This past weekend rare things happened at my apartment. For once I wasn’t saddled with a ton of pending writing – though you can be sure we took care of that in a hurry – or anything else so important that I couldn’t spare a few minutes sitting in front of my television with an Xbox One controller. At first I figured it’d be a great opportunity to explore Assassin’s Creed Black Flag and see how far I could boost my gamer score. Then I remembered about a code that was sitting in my inbox just begging to be used. Of course, I’m talking about a code for the Beta of Titanfall, an upcoming first-person shooter from the makers of Call of Duty.
At first I entered this tepidly. Having humiliated myself in every other game that involves shooting at other human players, I just knew that I was in for the same embarrassment here. I’d, after months of telling myself that I was a “real gamer,” had resigned to a conclusion I never wanted to admit to anyone else. I stink at multiplayer games. To be clear, I really stink at them.
So there I sat this weekend with my Xbox One controller in hand and my trusty Surface Pro reading about the game and learning about what was in store. I finished the training mission, and then I finally made it into the game and battled against other players.
I’m won’t discuss the minutia of Titanfall for one simple reason: It’s not important. Don’t misunderstand me. That I can run around on a vertical and horizontal plane and battle six other players and their AI companions with giant walking robots is awesome and definitely worth getting excited about. On the other hand, I am an average gamer.
The only thing I and other average gamers care about is are we going to have fun. I had tons of fun, and that I managed to enjoy it so much while getting killed seven times in one round of Titanfall is precisely what normal gamers will love. The game’s loadouts, giant fighting robots, robust gun selection and auto-aiming smart pistol made my time in the game memorable, and I wasn’t on the winning team once.
I don’t know if it’s the chaos of the game’s multiplayer modes or the really expertly done graphics. I can’t figure out if I really just enjoy getting shot at before I can ever drop a Titan to assist me in a level. In fact, I don’t even know if I can actually point to something tangible in the game that makes me want to play it over and over.
What I do know is that for once, just once, there’s a first person shooter that’s making getting blown up while trying to get to an extraction point just as fun as scoring a kill.
That’s why gaming enthusiasts are getting excited for Titanfall and why average gamers are going to love it.
All weekend I died and lost. But boy did it feel nice.
