Hold on to your heartbeat sensors, ladies and gentlemen, because the future is here! The Titanfall beta landed last week, and has been stirring up quite a bit of controversy in the gaming community. Sides seem split as to whether the title is a COD-killer or a COD-clone, yet complaints of balancing issues and poor design decisions echo equally on both sides.

Titanfall, the premier FPS of the next console generation, is still looking at a March 11 release after failing (probably for the better) to be an Xbox One launch title. However, the beta version of the game is currently available, having just been opened to all Xbox One players today, with a PC large-scale release set to follow shortly after.

The game is set in the distant future, with two warring factions, the IMC and the Militia, fighting for control. Aiding the fight are the mechs known as Titans, futuristic robotic walkers armed to teeth with a plethora of weapons and abilities that would make Bertolt Hoover jealous.

The player assumes the role of a Pilot, armed with the regular video game assortment of rifles and pistols, but who also has the ability to wall run and double jump thanks to jetpacks mounted on their arms and legs. They also have the ability to summon Titans via orbital drop in a maneuver known as a titanfall.

The titanfall ability becomes a tactic within itself, as the high speed impact does massive damage to anything below. This makes it possible to drop your Titan on groups of infantry or other Titans, leading to some pretty awesome moments if timed well.

Once the Titan is down, the player can either enter it and assume manual control, or order the Titan’s in-built AI to follow the player or hold down a position.

In order to avoid a bullet hell, the games are capped at 6v6, but to also avoid the issue of having no targets to shoot at, Titanfall matches feature both Pilots and bots, known as Minions.

Minions are dumb as rocks and serve as little more than bullet sponges, lacking the ability to call in Titans themselves and having little more intelligence than to walk directly into a team’s line of fire. They also come in a slightly tougher variant known as Spectres, but even these pose little danger.

That’s the basic gameplay, and it’s led to some very heated arguments on both sides of the COD-killer/COD-clone debate. Mutually agreed upon are balance issues and design decisions meeting heavy criticism. The bots have been a source of much debate, accused by some as being too dumb to be fun, and praised by others as keeping the gameplay interesting and giving a sense of scale.

Watching gameplay online, it’s not uncommon to watch a player drop four bot kills with a single magazine, and while the show is impressive, it takes no skill and leads to little accomplishment. However, Minion kills count for full points, meaning in team deathmatch games, it’s not uncommon to dominate a match using only bot kills instead of Pilot kills.

People have also criticized the lack of any single player or co-op mode, as the games’ campaign story is weaved into the multiplayer maps, much like older games such as Battlefield 2142. Critics argue that a $60 game with only one gameplay mode is a bit of a rip-off, whereas supporters counter with the argument that the developers can devote 100% of their attention to the multiplayer, leading to a much more polished and refined experience.

Lastly, people argue the certain weapons and abilities are overpowered, such as the games’ Smart Pistol, a high-powered handgun capable of locking onto and insta-killing up to four bots at once.

Additionally, the community remains divided as to whether this game is one of the most innovative things to hit the FPS market, or if it’s just COD with robots.

Critics have generally held firm to the former argument, pointing out several features and design decisions that set Titanfall apart from the competition, though their articles’ comments section is never afraid to allege the latter.

It is important to note that the beta only goes up to Level 14, and limits weapon and Titan selection severely, so we will have to see how the game changes once all this opens up.

The Respawn Entertainment team is taking community advice to heart, and working feverishly to make the game as good as it can be in preparation for its March 11 release.

That’s going to be a date to watch, as the title will essentially decide the fate of the dying military-shooter industry.

Nobody knows what to expect, but one thing is certain: somebody get Eren Yeager. It’s time for a nice slice of vengeance.