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Getting Attrition working was itself a war of attrition.
Listen—Titanfall 2: Northstar is phenomenal. A fan-run server browser built to revive a game long suffering under bot and DDoS attacks, it’s single-handedly responsible for ensuring Titanfall 2 remains not just playable in 2022, but bigger, stranger and more creative than ever.
But for all its new modes and modded servers, Northstar’s long been missing the beating heart of Titanfall multiplayer. Until this week, it was missing Attrition.
Commence in a battle of Attrition in Northstar Update 1.7!Learn more here: https://t.co/o25V7aiyuGJoin the Northstar Discord: https://t.co/aPPaWyZu8G#Titanfall2 #Titanfall pic.twitter.com/WMV2hZHVy8May 1, 2022
Attrition, for the unfamiliar, was Titanfall as full-scale war. 16 player team deathmatch where each side was supplemented by squads of AI-controlled soldiers, hackable robot Spectres, and terrying titan-killing Reapers. It was bombastic, chaotic, offering even newer players a chance to contribute by mulching grunts on the side. Unfortunately for Northstar’s developers, however, it was also extremely tricky to get running outside of official servers.
This week’s 1.7 update sees them finally crack that nut, however, bringing Attrition Beta to Northstar in time for what the community has dubbed «Titanfall day» on May 1st. In the official Discord the developers note that navigation meshes still aren’t perfect, there are still a few bugs to iron out, and I’ve heard it can be taxing on server connections but it exists. It’s there. It (mostly) works.
What’s more exciting for me, however, is in what opening up AI entities could do for Northstar’s thriving mod scene. Northstar already sports mods ranging from the daft (giving pilots titan weapons and vice versa) to fully polished new gamemodes like Fastball, and now that devs have managed to summon in attrition’s AI-powered mooks, I can’t wait to see what new and creative modes they pop up in.
20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she’s not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it’s the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.
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