Mechs illustrated: the killer suits of 'Titanfall'

Titanfall is one of the biggest games of the year, but there's more to its appeal than just the tight, lightning fast shooter gameplay — it's also a tremendous vision of the future where robotic warriors fight each other across fantastic sci-fi battle zones. The war will take you everywhere from gleaming cities on alien worlds to dusty deserts crawling with massive, awe-inducing creatures. Whether it's the towering Titans themselves, the various locations, or even the strange alien wildlife, all of the game's designs went through multiple iterations, starting with sketches and concept art before 3D renders and, in some cases, actual real-life models.

"Concept art plays an essential role in creating context, enabling our team to discuss context in consistent terms and move forward," explains game director Steve Fukuda in The Art of Titanfall. He describes the process of building the game as "the distillation of chaos into something new, fun, and relatable," and the art plays a huge role in that, taking a huge range of ideas and bringing them together into something cohesive. Titanfall's military-focused universe is very functional and industrial, with big chunky spaceships and rugged cars and tanks. And the book covers virtually every facet of the experience, from the weapons and technologies to the many locations you'll be exploring. Of course, there's also plenty of detail on the Titans themselves, letting you view these mechanical warriors from both in and outside of the cockpit.

While you won't be able to venture through Titanfall's beautiful sci-fi worlds until next month (unless you've been playing the beta), you can get an early glimpse in the gallery below. The Art of Titanfall is available on February 25th, and the game launches on the Xbox One and PC on March 11th, with a 360 version slated for the 25th.