The Call of Duty clone. The Call of Duty killer. The Call of Duty knock-off. The new Call of Duty. Having participated in the Titanfall PC Beta, and now currently playing the retail version, I don’t understand why people feel the need to compare these two franchises. The Call of Duty franchise single-handedly streamlined the FPS genre, and made shooters accessible to players of all skill-levels. Rooted in real-world conflicts and ideas, with some exceptions, the CoD games all have thematic elements, locations and plots that players can often familiarize with. Call of Duty is “real”…..Because of CoD: Ghosts, I use that term very loosely.
Titanfall paints a militaristic view of a future where resources are scarce, and warring militias are fighting for control of territory, technology, and the survival of their factions. Titanfall takes the FPS format, and blends it with the weakening Mech genre, to create something relatively new.
So then…what exactly do these games have in common? Why are fandoms waging war over two games with opposing mechanics and universes? I will say this: Titanfall is created by former Call of Duty developers; both franchises are FPS titles; both have multiplayer….Oh, and both are part of the video game industry. When I read about fans comparing games and enlisting in a side between Titanfall and Call of Duty, I laugh hysterically. To compare Call of Duty with Titanfall, would roughly be the equivalent of comparing a runway model and a skyscraper…Both are lean and ridgid, but that’s not the point.
Call of Duty and Titanfall may have the same creators, but these aren’t twins- they’re stepchildren.
If anything, a better comparison of these two franchises would be Call of Duty to another “modern military setting” shooter, and Titanfall to Bethesda’s forgotten shooter, Brink. While Brink is often viewed as a failed experiment, it was one of the first games to include parkour and free-running elements within a competitive multiplayer FPS; the SMART system could very well be the sole influence for Titanfall’s jet-pack maneuverability. Brink also included a hybrid multiplayer-single player campaign, whereas Titanfall features a strictly multiplayer campaign. What Brink doesn’t have- what Call of Duty doesn’t have- is giant mech-suits. Here is where Titanfall seperates itself from most other FPS titles. I can’t classify this with other mech-combat games, such as Mech Warrior and Hawken, because the player operates as both mech and pilot during each match. Unlike the typical mech-based game, Titanfall’s Titans are nimbile, agile, combat-ready exoskeletons.
Back over to Call of Duty, let’s go with its most infamous competitor- Battlefield. Battlefield has a heavy influence on squad-based tactics and vehicular warfare, where Call of Duty has a much stricter focus on infantry and precision-shooting. Call of Duty requires the player to have an understanding of each map’s layout, where the player must use the terrain for strategic gain. Maps are typically smaller than other military-based FPS franchises, with Battlefield being a primary example. Battlefield includes large-scale, open maps built for vehicles and individual team operations.
But it’s pointless and rather off-topic to compare the two franchises at hand against other properties; I’m here to question this: Why compare Call of Duty and Titanfall.
Both franchises have militaristic themes. Both franchises are shooters. Both franchises feature competitive multiplayer modes that reward the player with additional skill levels and ranks. Both are made by the same developers, just under different management…..and that’s where the similarities end.
The bottom line is that these properties were built for different audiences. Call of Duty is an amazingly competitive, skill-based FPS; Titanfall is a chaotic, futuristic shooter that blends free-running, infantry-combat, and mech-warfare into one game. In one hand, I have a “real” war game that depicts plausible “what if” scenarios; in the other, I have a game that takes place in a technologically advanced future where factions wage war for natural resources…What is there to compare?
Despite their differences however, Titanfall and Call of Duty both come from the same parents. The former makers of Call of Duty are now working on a new shooter; as Call of Duty has some pedigree behind it, it’s natural for fans to express curiousity, concern, disdain and excitement towards a new IP from the former Infinity Ward crew. What differences have they implemented? How does it play compared to its predecessors? Will I feel at home with the new mechanics? Does it feel like Call of Duty?
This, right here, is where I can draw only comparisons.
Outside of that general curiosity, why enlist sides in such a foolish arguement? Outside of being shooters from essentially the same creators, these are two differnt properties. They aren’t clones. They aren’t rip-offs. They aren’t twins. At best, Titanfall and Call of Duty could be called “stepchildren”.