Do You Prefer Single Player or Multiplayer Games?

BY WIL HARRINGTON: From GoldenEye to Fortnite, from Zork to Horizon Zero Dawn, gamers have long had a vast selection of great single player and multiplayer options. Is one mode genuinely better than the other or is a balanced experience between both best? Let us dive in, shall we?

[isarai]

Single player or co-op, I usually have like one competitive MP game on the side I'll play for a couple years, BF used to be my go to but 2042 sucks and I haven't really found a good replacement

[chrisx]

I'll take Single Player over MP today, yesterday, forever.

[Flawlessmic]

Yep single player all day, everyday and twice on sundays!!!

[1Victor]

I prefer single player but don’t mind a fun addictive 3rd person shooter like Warhawk and Starhawk

[RpgSama]

Single player games 999 times out of 1000

[blackblades]

Always gotta have that 1 MP for that fun competive entertainment.

[PhillyDillyDee]

Im the exact same. Used to play BF all the time until they ruined it.

[isarai]

I miss that awestruck experience when I'd play BF4 in my ps4 for the first time, or the extremely defined classes of the bfbc games

[Markdn]

Yeah I prefer single player, but I do like the way destiny let's you casually drop in to public events and leave whenever, don't like the crucible mind.

[neutralgamer1992]

single player games

MP games are like work now with their seasons and battle passes. For most with family, work etc, there just isn't enough time to play

[Notellin]

Yeah then you throw in esports and twitch and there is no way I can keep up. The kids are getting practice and watching film.

[Knushwood Butt]

These days almost exclusively single player, but I have over 600 hours in Uncharted 4 MP.

Last thing I played online was Returnal co-op with randoms.

You know what? I could play Returnal again and I have 250 hours on it.

[-Foxtrot]

Single Player

Having developers create rich, lore filled worlds and giving us great single play driven stories always appeal more to me. When developers do multiplayer games it always feels the effort just hasn't been put into it, like they are expecting replay value and overall fun to come from gamers gaming with each other, especially with close friends.

Rather having a well crafted level that will capture you and draw you in they'd rather create a short generic like level which you need to grind over and over with your party. It's like they are hoping you are so distracted playing with your friends, talking amongst yourselves that you won't realise and when you finally do click on and start to get bored they'll flash a shiny new update or expansion in your face which really is just the rest of the game you WOULD have gotten it if was purely single player.

The reason for that is by playing by yourself you don't have any distractions and you are concentrating more on the world on screen. You then start to notice if the gameplay is short, repetitive, not fun, buggy, generic etc which is why developers have to try harder when doing single player games. I always feel that's why developers want GaaS titles because it doesn't mean more money for them but less work as you drip feed the game content.

[P_Bomb]

Single player.

[IMissJimRyan]

Both.
I like tits growing games like jrpg and rage inducing games like Rocket League.

[where-eagles-dare]

I must admit I like t*ts myself.

[sadraiden]

Genuinely curious what you meant about "tits growing games like jrpg".

[IMissJimRyan]

It's about my own tits. They grow when I play those games.

[shinoff2183]

Hooray for that

[JackBNimble]

If a game is good I'll play it regardless.

[Obscure_Observer]

"Both."

Exactly!

[GoodGuy09]

Singleplayer. But it is fun to play pvp/e MP at times.

[JEECE]

Lol I wonder how people now claiming to love single player over multiplayer are the same people who bought a 360 because of "how great Xbox Live is and totally worth paying for."

[jartoon]

People's tastes mightve changed in the past 16 years... What's your point?

[JEECE]

My point is that a lot of the people who complain about the state of the games industry today contributed heavily to it getting to that point, but none of them ever acknowledge it.

[Chard]

I was balls deep into COD4/MW2 back in 2007-2010 but these days I'm exclusively about single player. For me the years of peak Infinity Ward were lightning in a bottle, but it's over. Now I'd rather play games that end. FromSoft games still do it for me on a neurochemical level

[Dudeson]

Then there's people like me who bought a 360 (next to their ps3) from their paper route money, just to play games like fable.

[shinoff2183]

Not I. When I bought a 360 years after ps3. It was for the single player games they had. Blue dragon lost odyssey Alan wake last remnant. I never even subscribed to live. Had no cares for multi-player then or now

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I never even bought Xbox Live, although the Lan parties were good fun, it's sad we moved away from that, there's nothing like crushing your friend in the next room over and yelling out insults to them.

[Vx_]

Funny how you make a baseless claim, present it like a fact, and then tell us your take on it just to sound smart. The fact is that you have nothing fruitful or factual to say.

[shinoff2183]

Vx

Who you talking about.

This site definitely needs something so others know who's replying to who lol

[Wyesvin]

I will never buy a MP game only I love the single player experience, the story, the character in them, the lore, the cutscene between mission I could go on and on but I'll stop there.

[jznrpg]

Single player by a mile.

[outsider1624]

90% single player 10% Multiplayer for me.

[Abnor_Mal]

Single player as I never liked the idea of needing others to play a game so I can also play the game.

[Aloymetal]

SP all day!

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Love Single Player and Co-op games. Single player games has been on a rampage for the oast couple years and I'm all for it always. I like my MP games but SP with great Gameplay and story is where I can get immersed and play for hours on end.

[ravens52]

Solo

[onisama]

used to love multiplayer games i had the most fun on them with friends, but as i got into adulthood i dont have the time to play them or being good (im very competitive and i have more fun being better than most) so now i love single player more and actually appreciate them more now

[psplova]

Single. All day.

[vikingland1]

Single player first, online games with personal friends and family second.

[AmUnRa]

SP for live, i dont like MP games, Does kids on high sugar having tantrum after tantrum and cursing, insulting and throwing female bodyparts in the headset, and by muting them dont know what the heck they are doing....Noppe, SP and some Co-op, thank you thats gaming for me.

[offtherecord]

Single for me. I used to have time to get good at multiplayer games but these days I'm lucky to get through a game on normal difficulty lol

[porkChop]

I prefer a great single player game over multiplayer any day of the week. I'd still like if more single player games had 2 player co-op though.

[anast]

Mostly solo, but every once and a while I will play a MP game. I would play more MP games, but the worlds are ugly, shallow and they beg for money every ten seconds. The shame with MP games is that the potential for something amazing is there, it's just that these companies are sleazy corpo rats and for this reason MP games are monetization schemes not games.

[hiawa23]

I am oldschool. I prefer single player story driven games. I do love coop, just not so much multi-player when most are just running around in chaos doing their own thing.

[slayernz]

Single player all the way, only mp i enjoy is coop or playing with/against people i know....no interest whatsoever in playing with randoms

[Jin_Sakai]

Both. No need to choose between one or the other.

[ModsDoBetter]

I find myself buying and spending more time with MP games than SP but I haven’t found a MP game that has stuck aside from Hunt: Showdown.

I usually play them with a mate until we get bored of it and move on to the next. I get more of my money’s worth from MP games in terms of £/hr but in such an oversaturated market, not many MP games retain a strong following or get consistent support which results in an endless cycle of dis-satisfaction.

For example: I was one of the people who unfortunately thought Multiversus looked amazing, bought into it and here we are: the game is being pulled until next year with no option for refunds.

I bought BF2042 on franchise merit alone because I always preferred BF over COD for my casual MP fix and look how that turned out.

Loved the look of LEAP. Bought it at launch, literally 20 players at peak yet the game is touted as a 60 player PvP title. Every review and every early impressions video I watched were seemingly all sponsored by the devs and about as transparent as concrete about that fact. That was one title I was fortunate enough to get a refund from Sony for.

The point I’m trying to make is that I don’t really know why I prefer MP games because I’ve definitely been let down a lot more by those than I have been with SP games but when I’m playing with my mates, I enjoy the social aspect (if it’s a good game), unless the game is terrible and it just winds everyone up.

That being said, I still enjoy a good single player story, even if at times it takes some time to get through simply because of pacing, or bugs and such which tend to be fixed a lot slower in SP games compared to MP games. (Example: Bungie are all over bugs on Destiny whereas I’m still waiting on bug fixes for Wanted: Dead).

[koko_1988]

SIngle player for me only

[MWH]

Single player > Couch Co-op > Online Multiplayer.

[MetroidFREAK21]

Single player nowadays. If you were to ask me 10 years ago, I wouldn't even touch SP games

[Demetrius]

Of course single player look how successful hogwarts legacy is and GOW ragnarok I do like co-op tho

[sagapo]

This depends on the game. I always play racing games online (multiplayer), same with soccer games. Games like Red Dead, Cyberpunk, GTA,… I prefer in single player. Diablo-like games I kinda like both ways but in co-op mode and with 2 others max.

[sadraiden]

There's MP like Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Smash Bros, and Mario Party. Good stuff. But then there's MP like Overwatch, CoD, Fortnite, FIFA, and CS. Bad stuff meant to create addiction. Pro Tip: if there's an esport of it, it's the bad kind of MP.

[gold_drake]

single player
i dont mind a good co-op game tho

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Always single player

[Binarycode]

Both, a Good story and Some MP for taking ass and kicking names.

[Crows90]

Single all the way. Afterwards co-op multiplayer games, then MMOs or arpgs and after that your typical multiplayer games.

[shinoff2183]

Easy. Single player games. Most multi-player seems samey with little to no story

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Single player, it can be hard getting my friends to agree on playing any given game, randoms are okay, but I'd rather friends. I really miss couch split screen, but even games like Super Smash Bros are difficult to get my friends to play, we just end up playing Mortal Kombat or Sonic Racing again.

Plus Single Player tends to have better characters/story and different mechanics, I can also put down the controller whenever I want (or pause the game).

[repsahj]

Both? I like multi-player for enjoyment only with friends. But nothing can compare the feeling if you play great single player game.

[terstomp]

Single player.

[DarXyde]

Definitely much more of a single player gamer.

Life is competitive enough. 🙂

[saint_seya]

I like games, i dont care if they are single or mp, as long as i enjoy it, i play the game. Even if the game is not good for the mayority, but i like it, i will play it, same thing if the game is good for mayority but i dont like it, i wont play it.
I play a lot of games (even tho i dont play as much as i used, moslty because work). My problem lately is that i dont complete the games most of the time. Im close to finish or half way through the game and i move to another one saying to myself that ill finish it later, and i keep adding games to the half way completed list.
The good thing of mp games is that i enjoy them with friends (MW2, Fornite) and i dont need to finish them.
(When i was younger i used to complete every game, then move to hardest lvl of difficulty to get the game done 100%, now is not completed or completed in normal (maybe hard), but without getting 100% done).

[OWCY]

Mmo's are my favourite type of games.

[Vanfernal]

Ironically mmo's have basically become single player games. You can pretty solo the game and then when you have to do dungeons and such get assigned other players as team mates and everyone does their part. I kind of miss when mmo's forced you to be social and interact with other people for even the simplest task, like forming a party, but who has time for that nowadays...?

[TheEroica]

Competitive mp games are an instant pass.... Not interested in wasting massive amounts of time to keep up with jobless people dumping dozens of hours I don't have into a game.

[S2Killinit]

Single player

[GamingSinceForever]

Single Player for sure but I really enjoyed It Takes Two.

[Juiceid]

While single player is the best, I’ll admit some of the most fun ive had playing video games was the original call of duty, gears of war, and battlefield bad company 2.

[BlaqMagiq1]

Single player of course. Multi-player lasts as long as the servers are turned on. Single player games are forever.

[Dude Dutch]

Single player.

[DarthZoolu]

Multiplayer games are my favorite but I don’t enjoy playing them as much because the biggest multiplayer games are all free to play which means I have to deal with the worst teammates in the history of gaming.

I have really enjoyed single player games this generation, and last generation but I’m not a big fan of narrative games like the last of us.

[Viljong]

SP priority depends on game. But 90% single

[thesoftware730]

I prefer all if done well.

Love single player, co-op and MMOs...so as long as they are fun.

[MocBistro]

big no to competitive multiplayer games, I'm suck at them lol

[M3talDiamond]

Single Player btw this is a rare instance on N4G where the majority of us here agree with each other

[eddieistheillest]

Both

[slayereddy]

Multiplayer for me is the main part of the game. Once the singleplayer is done that's it, but Multiplayer is where the value is if its good enough to make you want to keep coming back for more. In all of my games on Xbox I never play the singleplayer portion of the game, it simply doesn't interest me in anyway whatsoever. Only on my Nintendo Switch I have very few games but they are singleplayer games like Mario, Captain Toad, and Luigi's Mansion because the characters mean alot to me from my youth.

[WICKED_Wildcard]

Single player for me always. I don't care much for multiplayer at all, but then again, I've never played or cared for most first-person aggro-bro shooters since they mostly focus on online multiplayer.

[WilliamWolford]

I'm also a single player. When I'm alone, it's like I can better learn the details of the game and develop my strategies.