'Titanfall 2' Director Teases VR Potential, Reveals New Grunt, Smart Pistol Details

“Titanfall 2” is about a month away from release, so the game’s art director went to Tokyo Game Show to hype up the project. In two translated chats with EAA, virtual reality, grunts and Smart Pistols were touched upon.

As with most Japanese translations the language gets a little wonky, so direct quotes will be altered for readability. That being said, Respawn’s Joel Emslie was seemingly quite vocal about VR. “I tried doing a little VR reduction in-house,” he admitted. “Being inside the Titan panel and being able to see the very fine detail and going to high places very quickly was so much fun.” That being said, nausea seems to be the most limiting factor toward a full release at this time. “It’s possible to improve the problem in the future, but it’s just too difficult to incorporate at the moment,” he concluded.

Something that’s a bit less cutting-edge than VR is “Titanfall 2’s” new version of the Smart Pistol that many deemed to be overpowered in its predecessor. While the title’s recent beta test didn’t feature the weapon, this discussion revealed a few more details about it. Apparently the reworked gun will be available in both single and multiplayer modes and will be a critical part of the overall experience. In fact, Esmile teased that the campaign sequence where the player first receives the Smart Pistol is “the coolest moment in ‘Titanfall 2.’” It was further described as “the ultimate power core Ninja” in offline modes, but there will be focused balance for competitive play too.

Also absent from the beta were AI grunt soldiers. That being said, it was confirmed that “there are many” uses for them in “Titanfall 2’s” various modes. While full details are planned to be revealed closer to release, Emslie said the goal was to make the new AI meaningful as opposed to “only just being there.” With just a few more weeks until launch, that information should be coming soon.

“Titanfall 2” is the highly anticipated follow up to the Microsoft-exclusive “Titanfall.” Aside from launching on PlayStation 4, the sequel also features the single-player campaign that its predecessor sorely lacked. In August the title went through two beta tests with mixed player reviews. A new trailer was released earlier this month.

“Titanfall 2” is scheduled to come to Xbox One, PS4 and PC on Oct. 28.

Would you play “Titanfall” in VR? Are you OK with a rebalanced Smart Pistol and repurposed grunts? Tell us in the comments section!