It has been a growing trend of late, well the past 10 years, but it seems to be getting more egregious. Im talking about Multiplayer in every game made anymore. The biggest/most recent offenders would have to be the Mutliplayer aspect added in the Uncharted and Mass Effect franchises.
*Warning , Rant*
“But Jason I love Multiplayer!” And you know what you are in the majority, its hard for developers to turn down the aspect of multiplayer, when multiplayer heavy games sell so well (COD and BF for example). But do single player only games need a multiplayer outlet? I mean Mass Effect made its name without Multiplayer, why does it need it now? I personally am not a huge multiplayer gamer, however, don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good COD game and the random bouts of strategy in Star Craft but 80% of the time I just want to play a game for its amazing story, rich game play and without having to worry about some 12 year old griefing me all day.
“Well Jason if you don’t like the Multiplayer part of a game you don’t HAVE to play it.” This is true, however when I look at a game I am excited for I want the game to be all it can be and more. Take Mass Effect 3 for example, the first two games are great, no mulitplayer. Now Mass Effect 3 will have a multiplayer component to it, and all I can think is: “Why didn’t they use this extra space/time/money to make the single player game longer/better/more detailed?” Really, anything besides just to tack on another Horde battle mode (note to game devs horde mode is lame). Think about it, how long until every game has multiplayer and only a 4 hour single player game? Bleh.
Finally lets look at it from the Game companies side. Statistically Multiplayer games have a tendency to sell better, plus by adding a multiplayer component to a game, they can add the good old “online play pass” code to prevent/ hinder used game sales. So in reality, if you think about it, the Multiplayer add on for a heavy single player game is just an elaborate DRM tool and is being spoon fed to us as a exciting benefit.. “Woo I get to kill people online! I’ve never done that before!”.
Well I for one am not excited for this trend and unless something changes I am fearful that I will slowly become the cranky old man wishing for the good ole days and yelling at kids to get off my game lawn…… But enough about that, what do you think?
/Rant
As much as I like the multiplayer feature being on there. I completely agree and some games just need to stay single player
Multiplayer is awesome when done right, and fits some games really well, like BF, COD, Halo, etc. If it isn’t done right, and doesn’t quite fit the game, like Skyrim, GTA, and other single player games, then it is a waste of resources. I think Bioware might have done multiplayer right this time around, as I can see how they are implementing it fitting the setting of the third game (I refuse to play the demo, as I want to experience Mass Effect 3 spoiler free), but I don’t think it is necessary at all, and agree with you that it would be better if those resources were spent on the single player campaign.
Glad to see I am not the only one. And to be honest mulitplayer in a heavy single player game wouldnt be bad if it was drop in drop out. I mean how awesome would Skyrim be if your buddy could join you a la borderlands style? It only pisses me off when multiplayer is just tacked on junk, and sorry to burst your bubble but from what Ive seen the ME multiplayer will be just that.
Diablo’s multiplayer is what single player games should do for multiplayer. Like you said its the same thing just lets people drop in and drop out.
yes, same example. If someone joins your game make the enemies harder, make the drops better and Keep the focus on what really brought us to the game. Same goes for heavy multiplayer games as well. The next COD or BF game shouldn’t even HAVE a Single Player campaign IMHO. Think about it, instead of making a lack luster 4 hour game, why not just make more stuff/ guns/maps/options for multiplayer. Shit most COD players I know haven’t even touched the MW3 campaign. But what do I know lol
I never play the single player on any of those games lol