your own. Cut to one catastrophic aborted mission and suddenly you’re behind the controls of a machine five times taller and about 100x more badass than you’ll ever be.

That veteran Vanguard-class Titan kicks all kinds of ass throughout the trailer, but it clearly has a mission that you weren’t ever meant to be a part of.

It all looks suitably epic, and hopefully the ex-Call of Duty devs have learnt a thing or two from the now-formulaic single player stories seen in the COD series.

RIDE THE LIGHTNING

The first teaser trailer dropped major hints that melee weapons were on the way, but we finally got to see the lightning sword in action in this latest reveal – and it’s a doozy.

It looks like you’ll be able to slash and stab youre way through enemy Titans, pulling off brutal execution-style finishing moves that chain lightning across the ground.

That massive blade is big enough to block incoming attacks, too, possibly reflecting the bullets and explosives back at whatever fired them your way thanks to its electric charge.

You can keep your rocket launchers, rail guns and plasma cannons – just give us a lightning sword and get the hell out of our way.

DON’T FEED THE ANIMALS

It’s not just warring humans you’ve got to worry about any more, either. The local fauna look ready to rip your face off.

Titanfall 2’s plot will take in plenty of exotic locations, both on- and off-world, but the reptilian monsters patrolling the jungles look like a real threat to your Pilot.

Just look at the big ones in the trailer – they’ve got a Dilophosaurus vibe going on (that spitty one from Jurassic Park – poor, poor Newman from Seinfeld). Then an even bigger flying one drops in to ruin your day.

Hopefully they can’t climb trees, and all that wall-running will come in handy for more than just dodging bullets.

multiplayer mayhem

The initial trailer might have focused on the singleplayer campaign, but we learned a thing or two about the multiplayer modes too.

Most importantly, there’ll be six new Titans. Count ’em – six! That’s a guaranteed recipe for virtual destruction. Each one will come with its own unique weapon loadout and abilities, and Pilots will get their own new perks too.

Expect plenty of customisation, so you stand out on the battlefield, and a new arsenal of ground-based and Titan weapons.

These are the devs that made the original Modern Warfare, after all, so multiplayer should be in good hands.

PS4 JOINS THE PARTY

It was hardly a secret that Microsoft’s exclusivity deal only covered the first Titanfall, but it’s great to know for sure that the sequel is on the way to the PS4 as well as the Xbox One.

PC gamers will be able to get in on the action too, through EA’s Origin platform.

That’ll put it up against Activision’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, and Gears of War 4 – so you won’t exactly be left wanting for fast-paced shooter action. At least EA’s Battlefield 1 mixes things up with a historical, rather than sci-fi setting, so it’s not really a direct rival.

PREPARE FOR TITANFALL OCTOBER 28

Put the date in your diary, Pilot; Titanfall will be landing in shops on the 28th of October.

That might seem like a long way away, but you’ll be able to take a giant mech for a test drive a lot sooner – even if you’re not actually in LA this week for E3.

Respawn will be holding a limited multiplayer tech test later in the year, with more details over at EA’s website.

There’s not a lot of info about the test right now, but as soon as we learn more we’ll update this article with details on how to get involved.

In the meantime, we’re going back in for one more play of the trailer…

About

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews. When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.