Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of Titanfall 2, still one of the most fun and fresh FPS campaigns of recent times. The highlight of that campaign, for me and many others, is a level called Effect and Cause. To ruin the surprise, it's an environment constructed around zipping back-and-forth between two timelines as you navigate through it.
Turns out Effect and Cause had one little surprise that everyone missed. Ranon Sarono is an animator who worked on the game at Respawn (he's subsequently moved to Infinity Ward), and to mark the anniversary he revealed all.
Happy 4th Birthday to Titanfall 2! My very first game that I've ever worked on and it was a blast🥳🎉Oh, by the way...you all knew about this, right?🤔 pic.twitter.com/KEoZtGuKL7October 28, 2020
It's been years since I played the level so I can't recall exactly where this spot is, but as you can see there are three hazmat suits—not exact copies of Gordon Freeman's HEV suit, for obvious reasons, but vaguely similar. And the one in the middle has a crowbar next to it.
Effect and Cause is set in a destroyed research facility, which probably sounds familiar, and the time gimmick takes you between the current wreck and the moment everything was going wrong. As Sarono hops between the timelines in the above video we can see that, before the facility is destroyed, there are three suits. Moving into the present day shows the middle one, and the crowbar, have been put to use by someone...
It's a lovely tribute from one great game to another, and an opportunity to remind anyone who hasn't played Titanfall 2: this is a stunning game.
