Titanfall has landed; here’s our Titanfall review.
Previews for Titanfall have been, right from the start, overwhelmingly positive. There’s nothing particularly odd about that, since it’s a very enjoyable game. But it has a legacy. And it has backing. And that’s made people suspicious and cynical.
There are those who would suggest that Respawn has been paying off the press. Accusations of the sort that always come out whenever a Call of Duty title starts to get glowing coverage.
Titanfall producer Drew McCoy seems to be a bit sick of such accusations, and took to NeoGAF to respond.
“Anyone who thinks we weren’t living in the shadow of decade+ old established franchises at our reveal at E3 are as crazy as their conspiracy theories of anyone getting paid off,” McCoy said. “We’ve had to fight tooth and nail to have a game that anyone would even know existed, let alone be excited for and want to create coverage of. I get it that its not for everyone, but to say we’re paying anyone off is downright insanity. Not to mention the height of insulting.”
The fight to get noticed might be a bit overstated. Most new IPs from new studios don’t have the benefit of massive E3 reveals like Titanfall was blessed with. But it’s absurd for anyone to imply that any developer has an easy ride when the industry is as saturated as it is.
What strikes me as most unusual about the accusations against Respawn and Titanfall is that the game has been demoed countless times at events, and Respawn has been pushing potential purchasers to play it since it was first revealed. And outside of events, there was an Xbox One alpha and the open beta has just finished for everyone else.
Titanfall hasn’t been hidden away, only available for media outlets who are willing to take a bribe. If the press is gushing about something, but nobody else is, maybe that’s a bit strange. But Respawn has been entirely transparent. Like any conspiracy theory, the whole frustratingly pervasive press bribery theory requires an absurd amount of people to all be involved, including regular people who are entirely unaffiliated with the industry.
Mind you, Jeremy, Nick, Matt and I did all get whisked away to an exotic spa on the moon where we were fed grapes by busty Titans before we posted our Titanfall impressions today. So I guess that’s a bit suspicious.
Cheers, Dualshockers.