Respawn Entertainment has posted a preview of 'Zone 18', one of three levels that make up the upcoming Titanfall DLC map pack IMC Rising.
Designer Geoff Smith says the map was originally intended to show off the Last Titan Standing mode, and describes the general feel as "almost a paintball field for Titans". Which sounds like an excellent concept.
"For IMC Rising, I returned to the layout to see if I could get it to work with all of our new game modes," Smith explains. "It was a pretty large layout to begin with so for pilots to be able to get around it needed to be trimmed a bit."
Generally Titanfall encourages pilots to try and take the highest ground possible, Smith says, so Zone 18 switches things up by making every roof in the level roughly the same size. To avoid Titans you'll have to utilise several underground pathways which will lead to nasty close-quarter battles with the enemy.
"Thematically, I wanted to make something that would be less ’˜noisy’ and let players spot other pilots quickly," the designer explains. "With Hammond Robotics working on a new Spectre model in the high-tech underground sections of Zone 18, the base above is neglected and overgrown as camouflage against enemy aerial and satellite reconnaissance."
IMC Rising launches later this year. As usual it's coming first on Xbox consoles, with the PC version to follow on at a later date.
