Watch Us Play Frontier Defense In 'Titanfall 2'

Since its launch last October, Titanfall 2’s online gameplay has consisted solely of player-versus-player combat. Respawn Entertainment changed that this week with its latest update for the game. The “Operation Frontier Shield” update finally added the co-op Frontier Defense mode from the original Titanfall, and we’re going to play it today for our weekly Twitch livestream.

Frontier Defense is all about teamwork and survival. We’ll have to work together to take out five waves of enemies, which consist of simple Grunt soldiers, fast moving drones, and powerful Titans.  With each enemy killed, we gain cash that is used to purchase different boosts or abilities from the armory such as Arc Traps to impede enemy movement or a Nuke Rodeo to quickly take out threatening Titans. Additional cash bonuses are awarded depending on numerous factors, such as a “Flawless Defense,” which means the Harvester (the massive object we’re defending from enemies) didn’t take any damage or if all players survived the wave.

In addition to cash rewards, each Titan can gain new boost abilities in the field through Aegis Ranks. These rewards can include improved weapon damage, or an increase in the Titan’s overall shield gauge. Aegis Ranks aren’t shared across the entire lineup of Titans so we’ll need to repeat the process with each Titan in order to reap the benefits in combat.

If you don’t own the game, you can play it this weekend as part of a free trial event. You can get your in-game feet wet in the tutorial arena before embarking on “The Beacon” single-player mission. Once you get the hang of the fast-paced gameplay, you can try your hand against other players. You can also attempt to protect the Harvester just like us and see how long your survive in Frontier Defense. The free trial starts today and ends on July 30.