Respawn Entertainment’s Vince Zampella has answered a fan’s question on Twitter and has revealed the game will only support six players per team, with the rest of the battlefield populated with AI soldiers.
He also revealed that every human player can have a Titan and that they have done “a lot if testing” before deciding to have six players on each side.
Whilst there has been some positive comments on Twitter praising Respawn’s openess, some gamers are less than impressed with the small teams on a next-gen console.
The inclusion of AI bots also raises an interesting question – if the game is relying on them to create and exciting battle, why is there no offline mode?
Titanfall is scheduled for release on 14th March for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.
Source: Twitter
Starman
Inevitably this will attract the “can’t it handle more” criticisms but sometimes more players doesn’t make for a better game. BF4’s 64 player games can be too manic. I prefer to be able to run around for more than 30 seconds before getting shot at. (again)
evret
if you don’t like 64 players then there are plenty of game modes with lower player counts….. i dont see how this relates to the story. Titanfall will have AI “players” in the match which boosts the total “player” count, so you will still be shot at plenty. without knowing the size of the maps though it’s unclear how “manic” titanfall will be.
imho Titanfall sounds like it would be better suited to a co-op only game, human players on one teams vs different types of enemy AI. while i wasnt planning on getting an xbox one, i was going to have a look at titanfall on my pc. i just dont want to fight against AI in a competative online match unless there is simply not enough players online, and if there is not enough players online then the game can’t be that good….
Starman
From what I’ve seen of TF it seems fairly open and I expect the ai enemies will be easier to kill than human players will.
I referenced BF4’s player count because the story was about player count. There’s the link.
Nocure-fd
Wonder if it will be the same player limit on PC as well. BF3 on PC could support more players on a map than the consoles could…
evret
this seems to be the limit for xbox one too, if the stated “6v6 on 360” one could hope for more on pc and xbox one, but as no platform was mentioned i’d expect 6v6 on all platforms the game is on.
mrfodder
While he deserves praise for being open about it, 6v6 sounds very small and limiting. I love the 32×32 on BF4. It is manic, but great fun and intense. Also, a really good player won’t be taking you out all the time.
double-o-dave
If you were a ‘Miss’fodder, attractive, petit, had a nice set (& obviously great sense of humour :) ) I’d take you out all the time.
mrfodder
My set’s not bad. but mostly from eating too much choclate!
double-o-dave
Please don’t tell me you lactate, if so thats put me off milk chocolate for life! lol
Cron_13
That seems a step back to me and I’m not hating on it as I want Titanfall.
beeje13
Could be that the power of the cloud isn’t powerful enough for more players? This is not likely to please the game’s biggest audience, the cod crowd, but personally I wouldn’t mind 6v6, as long as the maps aren’t too big for the player count (like battlefield on ps360 gen).
Greg Turner
I was just saying on Twitter that I don’t think the player count is the issue. 6 v 6 can still be great fun. The (potential) problem for me is the AI bots (I know Respawn don’t like that term but I’m not sure what else to call them).
When I played this at Eurogamer I flanked around the back of a building and took out a squad of four players – was a great moment but it left me totally deflated when it came up on the killfeed that they were bots and not real human opponents.
I get that this is a personal issue and not the same for everyone but I play online to challenge myself against other people, not AI.
It might not go this way but I just feel you might pull off something incredible (like the ‘Only In Battlefield’ moments) and then be disappointed when you realise you haven’t outsmarted an opponent, just the AI.
If any of that makes sense?
Amphlett
Makes perfect sense to me, Greg.
Online gaming is all about playing with and against other people. Having a scenario where there are a small number (in comparison to BF4) of humans playing with and against bots tends to blur the lines, and as you point out very well, could lead to many periods of deflation and/or frustration if the bots are pitched too tricky.
MS can keep their exclusive.
double-o-dave
Sounds pretty much spot on to how I would feel. Humans & computers in the same mode sounds more of a co-op thing to me.
lambchop
I know that feeling I remember back in the day one of my First multiplayer goes on Quake. I was playing a deathmatch, and was thinking “Bloody hell, I’m doing quite well here”, turned out they were all bots. I was gutted! Same kind of thing on Need for Speed Rivals, I normally ignore the AI driver and just go for the real players.
drdamn
@Article
“The inclusion of AI bots also raises an interesting question – if the game is relying on them to create and exciting battle, why is there no offline mode?”
I think the more interesting question on that is why can’t they be human players? I guess they want to limit the number of Titans and don’t want to distinguish between players being allowed and not-allowed to have Titans. Number of Titans is the driving factor here – technically or gameplay wise.
Amphlett
I think your point is spot on. What Respawn might be admitting to is that gameplay is unbalanced if they allow more human players per game.
Bilbo_bobbins
6 v 6 ? What? Surely this is an early April fools joke?
bunimomike
I’m not sure why, matey. Historically, to me, we’ve seen games with very high numbers fail. MAG didn’t really win over the gaming world. Hell… Just Cause 2 has a mod for it to handle 1000 people playing simultaneously but it’s not like the creators ever wanted to throw their keys into that hat.
Equally, we’ve seen sensible numbers win over when the game is designed with that in mind. One of the most popular team-based multiplayer game online ever is 5v5, I think. Counterstrike. Also, keep in mind Titanfall isn’t trying to be a COD or a Battlefield so 16v16, 32v32 or even 64v64 obviously has no place here.
Would you laugh at Left 4 Dead 2 being four player co-op? Surely not. The game has been designed for it to be a handful of survivors staying close and fighting for their zombie-infested lives.
Sorry, BB. Not laying into you on a personal level! You know me. :-)
colmshan1990
Just get more servers? Surely they can afford it?
The inclusion of AI ‘players’ certainly suggests that this is not a decision arising from a preference for smaller, more intimate maps (which can prove to be more fun if done well).
Eldaveo
12 players plus bots sounds about right to me. People seem to forget this is effectively a COD spin-off with Mechs, so smaller maps and fast-paced action are to be expected.