Empulse, the new game made by the Splitgate 2 folks, aims to be a sort of spiritual successor to the unfortunate Titanfall franchise. It has the wall-running, the grappling hooks, and all those lethal mechs, but to me, the game felt more like Doom 2016‘s multiplayer than anything else.
Last night, I was invited to a play test hosted by 1047 Games that gave journalists, streamers, and others the opportunity to take Empulse for a spin. I expected a game that is very akin to Titanfall, complete with classes and specialized mechs for each class. However, what I found was a fast-paced movement shooter where mechs were merely an addition to the formula rather than a core mechanic, since no player starts with a mech tied to themselves.
Mechs instead spawn on the maps every now and again. There are usually two, i.e., one for each team, though one team can just as easily take control of both and dominate the opposing side. To balance this, the devs made the mechs particularly weak defense-wise, and if your team concentrates on taking one out, it shouldn’t take long for it to fall.
Moving fast and unpredictably is key to Empulse‘s formula. There are bombs to increase your speed, wall-running is usually faster than going over the ground, and there are boosts around the maps to propel you forward. Sliding and slide-canceling are crucial, and moving in a way where your opponent won’t be able to take you down easily is the name of the game.
However, having little skill in actual movement shooters, I started playing the game as I would Doom 2016 back when its multiplayer still showed signs of life. I used those mentioned propellents to fly around the maps, sped myself up using bombs, and prioritized jumping far and high instead of twitching about. The grappling hook also helped with this, and it’s a must-use tool if you want to stand a chance of doing anything.
Furthermore, most of my matches were utterly wrecked by YouTubers and streamers who’d singlehandedly win games, and it was very unfun to come across them. I fear this is the game’s target audience, however, and that it’ll probably alienate a good chunk of its player base if a proper MMR or matchmaking system isn’t put in place.
I did make up for my lack of skills in this kind of game by also utilizing the hammer and the shotgun, which only helped elevate those Doom 2016 vibes. Hammers are one-hit kills, and in one match, I had 100 such frags, so if you see other journos mentioning a dude running around every match using just the hammer and flying around, know that it was me.
Actually, the hammer is so fun that I couldn’t stop playing the game because of it. I’m having internet woes, and the servers were probably not based in Europe anyway, so that kind of made things difficult, but the feeling of bonking someone over the head is the most satisfying thing I’ve felt in a shooter in a very long time.
The shotgun I mentioned is amazing, too, and got a lot of people talking about how shotguns equal zero skills. But I didn’t care.
At any rate, Empulse has a lot to offer to movement-shooter fans. However, do not expect Titanfall here. While marketed as such and giving off such vibes, Empulse isn’t Titanfall, nor does it frankly try to be. It could be if, at some point, the devs decide to put in extra modes that mimic what already exists in EA’s series, but at the moment, it’s a movement-focused, fast-paced shooter with some Titanfall-esque mechanics tacked onto it.
It’s shaping up to be a pretty good game.
