‘Titanfall 2’ E3 Teaser Trailer Drops A Sword, Plenty Of Questions

The first Titanfall 2 teaser trailer dropped Monday, signaling the start of the lead-up to E3 with plenty of hype. Electronic Arts also went out of its way to officially confirm yet again the sequel is coming to the PlayStation 4 this go-round after the original launched only on the Xbox One and PC.

The first-person shooter/mech hybrid is currently targeting a holiday 2016 release for all three platforms. The new teaser trailer posted to YouTube has some interesting tidbits of what players have to look forward to in the sequel, with a surprise weapon at the end.

“People like you always want to be the hero. The problem with being a hero is you have to be willing to die for what you believe in. If I were you, I wouldn’t try so hard. You’ll live longer.”

The trailer shows a drop pod stranded in the middle of a forest or swamp on an alien world or moon. The outline of another planet can be seen in the sky in the background. As the narrator finishes the end of his speech against heroism, a Titan mech stomps into view and plants a sword in the ground.

The sword itself is somewhat interesting. There is a label on it that reads, “Titanium Series.” Additionally, there is a serial number, “MOB1316/P/S4/R2X1:P-C38,” which clearly has some meaning as it includes the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. “R2” is reportedly the internal name for Titanfall 2, but the question is what the “MOB1316” at the beginning of the serial number and the “38” at the end means. Could it be some sort of code for a release date for fans to noodle out?

The addition of swords to Titanfall 2 is, of course, interesting in itself. Titans often came into close combat with one another in the original, so it is nice to see developer Respawn Entertainment make the decision to spice things up with the inclusion of a melee weapon.

The Titan itself is only shown from the perspective of a foot, but it already looks like a new mech added for Titanfall 2. The shape of the foot and the leg do not match the Stryder, Atlas, or Ogre from the original.

Another interesting aspect of the trailer is the name “James MacAllan” on the drop pod. He became the leader of the Militia in the original Titanfall before handing the reins over to someone else at the end of the game’s campaign for mortal reasons. It is doubtful the character would return unless this sequel is actually a prequel of sorts. It is also possible this is simply a drop pod for another character named MacAllan or someone using his drop pod.

What is confirmed for the game beyond the holiday 2016 release date and what is teased in the new trailer is a traditional single-player campaign for Titanfall 2. The first game struggled by trying to tell its story through the multiplayer campaign, which is something Respawn aims to correct.

A Forbes interview with Lead Writer Jesse Stern provided the clues on what direction the game will take story-wise.

“We are doing our best to deliver a vision of grand global colonial warfare retelling the story of the American Revolution and the American Civil War in space,” Stern told Forbes. “We imagined the next generation of immigrants moving out to the new frontier of an inhabitable planet. Rather than taking a traditional sci-fi approach to that we wanted to look at how that would happen practically, what the ships would look like and with machines that were designed for excavation and construction, demolition and working the land, and what happens when they are turned into instruments of war.”

He added, “What inspires us is the junction of technological advancement with the inevitability of conflict and war and what the next war might look like. In Titanfall 2 there will be a lot of [scenes] where science meets magic, but keeping it grounded and dirty and human and real.”

The full Titanfall 2 reveal will come during Electronic Arts’ EA Play showcase scheduled for June 12.

[Image via Electronic Arts]