Titanfall 2 was released in 2016 under very unfortunate circumstances. It died shortly after, unsurprisingly, as the new favorite shooter for many players. However, in 2022, the game is experiencing a sort of revival. MeinMMO tells you why the game is better than ever right now.
When Titanfall 2 came to market at the end of 2016, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Not only did CoD try its hand at futuristic shooting with Advanced Warfare that year, but publisher EA also released massive, in-house competition with Battlefield 1 almost simultaneously.
So it was not surprising that Titanfall 2, despite highly praised gameplay, an incredibly good single-player campaign, and a unique multiplayer to this day, flopped. The shooter from Respawn was effectively fed to two larger shooters. Thus, the new favorite game for many shooter fans was also dead shortly after.
However, in 2022, the game has more players than more prominent, newer competition and regularly trends on Steam. Why this is the case, and why it is worth playing Titanfall 2 again or for the first time this year, we explain here.
Gameplay so unique and good that fans want to keep it alive
The renaissance of Titanfall 2 has many complex reasons. However, the most likely reason for the longevity of this revival is an impressive feat by the fan community in the form of the mod “Northstar.”
Because the mod “Northstar” is not only created by the community but, in every respect, for the community. With this mod, players can create their own servers, find and create their own rules and game modes.
Why this is so important for a community-driven game like Titanfall 2 is shown in this trailer – which was also made by the community. Since this trailer promotes a free mod for a game from 2016, it showcases the best aspects of Titanfall 2 – without wanting to artificially create hype. But see for yourself:
The trailer for “Project Northstar” shows everything that makes Titanfall 2 so great and how it gets even better with the mod: fast-paced gameplay, gigantic killer mechs, the best game modes from all shooters, and an almost limitless selection of gameplay possibilities. This impressive community trailer is complemented by cuts that perfectly match the chosen rap song.
What this trailer captures particularly well is the incredibly unique game pace of Titanfall 2. The TTK is as fast as the characters. With double jumps, slides, wall runs, and cooldown skills like grappling hooks and boost injections (like the heroes Pathfinder and Octane in Apex Legends), you are always moving at top speed. Additionally, Titanfall 2 also has the complex movement mechanics that have made Quake one of the best games of all time.
But that is just one half of the gameplay. The other half are the titular Titans. These battle mechs live up to their name, as they are bigger than most buildings on the maps. You can call them onto the map once you have gathered enough points in the match. Once you are at the controls of these killer robots, you can live out this power fantasy.
You can control 7 different Titans, making the game at times a kind of hero shooter. There are all-rounders like Ion or Monarch, a sniper titan, a nimble swordsman, or a chaingun mech reminiscent of the Heavy from Team Fortress 2.
At the controls of the Titans, you fight not only against players in other mechs but also against foot soldiers who want to make your life difficult with so-called rodeo maneuvers or anti-titan weapons.
Titanfall 2 is therefore a fantastic mix of classic arena shooter like Quake, an arcade shooter like CoD, and a hero shooter like Overwatch. It is quite easy to start with the game. But experts who master all these facets are rewarded with gameplay that is among the absolute best in the genre.
Fan community gives Titanfall 2 new life
That is also why the Northstar mod exists. Developer Respawn has more or less completely abandoned Titanfall 2, focusing solely on Apex Legends as a service game. For this reason, hackers often make the servers of Titanfall 2 almost unplayable. In the first part, these hackers apparently even won, which is why the game is no longer even available for purchase.
The server browser from the Northstar mod circumvents such problems. Admins can kick hackers, players can create as many new servers as they want, and matchmaking wait times are a thing of the past. Additionally, the mod is free and very easy to install – you only need a copy of Titanfall 2 on PC.
This short video explains how to install the mod on PC:
But the mod is not just a server browser; it is also a playground for gameplay variations. As shown in the trailer above, even modes like Gun Game are now in the game, which have never existed in Titanfall 2 before. But because fans love it in CoD, it is now in Titanfall as well.
The possibilities to create new rules are virtually endless. A well-known aim trainer community, for example, has created a server that retains the fast-paced gameplay of Titanfall 2 but adjusts all TTK values to the level of Apex Legends. This way, fans can enjoy an almost perfect hybrid of Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends gameplay:
And that’s what makes the Northstar mod special. It is not only a playground for hardcore fans and an easy entry point for new players but also a sort of failsafe backup for gameplay. Fans who would love to play this shooter with incredibly deep mechanics forever can breathe easy thanks to this mod.
As long as at least one server can be filled, you can play Titanfall 2 online thanks to Northstar. Currently, this isn’t even urgently necessary, as the game is also doing surprisingly well on official servers right now.
New success of Titanfall 2 reveals genre crisis in 2022
If you check the player numbers of Titanfall 2, you won’t be disappointed. Just on Steam, the game often has more players currently than Halo Infinite and Battlefield 2042 combined. Titanfall 2 was released 6 years ago, while the other two games came out about 6 months ago.
Equally impressive: Northstar mod players, EA Origin or Xbox Game Pass users are not even counted in these numbers.
While it cannot be fully analytically traced why this new success exists, the most likely reasons are apparent.
At the beginning of 2022, the shooter genre is in a kind of crisis, as highly anticipated games like Battlefield 2042 and Halo Infinite have disappointed players. Titanfall 2 is currently setting itself apart thanks to almost exclusively positive ratings and word-of-mouth in the last 6 years. The new success of the 2016 game therefore counters the disappointments of 2022.
On the other hand, Titanfall 2 has also finally been available on Steam and in the Xbox Game Pass for some time now, which has lowered the barrier to starting (or restarting) the game. Additionally, the game can impress with an impressively good single-player campaign even without an internet connection.
The incredible success of Apex Legends is another clear reason to mention. Not only do many of the weapons from Apex Legends appear in Titanfall 2, but now there are also characters. Boss enemies from Titanfall 2 are a big part of the lore or in Ash’s case, now even playable.
This piques the interest of many players from Apex Legends, as they want to find out what lies behind all these names. And why the CAR has been a feared weapon for 6 years. All of this evokes interest and nostalgia among players of the battle royale.
Titanfall 2 has the potential to become your new favorite shooter in 2022
Anyone who has played Titanfall 2 does not really need a new assessment. The game is just as impressive, unique, and fun in 2022 as it was in 2016. With incredibly fast-paced gameplay, a lot of mechanical depth, and dozens of loadout options, you can easily spend hundreds of hours refining the basics until you become an untouchable movement god.
But newcomers have it easier than ever in 2022 to finally try out this fantastic shooter. Thanks to EA Play, Xbox Game Pass, and very cheap Steam deals, the financial threshold is lower than ever. The equally lovingly crafted, intricate, and flexible Northstar mod makes for a fun, easy, and effortless entry.
So, if you’re looking for an incredibly good shooter, or want to see what led to the dizzying success of Apex Legends, you should definitely play Titanfall 2 even 6 years after its release. This way, it may also become your favorite shooter with a bit of delay.
Marko Jevtic
Freelance author and shooter expert at MeinMMO
