Titanfall III (2024)

Just kidding, Titanfall 3 hasn't actually been released so the whole page and its related articles are one of Titanfall 3 speculations (even if inaccurate), so take it with a giant grain of salt and double check every source for Titanfall 3 leaks and speculations as there is still no official details about the game have been released nor the actual release date being revealed.

Titanfall III (codenamed Vanguard), commonly known as Titanfall 3 (also known as Titanfall 3: When History Repeats as full name due to the Frontier War-esque conflict takes place after Apex Legends timeline) is a science-fiction first-person shooter video game, a sequel to Titanfall 2, and the final installment of the Titanfall trilogy. It was co-developed by Respawn Entertainment and Gravity Well and published by Electronic Arts.

Announced on 7 December 2023 at The Game Awards 2023 and released on 11 March 2024 for Microsoft Windows^[1], Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S. Its release date was pushed back from 31 December 2022, 7 August 2023, and 31 December 2023 respectively, making it the first Titanfall game to be delayed.

It is the first game in Titanfall series to include a semi-linear single-player campaign and the brand new Special Ops co-op campaign and challenge mode.

Campaign[]

Unlike Titanfall 2 and the rest of Call of Duty single-player campaign, the campaign for this game is semi-linear (or more accurately, has branching storylines similar to Henry Stickmin games), meaning players can choose paths (but it is still linear to the some extent) and eventually one of four endings where either sides wins or both sides wins or loses, and there is also the Special Ops mode for co-op campaign and challenges.

The campaign of Titanfall III introduced boosts that can be picked up from the map and used at any given time and it also introduced the ability to pick up and use different tactical abilities, similar to armor abilities in Halo 4. Passive abilities can also be looted on the map for the first time in the campaign. In-addition, the player's Titan in the campaign has been revamped; on Frontier Militia missions, BT-7274 have an ability to pick up weapons, abilities, and even cores from the map and dead enemy Titans, unlike in Titanfall 2 where it is limited to predetermined loadouts (though it partly applies to Jeanue's LD-2714 (callsign BROTTR) Titan in IMC missions), and in IMC missions, the LD-2714 have an ability to switch between two different loadouts to make up for their lack of ability to pick-up specific parts without replacing the rest of the Titan loadout.

Also, there are new mechanics like destructible environments, expanded and interactive environmental hazards like explosive barrels (which can be thrown by Titans), and human enemies that fight each other including neutral NPCs. In-addition, the Pilot ordnances of different type can be picked up without replacing the current ordnance type and boosts and different types of ordnances can be selected via a selection wheel.

Unlike in Titanfall 2 campaign, there are Pilot vs. Titan and Titan vs. Pilot combat present just like in multiplayer modes of the predecessor and boss battles aren't limited to just Titans of a specific class, and it can also be in a form of enemy Pilots on foot.

There is a New Game+ feature, which players can start from the beginning while retaining everything they unlocked and there is also a feature known as Chronology Map that allow players to start from the checkpoint at certain paths.

Also, Titanfall 3 is the first game to introduce campaign DLCs and expansion packs (to provide additional context on main story and side stories unrelated to main story, rather than continuing the main story for both DLCs and expansion packs); the former is short and free but requires having the base campaign purchased, while the latter is paid and have longer length but doesn't requires the base campaign to be purchased.

Characters and setting[]

Main article: Titanfall III expanded universe

Besides the prologue missions set before and during Apex Legends timeline, which serve as the resolution of ending of Titanfall 2 campaign story and foreshadowing of large-scale post-Apex conflict respectively, the game is set in both The Frontier and especially Outlands during mid 28th century (the notable exception are The Battle of Gridiron and A New Beginning), where the second Frontier War set in the year 2742 following the Frontier Militia incursion of Mercenary Syndicate that escalated into a full-scale conflict, which was happened approximately 5 years after communication between the Frontier and Outlands being fully restored in 2737 after recovery from communication blackout.

The premise of Titanfall III campaign story is centered around the historic recurrence where the similar conflict with the scale of Frontier War happen but for a different reason; a different group of Frontier Militia forces (who have different interests from the Titanfall and Titanfall 2 counterpart) invaded the Outlands seeking for complete freedom from any external influences like the Syndicate and the IMC, and the IMC declared a war against Militia on the grounds of terrorism.

The player plays as p0358, Jack Cooper, Jeanue and Kuben Blisk, and Bangalore (The Battle of Gridiron only) depending on the mission.

There is also an adapted version of the ping system from Apex Legends to allow players to command and lead friendly NPCs.

Campaign missions[]

• The Gauntlet: Basically the tutorial mission but improved from Titanfall 2 mission The Pilot's Gauntlet, incorporating tutorial stuff from first Titanfall game. This mission is the only one that doesn't require the base campaign

Prologue[]

• The Battle of Gridiron: A prologue mission set after the ending of Titanfall 2 campaign but before Apex Legends set in Gridiron
• A New Beginning: p0358 fights for Rampart and Blisk during gang rivalry and BT-7274 establishes a neural link with p0358 even before becoming a Pilot later

Frontier Militia[]

• A War on Syndicate: Jack Cooper joins a different group of Frontier Militia that have different interests to fight against Mercenary Syndicate for the "absolute freedom" from any influences
• Standoff: p0358 wakes up after being betrayed by the IMC and they need to learn to survive alone until they join the Frontier Militia to rebel against the IMC and optionally fight drug cartels within Malta, Psamathe
• Saboteurs and Traitors: p0358's task is to infiltrate, sabotage, and hack into multiple IMC military bases in order to determine whether or not Jeanue is a traitor
• The Outer Space Confrontation: p0358 does space combat to help Militia forces fend off the IMC forces in space
• The Strategic Way: A stealth mission in an IMC's important location on snowy planet
• Broken Moon: Jack Cooper get into the hands of Catalyst's ferrofluid manipulation tech to help FMITO forces liberate the broken moon Cleo from the Mercenary Syndicate influence
• The Runaway Train: After the IMC seized the Ark that is about to be inserted into the Fold Weapon, the Militia forces attacks the convoy containing the seized Ark to take back control from the IMC

Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation[]

• The Whistleblower: p0358 joins the IMC as a Pilot and being rendezvous with Jeanue in the fight against rogue Frontier Militia in the Outlands terrorist group
• Into the Spider's Nest: Within the Militia-occupied Shiira island on Gaea, the IMC squad led by Jeanue infiltrates the underground chemical weapons facility in that location with a plan to seize hazardous materials used as weapons used in chemical warfare
• Within the Crossfire: Jeanue and their IMC teammates encounters a complex shootout where third and even more belligerents fight eachother and they must navigate through the complex battlefield
• Attack on Air Traffic: IMC forces takes to the sky and one of Titan Pilots gets into air-to-air combat within high-altitude traffic ring to neutralize terrorist threat
• Trial-and-Error & Rinse-and-Repeat: The IMC forces must neutralize multiple terrorist strongholds, repurposed Apex Games arenas, gulags, and training camps in the planet Solace (location for Kings Canyon)
• Skirmish at Dome Cities: IMC forces fights back both TALOS and FMITO terrorists on an alien planet under early terraforming stage
• Operation Red Tape: IMC forces including p0358 infiltrates the particular Militia military base nearby the Fold Weapon in the seek to stop Frontier Militia in the Outlands from using the Fold Weapon to destroy multiple IMC assets

Epilogue[]

• An Outworldly Dimension: After Ark's anomalous explosion, Jack Cooper is stranded in an alternate dimension and he and his Titan must escape from aliens and anomalous entities
• The Final Blow: A final showdown with p0358 and Jeanue
• An evening with Respawn Entertainment: A showcase of how Respawn made new stuff like AI Pilots in Titanfall 3 campaign (basically a developer commentary and extended gauntlet levels) and a Titanfall equivalent of the museum mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009).

Multiplayer[]

The multiplayer portion of the game has been improved from Titanfall 2, most notably being free-to-play for MP and FD modes and full-priced ($60) for the campaign (players can purchase singleplayer for skins and other rewards locked behind campaign on multiplayer portion of Titanfall 3), the addition of Custom Games mode, which players can create custom games and set rules, and bots are fully supported for offline play.

Notable game mode additions include Fastball, which players are thrown into the map at the start of the game and the objective is similar to Search and Destroy but completing objectives respawns teammate, Grunts Only which is a category of equal-starts mode where players are Grunts (wallrunning and double jumping are disabled on this category of mode), and Scavenger, which is an equal-starts mode where everyone starts with nothing and loadout items are scattered on the map.

New maps like Domed Colony and Frostbitten are added and some of them are remakes of maps from the first Titanfall that didn't make into Titanfall 2.

The multiplayer campaign of the first Titanfall game has returned with Lore Conflicts game mode and like Special Ops missions, provides additional lore-related content that are mentioned only in the main campaign.

The progression system on this game has been improved from Titanfall 2 with some of them are borrowed from Halo: Reach, but there's no Battle Pass system as such battle passes already exist in Apex Legends.

Gameplay[]

Pilot gameplay[]

Pilot gameplay follows the similar basic lines as Titanfall 2, in regards to basic mechanics and introduced some of game mechanics from Apex Legends such as the ability to switch between two fire modes on some weapons and brand new mechanics like the ability to throw grenades back.

The player can now shoot while sprinting without Gunrunning mod (which the attachment were removed).

Weapons[]

The arsenal of Titanfall III has been expanded even more since the second game, with some of it borrows from other games and adapted into Titanfall's gunplay. The weapon customization on Titanfall III has been expanded greatly by introducing the Gunsmith-like mechanic called Workbench, but unlike Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the weapon customization can be used on-the-fly, only available on both single-player and the new Special Ops mode. Also, the primary/secondary/tertiary weapon slots can now accept any weapons and sidearms can be dual-wielded although it has worse accuracy and recoil alongside aim assist being disabled completely.

Unlike in previous Titanfall games and like Apex Legends, all weapons except Charge Rifle and Linear Accelerator Rifle are projectile-based (and have no damage drop-off for non-energy weapons), which greatly increases skill requirements as it needs to lead ahead the target and compensate for bullet drop even for SMGs and assault rifles, and also added a bullet penetration/ricochet mechanic that depends on angle and surface composition. Also, non-energy weapons now fires non-tracer rounds just like in real-life, only emitting a vapor trail.

Boosts[]

The Boost system from the second game has been improved and expanded upon, e.g., Amped Weapons can now have unique effects depending on the weapon used, similar to the first game with Burn Cards. There's also a new type of boost called Heavy Weapons, which are weapons that are more powerful than regular anti-Titan weapons but it has very limited ammo.

In the campaign, boosts scattered on the map are items that the player can pick up and use it at any time, whereas boost weapons can be picked up like regular ones but equipped boost weapons are in the fourth slot instead.

Titans[]

Titan gameplay has been changed from Titanfall 2, combining comprehensive Titan customization of first Titanfall game with class-based system of Titanfall 2. It can now change between two offensive, defensive, and utility available weapons and abilities for each class and Monarch-class Titans are now has a unique ability to equip all Titan weapons and the ability to pick up other Titan weapons.

Five new Titans are added. Firstly, the Brute, which changed from the second game to be usable in Multiplayer and Frontier Defense mode, is a fast but weak Titan that can actually jump, come equipped with Quad Rocket by default, being able to stun Titans using Concussive Shot ordnance and are capable of raining down explosive warheads from above or shooting the more powerful shot with Mortar Core. Secondly, the Archon that specializes on arc-based weaponry and are equipped with Arc Cannon Mk.2 by default, can create chaos by firing multiple electroshock balls and primes target for detonation by using unstable concoction beam. Thirdly, the Venom specialized on chemical weaponry and are come equipped with an acid cannon by default, which can paint walls and other surfaces with a corrosive substance, swarms enemies with homing Swarm Attack ability, and terrorizes the area with Terror Ticks. Fourthly, the Expedition that deploy ticks and are equipped with Burst Accelerator Cannon by default. And finally, the Bison that focused on melee attacks and equips no weapons besides their fists and Repulsor ability.

Unlike first two Titanfall games, Titan weapons and some abilities (particularly ordnances) have limited ammo but it can be replenished by executing Titans with same weapons/ordnances with same ammo type.

Many new weapons are added, the first two of them are from previous Titanfall games. A Quad Rocket is no longer exclusive to single-player campaign and can be used by Northstar-, Brute- and Monarch-class Titans. The Arc Cannon is brought back from first Titanfall game and are usable by Archon-, Ion- and Monarch-class Titans with notable changes, first, it deals less damage against Pilots, making direct hits the only way to one-shot Pilots with them and second, the charge up time is faster. Three brand new weapons are added; Burst Accelerator Cannon that shoots a short continuous beam, usable by Ion-, Expedition- and Monarch-class Titans, Incendiary Plasma Cannon that fires three round burst of explosive plasma projectile and it can be charged to fire a singular plasma shot that burns enemies within a large radius, usable by Expedition-, Ion-, and Monarch-class Titans, and finally, Acid Cannon that shoots a continuous stream of corrosive liquid that damages targets over-time with direct hits and paints any surfaces, dealing slow DoT, usable by Venom-, Scorch- and Monarch-class Titans.

Certain parts of Titans can now be damaged and even dismembered with various effects inflicted depending which part gets damaged; the affected Titan have less accurate firing (increased bloom and introduced aim sway that isn't normally present, the latter is where both arms are damaged) when either arms are damaged, their movement is impaired when the one or two legs are damaged, and damaging the acolyte pod would result in longer cooldown time and less accurate shots on certain Titan abilities. Dismembering the Titan parts inflict the most severe but permanent effect once it occurs, again it depends on which part is destroyed (e.g. dismembering the Titan's acolyte pod disables certain Titan abilities, when the legs are dismembered, it severely impair the movement and dismembering both of them would make it unable to move, and destroying either of arms significantly affect the reload time and severing both arms would automatically drop their primary weapon and rendering it unable to do melee attacks).

Development[]

Titanfall III started off as an experimental Unreal Engine project recreating the entire Titanfall 2 gameplay in this aforementioned game engine. As of the result of main branch, which ran on modified version of Source engine being turned into Apex Legends in 4 February 2019, this experimental Unreal Engine remake of Titanfall 2 becomes Titanfall 3, directed by Michael Bay and later Marcus Bromander.

In 2023 after many Respawn devs (especially ones who previously worked in Titanfall and Titanfall 2 before) leaving, this game was further developed by Gravity Well, making it the first Respawn Entertainment title that being jointly developed with outside developer(s).

Reception[]

Titanfall 3 received "universal acclaim" reviews on Metacritic, getting a metascore of 96/100 on PC version, 95/100 and 98/100 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions respectively, and 92/100 on Nintendo Switch version, praising the general improvement over the predecessor, "massively expanded and enhanced" single-player campaign, laxed monetization as in Titanfall 2 on free-to-play multiplayer counterpart, and much better technical state on launch day than previous Respawn games made using Unreal Engine like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The user reviews for it on all platforms also received "universal acclaim" ratings on Metacritic.

Trivia[]

• Like the Henry Stickmin and Skibidi Toilet series, Titanfall III features a lot of references including the Henry Stickmin himself being referenced, however these references are mostly background information and especially in campaign.
  • Some parts of the game (especially the single player portion of the game) incorporates gameplay mechanics and locations from other Respawn Entertainment games, especially Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as references.
  • Funnily enough, there are references to certain songs like "Thomas Dolby - Blinded by Science" and "Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside" in Titanfall 2 playlist updates, this means Respawn are teasing Titanfall 3 secretly.
    • However despite the rumors of the game being announced at one day before 7 year anniversary for Titanfall 2 thanks to numerous references of the number three, Titanfall 3 wasn't announced until The Game Awards 2023.
• There are lots of rumors and leaks about Titanfall 3, most notably the GameStop leak and the NVIDIA GeForce Now leak. However, these leaks/rumors should be taken with a grain of salt.
• Titanfall 3 is the first game in the Titanfall franchise to not require EA desktop app to be installed (and allows crossplay with another PC players in a different distribution platform including GOG.com version), alongside not including the DRM in the first place due to the fact the inclusion of intrusive DRMs like Denuvo Anti-Tamper hampered game performance and accessibility like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
• Despite running in Unreal Engine 5, Titanfall 3 did not suffer from performance issues as in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and at medium settings, it runs at comparable performance to Titanfall 2 at highest settings, thanks to careful optimizations as well as lessons learned from PC/console performance or lack thereof the aforementioned Star Wars game developed by Respawn Entertainment, making this installment an example of how to properly utilize Unreal Engine 5.

Notes[]

Gallery[]

Trailers[]