Unless you’ve been living under a rock on Mars, then you’re probably aware that Titanfall has already released for both Xbox One and PC. Created by Respawn Entertainment, both of these versions have been advertised and hyped-up since E3 2013. From the closed-to-public Beta switch, to the apparently expensive ad campaign, everyone knows about Titanfall. Through the midst of all the hype, I can’t help but wonder; what about the 360 version?
Titanfall was revealed as the closing stinger for Microsoft’s E3 2013 presentation. Naturally, it was announced as an exclusive title for Xbox One; a few days later, Respawn revealed that the futuristic competitive shooter would also be coming to PC….and that was it. Towards the end of the year, during the VGX Awards and roughly thereafter, fans were given more information about Titanfall via trailers and the announcement of a closed Beta for Xbox One and PC…Again, no 360 information. In January, 2 months prior to the official release, the crew of former Infinity Ward members finally revealed that a version for the Xbox 360 was in development, but they weren’t the ones responsible for it. This was also the reason why there would be no Beta of any kind for that particular version. As it turned out, fans found out that Titanfall for Xbox 360 would be developed by Bluepoint Games.
Some fans may not have been pleased by the announcement that Respawn would not be working on said version, but by another developer that had been seemingly “pulled out of the blue”. However, if you look at their track-record, fans really shouldn’t get too upset about Bluepoint handling the 360 version: Bluepoint Games is responsible for Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Collection, God of War Collection, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Blast Factor, and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale…Bluepoint is a company that knows games.
What exactly do we know about Titanfall 360?
That said, fans shouldn’t really get upset about Titanfall being handed-off to another developer….Of course, my own statement should be taken with the absolute smallest grain of salt.
Here’s what troubles me about “Schrodinger’s game”; it originally didn’t exist, it was announced in a “Oh, by the way…” format, it has a different developer, and we still have not seen anything from in-game.
Rewind the clock a few years to when the Wii was still considered to be “popular”, back during that very brief period where it was outselling the PS3 and 360. Publishers were still interested in having their properties on all platforms, as opposed to console or brand-specific (i.e. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) exclusives. An underlying problem that would often rear its ugly head, was that visual and gameplay sacrifices had to be made in order to achieve that goal of having games on all platforms. A prime example can be found with Criterion’s reboot title, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Criterion developed Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for the 360, PS3 and PC; what fans were given was a sold racing game that remained faithful to the source material, while keeping the car selection, gameplay and music fresh for new players. The Wii version however, was developed by Exient Entertainment, and was closer to an arcade-racer, complete with power-ups, than it was a Need for Speed title. Of course, due to the Wii’s hardware, Exient’s version suffered from a serious visual decrease.
I hate to pour salt in old wounds, but I’m pretty sure we all remember Aliens: Colonial Marines and just how excited everyone was. I sure do, as the PC version is sitting among the rest of my titles in the bookshelf…
I bought A:CM for PC, and now I’m stuck with it.
…I also attended the private launch party in Dallas, TX.
What does Colonial Marines have to do with my opinion? It was developed by Gearbox from the beginning, right? This is why I bring it up; between the E3 reveal, and its official launch, we saw one gameplay trailer. At Gearbox Community Day 2012, fans were only allowed to play Multiplayer- only as Marines. Now, here’s the parallel that has me worried: What have we seen from the Xbox 360 version of Titanfall? What screenshots have been released? What do we know about the gameplay? Absolutely nothing.
What we do know, is that it does exist, and its by a different developer. Recent news has also revealed that the 360 version will run at 30 fps, and has a resolution of sub-720p. At least with Aliens: Colonial Marines, fans actually saw a vague idea of the game to come. With Titanfall 360, all we have to go off of is how well the Xbox One and PC versions handle, from both a gameplay and visual standpoint. Again, the problem with that way of thinking, is that the current versions and the 360 version are coming from different developers. We have no idea what exactly Titanfall 360 will hold. How are the servers? What gameplay modes are there? Will it have the same “campaign” elements?
We…don’t…know.
While I do have faith in Bluepoint Games, I can’t help but be a skeptic towards the upcoming Xbox 360 release of Titanfall. Unless new media is released very, very soon, all we can hope is that it’s on par with its next-gen and PC counterparts.
…And by “very, very soon”, Titanfall 360 has no gameplay media, and it releases next Tuesday.