Preparing for Titanfall: the guns

Talking about the guns in Titanfall is something of a losing battle at the moment, as we’ve seen seven small arms if you include the two pistols (smart pistol is a primary). For that reason, this article will be quicker than the others. The short version is, the guns in Titanfall are easy to use, and some would call certain ones almost skill-less. That said, there’s more the gunplay here than just the guns.

Where the laser meets parkour

From what we’ve seen in the beta, there are five main weapon types in Titanfall: Carbines/Assault Rifles, SMGs, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles/DMRs, Special Weapons. Secondary pistols come in semi-auto, full-auto, and likely some sort of burst mode. Each feels a little different than the others.

• The Carbine/AR class features low recoil with solid power at range.
• SMGs fare best at close range but kick more.
• Shotguns are useless in anything but close quarters.
• Snipers/DMRs are most effective at mid-long ranges, but if you must use them up close, you can.
• Special Weapons tend to bridge the gap between all four other classes, but we’ve only got the smart pistol to go on, so this class is something of a mystery.
• Secondary pistols are strong and will probably be viable as challenge weapons when used as the main means of engagement. Best used as backup weapons, they’re still capable in their own right.

The thing that makes fighting in Titanfall a little tricky, and I’ll cover this more in the movement article, is how fast and mobile pilots are. A player jumping from rooftop to rooftop, bouncing off walls and titans would be almost impossible to hit with a Carbine that had significant recoil of any kind.

Similarly, if the SMGs and Shotguns weren’t so powerful up close, they’d be outpaced not by other guns, but by other players. And while the Snipers certainly might be annoying with one-hit-kill potential, from what we saw in the beta that first shot really matters, and missing it could easily spell doom. The balancing act between movement and gunplay will be an interesting one to watch for come March 11th.