5 Games to Play While You Prepare for Titanfall

The recent release of the Titanfall beta has shown that even a small amount of time with the game is enough to make anyone want Respawn Entertainment's shooter sooner than March 11. But, unfortunately no one here has a vortex manipulator, so the game's release date is going to get here one day at a time. However, there are a few games you can play to get ready for one of the biggest XBOX One releases this year, so here are 5 games to play while you prepare for Titanfall.




Call of Duty: Ghosts
Since Respawn Entertainment is made up of the creators of Call of Duty, this is the easiest way to itch half of Titanfall's scratch until the game arrives. The online community is thriving, and if you master the twitch shooting in Call of Duty, there's no doubt you'll do well in Titanfall. If you're a less seasoned player and nervous about not having Titanfall's bots to balance out the difficulty in Call of Duty, then the co-op survival mode "Extinction" has you covered. With enough practice here, you should be able to hold your own in the twitch shooting of the game's other modes. Really, the only thing lacking from Call of Duty's gameplay are the Titans, but in their place are tons of other things that will keep you busy for the next couple of weeks.

Call of Duty has been around for a while, but it's still good fun.

If competitive multiplayer isn't your thing, try out Extinction.

Mirror's Edge
Mirror's Edge was one of the coolest games of the last generation of consoles. The idea  of a game with parkour elements has been done to death, but shifting perspective to a first person view gave the game the shot in the arm it needed to stand out. The shooting in Mirror's Edge may be a bit lacking (some might argue that this was a deliberate design choice), but the focus of the game was on awesome first person platforming with time trials added to give the player challenges to try out later. Obviously, Titanfall's parkour isn't as robust as Mirror's Edge's free running system, but if you master the mechanics in this title, Titanfall's wall running and double jumping should feel like a walk in the park.

You'll see Faith's legs a lot...

...like a lot a lot.

Armored Core: For Answer
If you're looking for a serious game about mechs, this isn't it. However, if you're looking for a more arcadey and noticeably less western approach to giant robots, then you may want to check out the Armored Core series. The mechs here definitely feel less glued to the ground than the ones found in Titanfall, but the idea is still the same: you're in a giant robot with giant weapons; go forth and destroy. There are a number of ways to customize your mech to suit your play style, and a few online options to keep things going after the story is done. Why play For Answer in particular? Because it keeps the focus on single player unlike the later titles in the series, and it has the best name.

As you can see, Armored Core is definitely a more anime inspired game.

But you can't say this isn't awesome.

Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance 
It's strange to think that Mechwarrior went from being such a big franchise in the late 90s and early 2000s and is now mostly forgotten. However, Mechwarrior still offers a pretty wide selection of mech customization and allows the player to tackle mission objectives in different ways. Even if the game isn't as fast paced as Titanfall will be, there are still some truly awesome moments to be had when you're up againsta another mech. Unfortunately, the follow up Mechwarrior: Online was a bit of a disappointment to fans and critics, so the series may have peaked with its fourth entry.  However, if you need to get a giant robot fix before Titanfall drops, you could do much worse than Mechwarrior.

Dynamic weather and everything!

Okay so Mechwarrior hasn't aged all that well visually.

Starhawk
If you like the idea of summoning a Titan at will in Respawn's debut title, then you'll love sending down everything from mechs, to jets, to jets that turn into mechs, to ATVs, to automated turrets in Starhawk. Developer Lightbox Interactive sought out to blur the lines between the third person shooters, tower defense, and the real time strategy genres, and they succeeded in spades. Starhawk allows players to drop in a number of tools that will help tip the odds in their favor. Need some more ammo? Send down a supply bunker which can be modified with automated turrets. Want to try your luck with sniping? Send down a tower which provides the perfect vantage point. The only thing holding Starhawk back is the fact that the game's online community is a bit more sparse than it deserves for such a brilliant concept; however, it's still possible to find a few full matches online, and it's gameplay should stave off your anticipation for Titanfall for just a little longer.

Mechs were good in a tight spot, but not invincible.

I think that bunker needs to be a little more to the left.

So there you have it, 5 games that may help pass the time until Titanfall hits shelves. What are your favorite free running, twitch shooting games about giant robots?