Titanfall is one of the most anticipated games of 2014. By the end of 2013, the game already had 200,000 pre-orders. That's good news for publisher Electronic Arts (EA) and startup developer Respawn Entertainment. It's also great news for Microsoft (MSFT), which has the exclusive for this sci-fi first-person shooter that will ship across PC, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.

    The majority of those pre-orders (approximately 150,000) were for the Xbox One version of the game, which makes Titanfall a killer app as Microsoft tries to keep up with Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 4 in the next-gen hardware battle.

    "To have a huge new franchise like Titanfall developed by a team of the most-respected game developers as an exclusive is huge for Microsoft," said Peter Warman, president of research firm Newzoo. "Gamers are expecting Titanfall to showcase the potential of the Xbox One in terms of graphics and the gameplay experience." Warman adds that Titanfall is integrating with Microsoft hardware as well, with limited-edition branded controllers and a variety of game and hardware bundles.

    Michael Pachter, video game analyst at Wedbush Securities, says Electronic Arts is leaving some money on the table with the Microsoft exclusive. He forecasts the game will sell 8 to 10 million units worldwide across Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC. But if the game was released cross-platform on Sony consoles, sales would exceed 12 to 15 million units.

    "The spring launch is smart, since it comes right when there is a lull in big game releases, and it's long enough after GTA V [Grand Theft Auto] and long enough before Activision's (ATVI) Destinyand next Call of Duty," said Pachter. "That should help sales. The gaming press, and to some extent, the gaming community, loves Respawn as they recognize these guys made Call of Duty Modern Warfare."

    Although Respawn is technically a startup developer, the team that Vince Zampella and Jason West formed includes key members from their previous studio, Infinity Ward. That studio, which was acquired by Activision in 2002, created the Call of Duty Modern Warfare franchise. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the last game developed under the creative direction of West and Zampella, was the most successful Call of Duty ever, with the highest rating by gamers and sales of over 30 million copies worldwide for Activision.

    "True game enthusiasts know who Respawn is, and for more casual gamers Infinity Ward were the good guys in the fight with Activision," said Warman, referring to the multiple lawsuits that were filed between Activision and West and Zampella that were settled out of court. (Activision paid current and former Infinity Ward employees a total of $42 million.) "Having people on board that know how to build a world-leading franchise and maintain gamer loyalty is an enormous asset. Respawn sets trends rather than following them."

    《泰坦陨落》(Titanfall)是2014年最值得期待的游戏之一。截至2013年年底，这款游戏已经获得了200,000套前期订货量。无论对于出版商美国艺电(Electronic Arts)和初创开发商重生娱乐工作室(Respawn Entertainment)，还是对于微软公司(Microsoft)来说，这都是一个好消息。微软拥有这款第一人称科幻射击游戏的独家发行权，即将推出这款游戏的PC、Xbox One和Xbox 360版本。

    大多数前期订单（约150,000套）预定的都是Xbox One版本，进而使得《泰坦陨落》成为一个杀手级应用。微软在下一代游戏硬件的战斗中一直在追赶索尼公司(Sony)的PlayStation 4。

    “《泰坦陨落》的开发团队在业界享有盛誉，拥有这样一款重量级游戏的独家发行权对微软意义重大，”Newzoo研究公司总裁彼得•沃曼说。“游戏玩家期待《泰坦陨落》能够在Xbox One上充分展现它在图形和游戏体验方面的潜力。”沃曼补充说，《泰坦陨落》也将与微软的硬件结合在一起，其中包括它的限量版品牌控制器及多种游戏和硬件包。

    韦德布什证券公司(Wedbush Securities)视频游戏业分析师迈克尔•帕切特说，与微软的交易其实让美国艺电放弃了一些潜在收益。他预测，这款游戏的PC、Xbox One和Xbox 360版本有望在全球卖出800万到1,000万套。但如果借助索尼游戏机发行的话，它的跨平台销量可能会超过1,200万到1,500万套。

    “选在春季推出这款游戏的确够精明，因为这个时候大型游戏发布市场恰好处在一个间歇期，《侠盗猎车手5》(Grand Theft Auto V )已经推出了足够长一段时间了，而此时距离美国动视(Activision)发布下一部《使命召唤》( Call of Duty)还早着呢，”帕切特说。“它将有助于销售。游戏业媒体，在一定程度上还包括游戏界，都对重生娱乐工作室偏爱有加，因为他们非常认可这帮打造出《使命召唤：现代战争》(Call of Duty Modern Warfare)的家伙。”

    虽然从技术角度来看，重生娱乐是一家初创开发商，但这支由文斯•赞佩拉和杰森•韦斯特组建的团队包括了他们以前的工作室Infinity Ward的主要成员。曾经开发出《使命召唤：现代战争》系列游戏的Infinity Ward于2002年被美国动视收购。《使命召唤：现代战争3》是韦斯特和赞佩拉在Infinity Ward指导开发的最后一款游戏，同时也是《使命召唤》系列游戏最成功的一部，游戏玩家给了它最高评级，它的全球销量也突破了3,000万套大关。

    “真正的游戏爱好者都知道重生娱乐是谁，而在更多的休闲玩家看来，在与美国动视进行的战争中，Infinity Ward是好人，”沃曼说。他所说的战争，指的是美国动视与韦斯特和赞佩拉之间多起最终在庭外和解的诉讼案。（美国动视向Infinity Ward的前员工和现员工总共支付了4,200万美元。）“这些人知道如何打造一款世界领先的游戏产品，如何维系玩家的忠诚度，把这些人招至麾下不啻为一个巨大的资产。重生娱乐是游戏业潮流的引领者，而不是跟随者。”

    Titanfall breaks from tradition in the shooter genre by ditching the single-play campaign mode. It focuses solely on multiplayer gameplay. The game also introduces dynamically different gameplay within its near-future battlefields by allowing players to fight as elite assault pilots on the ground with parkour-style wall running and double jumps. Gamers can also get behind the controls of hulking, heavily armored 24-foot-tall titans and plow their way through war zones as team-based members of either the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) or the Militia. The ability to seamlessly jump in and out of these titans introduces new tactics and strategies to the crowded, but lucrative, shooter genre.

    "For us it was about not doing something that was similar to what was done before," said Zampella. "In Titanfall the gameplay is more vertical. The pilots are very agile. They can run on walls. They can jump higher. That's mixed with these Titans, which are an extension of you. It's an exoskeleton style."

    Critics who've been able to play the game early through press events and the online beta have loved Titanfall. Over the past year, the game has accumulated accolades from around the world to the tune of more than 80 awards. Pachter said Metacritic scores and strong word of mouth could push his sales estimates even higher for the game.

    Warman believes there will be some challenges in getting gamers acclimated to the new gameplay elements and establishing a new franchise. The team-based shooting and robot component could scare away some of the core shooter audience. But on the plus side, the team battle component could draw in some of the over 85 million League of Legends fans that Riot Games has attracted to its free-to-play five-on-five PC game.

    With Sony eclipsing the 6-million-unit mark sold worldwide first with its PS4, Titanfall is expected to give Microsoft a much-needed hardware sales boost. Zampella said the Xbox One version of the game has given the developers the ability to expand the world.

    "We're putting the single-player experience into the multiplayer," said Zampella. "We have dedicated servers, which is something we didn't have on consoles before. All that AI [artificial intelligence] that you see running around is calculated on the server, so now there's no host advantage. It's a better experience for all the players. And it's a more vivid world to explore."

    The Titanfall brand is expanding beyond games with licensing deals like a line of K'NEX Titanfall Building Sets, which will launch this June. Gamers can now purchase licensed electronics like Mad Catz TRITTON gaming headsets, R.A.T mice, S.T.R.I.K.E. keyboards, F.R.E.Q. gaming headsets and G.L.I.D.E. gaming surfaces. And that's just the beginning, as long as the game lives up to the very high expectations.

    《泰坦陨落》摈弃了单机战役模式，一举突破了射击游戏类的传统。它仅仅着眼于多人游戏。这款游戏也在其接近未来的战场上推出了动态过程迥异的游戏玩法，允许扮演突击飞行精英的玩家在地面上施展类似跑酷风格的飞檐走壁和双跳打技能。玩家也可以操控全副武装、身高24英尺的“泰坦”巨人，引领这些要么属于星际制造公司(Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation)，要么属于民兵(Militia)的战神跟随团队突破战区。无缝地跳入、跳出这些泰坦的能力为日益拥挤但利润丰厚的射击类游戏引入了全新的战术和战略。

    “开发这款游戏就是为了突破自我，我们不想做与以前的产品相类似的东西，”赞佩拉说。“《泰坦陨落》的玩法更加垂直。这些飞行员都非常敏捷，能够飞檐走壁，跳得更高，还可以跟这些泰坦合为一体。泰坦巨人就是玩家的延伸，这是一种外骨骼风格。”

    有机会通过媒体发布会和在线公测玩《泰坦陨落》的各路评论人都大爱这款游戏。过去的一年中，这款游戏风光无限，累计收获了世界各地颁发的超过80个奖项。帕切特说，Metacritic网给予的高评分和强大的口碑可能会促使他进一步提升对这款游戏销售前景的预测值。

    沃曼认为，让玩家适应新的游戏元素，构建一个新的特许产品，这些都将面临一些挑战。基于团队的射击和机器人组件可能会吓跑一些射击类游戏死忠。但好的一面是，这种基于团队作战的特征也可能会吸引来一些《传奇联盟》(League of Legends)的粉丝——这款游戏拥有超过8,500万玩家），其中不少人已经开始免费玩另一家网游开发商Riot Games的五对五PC版游戏。

    由于索尼PlayStation 4的全球销量已经率先突破600万台大关，《泰坦陨落》有望给微软公司的硬件销量注入一针期待已久的强心剂。赞佩拉说，这款游戏的Xbox One版本已经让开发者获得了开拓全球市场的能力。

    “我们正在把单人游戏体验带入多人游戏之中，”赞佩拉说。“我们有专门的服务器，这是我们以前重点经营游戏机版本时所没有的东西。大家看到的所有人工智能场景都是通过服务器计算过的。所以，主机优势现在已荡然无存。所有玩家将获得更好的游戏体验。这是一个更加生动、值得探索的世界。”

    《泰坦陨落》这个品牌正在向游戏之外扩展，类似科乐思泰坦陨落拼砌套装(K'NEX Titanfall Building Sets)这样的产品将在今年6月份正式推出。玩家们现在可以购买已经获得授权的电子产品，比如美加狮游戏耳机(Mad Catz TRITTON)、R.A.T鼠标、S.T.R.I.K.E.键盘、F.R.E.Q.游戏耳机和G.L.I.D.E.游戏界面。不过这些仅仅只是个开始，但愿《泰坦陨落》不要辜负游戏世界对它抱有的美好期许。（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒