Apex Legends Is Going To Have A Major Impact On Titanfall 3

It’s rare to see a company as infamous as EA deliver a title so exceptional that it becomes a staple of the genre. Titanfall, and especially its successor, Titanfall 2, are often regarded as among the best platformer-based FPS titles in the industry, inspiring other classics like Ultrakill and Ghostrunner. Running on walls is a concept you’d typically find laughable in a shooter, but the Titanfall series made it work so well that the gimmick became a centerpiece.

Alas, all good things come to an end — after the launch of EA’s rather successful live-service FPS title, Apex Legends, it felt as though Titanfall left with the wind, completely vanishing off the face of the Earth. For almost a decade, we haven’t heard a whiff of anything regarding it… until now. However, if what I’m hearing is true, the Titanfall I grew to love will see a massive change, particularly because of the game that arguably “killed it.”

The Forbidden “Live-Service” Route Is A Terrifying Possibility

Anyone who’s played Titanfall 2 knows it was actually the campaign that made the game so memorable. From the incredible pacing to fun gimmicky mechanics and other tidbits, every level you entered was simply a breath of fresh air.

Apex Legends, on the other hand, engrossed fans through other means. Be it the nail-biting moments when you’re the last man standing, or the adrenaline from opening Apex Packs to get a specific Legendary item, there are more than a handful of features to keep you coming back.

In fact, the best part about the game is its ranked system. Sure, it can be frustrating at times, but that cycle of wins and losses forces you to get better. Then, when you reach the upper ranks, either through the sheer grind or using Apex Legends boosting service through sites like AMBoosting, the stakes arguably add to the fun.

Unfortunately, like any live-service title, Apex lacks the charm and cohesiveness Titanfall 2 had in its single-player mode. Even though some publishers argue that “single-player games are dead”, you still have campaign-driven FPS series like DOOM thriving in this age, and Titanfall was no different back in the day.

Why did EA say single player games are dead?
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With the leaks suggesting that Titanfall 3 is to include live-service aspects, I can’t help but point to Apex being a primary cause for this shift in focus. No matter your thoughts on the game, the numbers speak for themselves — Apex Legends is a wildly successful title and a big name in the esports scene. As such, it’s no wonder EA would try to desperately catch lightning twice, using a recognizable IP to capture that imaginary success.

Now, what does “live-service aspects” mean in this context? Well, the staple features include online-only, microtransactions, and grind-like gameplay. The negative connotations of the phrase far outweigh the positives for most players.

We all know how saturated that genre has become, but it’ll be especially hurtful if a beloved name like Titanfall succumbs to the industry’s malpractices by forcefully bandwagoning a resented trend.

The New Characters Might Just Be Familiar Faces

The Titanfall series isn’t short of wonderful characters; in fact, a large part of the gaming community heralds BT as the most lovable robot mascot in the industry. When it comes to character-building, EA can definitely be a hit-or-miss — they can create either staple personalities that are talked about for years to come, or characters as bland as unseasoned chicken.

Apex Legends, fortunately, falls in the former category, but the characters are just not as charismatic as the ones you once found in the forgotten FPS. Part of the reason for this disparity is likely due to the aforementioned live-service factor. Building characters from the ground up is easier in focused campaigns — the players get to connect and bond with these characters as they play through the story.

And now, it might actually be a possibility that the Apex heroes will play a role in Titanfall 3. Would these characters work in the game’s setting? Maybe, but the point of Titanfall is to either introduce gripping, new personalities or bring back existing characters from the original IP. This feels like piggybacking off the success of Apex Legends and going with a “safe approach” since EA spent a few years developing those heroes.

Still, the characters aren’t nearly as globally praised as Titanfall’s BT or Jack Cooper. A good chunk of them feel generic or just uninteresting, making them fall under the “miss” category I talked about when referring to EA’s character building.

There’s no guarantee that the new characters in the upcoming Titanfall game would be as beloved as we think, but you could at least give the company some credit for trying to craft memorable personalities and deepen their storytelling, even if the execution doesn’t always land perfectly.

Takeaway

Titanfall 2 was made during an era when EA still had a somewhat altruistic opinion on single-player games and their impact on the industry. Now, like most companies, they’re constantly chasing the live-service trend and incorporating microtransactions wherever they can to guarantee a reliable revenue stream.

They know that Apex Legends is a money-making machine, so one way they can boost its influence is by implementing its mechanics into existing IPs, and what better test subjects than the series they previously ignored or deemed dead?

Whether or not Titanfall benefits from the influence remains to be seen, but if public perception is anything to go by, it seems Titanfall 3 looks like a reskin of Apex Legends rather than a true independent entry into the trilogy.