Naughty Dog rules out campaign co-op for The Last of Us

El33tonline writes:

"The Last of Us’ main campaign features two protagonists - grizzled combat veteran Joel and 14-year-old orphan Ellie. This setup seems to provide the perfect opportunity for two-player co-op but Naughty Dog recently confirmed that the game’s multiplayer offering will be separate from the singleplayer-only campaign."

[Wizziokid]

Fine by me, I'm interested in to seeing what the multiplayer will actually be though.

I'm personally hoping it has a horde-eque mode with the infected and then some U3 type modes in there.

[SaveFerris]

Ditto. I'm sure whatever Naughty Dog has in store will be good.

[Wizziokid]

Totally agree, after playing all three Uncharted games (not including vita since I don't own it) I have faith this wont disappoint, my personal favourite new IP this generation.

[WildArmed]

I think it'd be hard to sell the interaction between Joel and Ellie if the Ellie is being controlled by another person.
It makes more sense to demonstrate the AI and narrative via a Single-player only campaign.

[Bathyj]

I pray to god its not some crappy horde mode.

Totally the wrong vibe for this type of game, and shouldnt be shoehorned into it just for the sake of pleasing the MP gamers.

[dboyc310]

Maybe it will play something like uncharted 2. Didn't part of the group that made Among Thieves went on to to work on TLOU while the other part handled Drakes Deception?

[THC CELL]

i am glad there is no coop as i want to test the hell out of the ai

[360GamerFG]

Because thats impossible if the game has co-op option right?? How about, oh I don't know, whenever you're playing solo the AI controls the other protagonist?. . . Nah! That would make too much sense right?
Can't believe anyone would be glad about missing an option. It's one thing to be okay with it, its another to say you're glad

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Well sometimes games suffer because of multiplayer and it seems this kind of game will be better off without it. We wont know until we find out a bit more about what the multiplayer actually is though. I'm sure it will be good coming from Naughty Dog so I'm keeping an open mind.

[Dms2012]

So ND leaves something out that might have added alot of replay value to the game and you guys just celebrate it? Typical.

[Tetsujin]

Just because a game has multiple characters doesn't mean it has to have co-op. There's plenty of games that have high replay value without it; and some games are actually better without a second player around.

[Wizziokid]

you never played Uncharted?? that game has no coop and has replay value, some for treasures, others for the easy platinum.

Then there's the multiplauer

[cpayne93]

It's fiine if they have a seperate co op campaign. Hope they have splitscreen.

[WildArmed]

Never played a single player game before?

It's sad if adding co-op or MP is the only way to add replay value.

Make a good game, it'll have replay value.

[dboyc310]

Totally agree. If the game is good then the replay value will be there. I played Among Thieves a gizillion times just for the enjoyment of the campaing.

[dboyc310]

Co-op could be fun but at the same time look at it this way. You play at your OWN pace without having to worry about protecting your partner. If it has Co-op it's better if its standalone like they did in the uncharted games.

[BlaqMagiq24]

Dude have you watched the latest trailer for The Last of Us? The AI is so advanced you don't need campaign co-op for it. The game is about the interaction between two people, not killing everyone you come across with a buddy.

[DasTier]

That is disappointing, it could have been so badass going coop :( then again, I would NEVER want to be the one stuck playing as the little girl

[Aeon]

Good, then they can put all of their efforts into making a great single player rather than try and make all of the single player elements work for co-op.

[TLG1991]

this is fantastic!! they will focus on just 1 player playing the campaign so it can utilise all the useful tools.

then they will probably make a second shorter story for co-op which is separate and that will be the multilayer aspect.

i cant see this being any other type of multiplayer like a team vs team thing, which is good every now and then sick of all the junk online games that nobody even plays

[Summons75]

Good, if it's a survival game than having someone else would take that experience away

[dragonyght]

Word of a wise. Look what happened with Dead Space 3

[Ron_Danger]

Although its unfortunate that DS3 is going the rout of Resident Evil 5, it's still too early to write it off. Keep in mind that EA stated that DS2 (when still in development) was gonna be more action focused, people complained, and yet the final outcome was still an awesome game. Yeah they replaced a lot of the survival horror aspects with strait violence (needle to the eye scene) but in the end it worked. It was more Michael Bay then, say, the Coen Brothers but that's kind of the way multi platform games are heading.

[Summons75]

yeah except you can still play DS3 by yourself without the annoying coop partner with you like RE5. So you can still have the entire DS experience alone like it should be played

[Ron_Danger]

The problem I have with campaign co op is that it kills the difficulty of a game. For example, Unreal Tournament 3 was really REALLY hard one the hardest difficulty (on par with the underwater level of the Ninja Turtles game on NES) but then they patched it and added campaign co op and it was a walk in the park. I would rather have a bunch of separate co op chapters where you play as other characters on the game (especially since ND already said there's a bunch of other NPC's in The Last of Us) which showed a separate story line based in the same game universe. If they add just strait campaign co op, then there's probably gonna be forced co op sections that all co op games suffer from. Or it'll just play like a regular single player game that feels like co op was just thrown in last second

[gokuss122002]

I always wanted there to be a game that had a secret online multiplayer mode, that was to only be revealed (and accessible) upon completion of the single player. A byproduct of the single player would be that is serves as 'training' for the multiplayer. It would (virtually) guarantee that everyone online is fully "capable" of playing the game "properly"; for they've completed the single player... But yeah, imagine if (upon "completion") the game seamlessly *, and possibly without even alerting you, transitioned into the online multiplayer.
*Burnout Paradise had a system in place that allowed the player to SEAMLESSLY transition between single and multiplayer; (almost) literally at the press of button; no lobbies, no waiting. It would INSTANTLY go from SP to MP; it was virtually a toggle, similar to muting/unmuting.
p.s note that I'm not suggesting SP/MP "toggle" for this game, but simply the seamless transition aspect*

This game would be perfect for such an experience. Imagine being the first person to complete the game. You'd be the only 'person' in the game. Almost like an "I am legend" kind of a deal. Now imagine your first encounter with another "completer"; chances are, you'd be reluctant to just kill them (given the atmosphere..)...

#decides to leave fantasy/rant land