The last few months, the yet-to-release Titanfall has caught some flack. Just weeks ago, we found out that the multiplayer-only game will have a player cap of 12 people. This weekend, Respawn announced that local multiplayer split-screen is NOT a feature in the final product.
Titanfall, the first game ever from the studio Respawn, earned the most awards during 2013’s E3 press conference. In addition to being new they have cut any kind of traditional single player campaign from the game, focusing solely on the multiplayer aspect; some people became shocked when they announced the level cap.
A 6 v 6 match doesn’t sound appealing to some players. On top of that, weeks after announcing the limited player vs player (PvP) interaction, they now confirm the lack of split-screen.
Titanfall isn’t the first FPS to not support split-screen. It is a little surprising since the game’s creators come from Infinity Ward, the same studio who created the multi-billion dollar franchise Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which has included split-screen in every iteration since.
My Thoughts
I’m of two minds with the recent news about split-screen. On one hand, this isn’t shocking news. They made it very clear since E3 they don’t intend to provide a traditional experience. No single-layer campaign and limited PvP cap was due to the semi-scripted events during matches. Accompanying the collapsing building events would be plenty of AI bots sided with your Titan (a gigantic mech-like machine you can drive or leave in an autonomous state).
On the other hand, I really enjoy playing split-screen with my wife and friends. My wife and I have spent countless hours playing Gears of War and Call of Duty solely based on the fact that they have split-screen. My friends have sold me on games after playing it on the same TV screen. I doubt this will impact the overall sales of Titanfall, but I hope next-gen doesn’t mean a lack of couch co-op.
