After looks at the War Games and Runoff maps from Titanfall's upcoming Expedition DLC Map Pack, it's time for a look at the third and final map, Swamplands. Level designer Chris Dionne detailed all the history and design elements that went into the map, the concept for which is illustrated in a new developer video and blog.
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Developer Respawn is the new kid on the block, but there's a decent amount of history behind its debut title Titanfall, and that's just in the level design. As Dionne reveals in a new blog post from the official Titanfall site, the roots of Swampland's massive trees capable of dwarfing the game's monolithic mechs actually go back three years ago.
"The first version of Swampland was an almost completely flat level with yellow fog and towering redwoods," writes Dionne. "The final version only began to take form after design on Titanfall was finished. At that point, Swampland had been shelved for almost two years while other levels and design work had taken priority."
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"With Swampland I tried to add a unique experience to Titanfall while staying true to the original themes of the level, like overwhelming nature and its intersection with technology. This was a level born of heavy experimentation and iteration."
While the titular titans represent the technological side, players will be able to incorporate the nature side as well, using the map's enormous fauna for wallrunning, hanging from the limbs of trees like everyone's favorite curious primate, which came about very serendipitously - "During playtesting of these early variations, something else became clear - the towering trees (which had been pushed to the periphery) needed to take center stage. They were a blast! Titans dodging around massive trunks; Pilots jumping from tree-to-tree like ninjas. All that additional infrastructure had pulled players away from this new and interesting fun that was happening around (and on!) the trees."
You can look at the video below, which details the map's journey from concept to creation, and should help you appreciate things as soon as the Expedition map pack drops later this month. Players can grab it for $10, while Season Pass holders get it at no additional cost.
