Titanfall is a really fun game. I find myself going back to it time and time again lately. I was able to pick it up for $10, and all the DLC is free for everyone now, so this game is a steal. I know some people had some issues paying $60 for a MP-only shooter when it first came out, and I get that (though I haven't played a CoD campaign since MW2), but this is a solid shooter that's well-worth picking up on the cheap. Honestly, I would have gladly paid $60 for this. However, it seems that the early days of Titanfall weren't so rosy, back when the Smart Pistol was way OP (which I'll get to in a second), when players had to jump through some hoops to unlock Titans, and when everyone who expected something revolutionary was dealing with the disappointment from some overhype. Titanfall, in its present state, though, is fantastic.

Now, about that Smart Pistol. I watched some early videos pre-nerfing, and it was definitely overpowered. It certainly needed the nerf, and I'm certain I would have been someone who hated it and complained about it back then if I'd bought this game on release day. FWIW, I'm typically somewhere between above-average to very good at FPS games (when I'm not screwing around trying to do unconventional kills to make things more fun than just left trigger, right trigger), and I've been "that guy" who bitches about tactics that I believe require little skill like quickscoping in CoD, corner camping, or doing shit like laying down and pointing a gun down a corridor in any shooters, so I should, in theory, hate a gun that basically aims for you. Not so fast.

It's true that the Smart Pistol still absolutely wrecks Grunts/Spectres (bots) with little to no skill required. However, these days, taking on pilots with it is a challenge. In a straight-up firefight, you're toast, and are better off using your sidearm. The sheer amount of time required for a full lock-on on a Pilot (human) to where it's a one-trigger-pull kill essentially forces you to adopt an entirely stealth strategy. If you can pull off that full lock-on, you've earned it, because it means you've basically flanked a guy and followed him like a shadow with your line-of-sight being uninterrupted for 3-5 seconds, which feels like fucking FOREVER when you're staring at someone in front of you that you could have opened up on from behind and killed already with virtually any other weapon.

Man, is it satisfying when you pull it off. I feel like Predator as I'm endlessly stalking other players. It's the frustration/build-up that makes the Smart Pistol special. It only begins when you've gotten on someone's six. Now you have to chase them, trying to anticipate their every move and not let some fucking pillar break your aim for a nanosecond, which is all it takes to have to start the lock-on process all over again. So you shadow them, terrified that they might turn around or that some other player or enemy Titan will spoil the whole thing. One lock. Stay close, be ready to jetpack if he tries to get on that ledge. Two locks. Don't you dare duck in that building. Three locks. He drops with a extremely satisfying "rat-tat-tat-pfft". Glorious.

I love this gun and this game. Before people who played it at launch and haven't since start dropping "smart pistol is an OP noob gun" comments, please try playing with it NOW, post-nerf. I think it's well-balanced these days as a weapon that's deadly against AI and generally weak against humans. Which is perfect because it allows me to basically choose how much of challenge I want throughout each game. Sometimes I almost purely hunt Pilots, and others I just enjoy the dumb fun of bot slaughter. It's also rare that games present something interesting enough like the SP to where I choose to take myself out of my typical run-n-gun style. You can still do the run-n-gun in Titanfall and it's very similar to every other FPS these days + mechs, but I fully appreciate that the Smart Pistol provides something different. It's unconventional FPS fun on par with throwing knives in CoD, which is a huge compliment in my book.

I'll stop myself before this post gets too lengthy, but Titanfall has been a pleasant surprise. It should be in any Xbox One owner's library of games, IMO, and if you bought it at launch and moved on, you might consider giving this game a second chance. I of course recommend the Smart Pistol, both so you can see how it's changed and how much fun it can be, but Titanfall is a quality game regardless of how you play it. I'd agree that it was overhyped and a bit underwhelming initially, but I'd also say it's an underrated game when viewed on its merits now. If you're in the mood for some FPS, you could do a lot worse than Titanfall.

To bad at least on PC there just isnt the player base. Even when they released Horde mode I think I saw player counts get up to like 5k for a few days then it dropped again. You get tired of playing with the same couple of people and you figure out after a while who is the hackers and who isnt. its a shame but I have hope for Titanfall 2.

I've been tempted to buy the Xbox One version a bunch of times seeing as it goes for almost nothing these days. I've played an insane amount on the PC, but last time I played the game it felt empty. Is there still quite a few people playing it on the Xbone?

I haven't had any issues finding Attrition games so far on the Xbox One. That's a shame to hear about the PC version's lacking player base, but Titanfall seems like a game that loses a bit in translation to the PC. I doubt the Smart Pistol is as fun to use on the PC since keeping a bead on someone isn't as much of a challenge with a mouse (for those who don't play with a controller). I can't imagine that's as satisfying, especially for PC FPS guys who are used to quick point-click shooting and would thus find the lock-on waits simply annoying. A brief perusal of the Titanfall message boards seems to reflect that, with much of the PC community hating the SP and much of the Xbox One community seeming to enjoy it. Titanfall may be one of the rare cases where the console version of the game is better. It's also worth noting that though I really like Titanfall, even I wouldn't consider it a top-tier PC FPS game, whereas it is on the Xbox One, partly due to relatively lacking quality FPS alternatives, and partly because it simply plays really well on the Xbox One. It sure feels like a game that was designed primarily for the Xbox One....with a PC version also made available. As such, it's not entirely surprising that the PC interest has waned, but that sucks to hear nonetheless. Thankfully, it still seems to be going strong on the 'bone.

You make the Smart Pistol sound like a lot of fun to use. The idea of stealth-ing up behind a player to get a kill in a multiplayer-FPS sounds enticing. Almost makes me want to throw in Titanfall for a match or two... Almost.

I bought it new, and played for... maybe a week or two before becoming bored. But if all the DLC is free I might as well at least check it out.

Man, I loved Titanfall last year when it launched. I loved it so much I got to the highest prestige level in the game around that time but stopped playing, waiting for new content. I meant to come back to it but then I heard about the changes since I left including the auto assault rifle nerf and I lost interest. I loved the feel when piloting the mech and I really loved the Last Titan Standing game mode. All of like 30 people played that game mode regularly before I left, though.

I always enjoy Titanfall when I play it I just rarely get the urge to play. If a friend sends me an invite I hop in or if I need to kill 20 minutes but even when new I never had an itch to play it.

The issue I remember having with the smart pistol was when playing with players with really high pings the lock on time would always appear really inconsistent. Sometimes the latency would make them incapable of hurting anybody with it because the lock on wouldn't take before they'd get zapped and sometimes it would seem like they'd lock on and kill you and all your friends before you could fire round one all the while they were teleporting around the map.

The 40mm Titan rifle was a little too good early on.

I'd still play another one.

Well, when I completely sneak up on someone, I go for the neck-snap, which is also enjoyable every single time. Chasing someone with the Smart Pistol, though, has this "cheetah chasing a gazelle on a nature special" quality that I find wildly entertaining. Oddly enough given the neck-snap melee excellence, I don't enjoy using the jumpkick at all. It's slow and clunky to the point of almost feeling lucky when you land it. However, neck-snapping and Smart Pistol-ing are great fun and keep me coming back.

I played it on PC and had a lot of fun when people weren't using the smart pistol

I've been in and out of Titanfall in the last couple months on the XBONE, and there's always at least a couple thousand people playing the attrition modes. Other modes are a little less-populated and might take longer to get into a match, but I don't think I've really had much trouble at all.

Yeah, that seems to be a common sentiment for the PC version. I haven't played it on PC, but I imagine using a mouse for the SP may well be "OP noob gun" territory even post-nerf. I stand by the Smart Pistol on the Xbox One version, though.

Well, this was kind of silly. I swear, I was specifically trying to hunt Pilots, but the game just kept dropping minions around me. What was I supposed to do, NOT shoot them? I'm not overly proud of that bot-slaughtering portion of the match, but that's way more Pilots than I can usually take down with the Smart Pistol, and that I am a little proud of. This was my first time hearing the game's "you're unstoppable" radio chatter, so that was pretty cool. I didn't even use any burn cards, either. This was my best game so far. Still loving Titanfall.

Wait, all the maps are free now? Time to jump back in.

Very nice read :)