Games are jumping on the multiplayer bandwagon but is this necessarily a good thing? I want to know what the community thinks.
There are many exciting updates this month for Xbox. Copilot for Gaming is available now for early preview on mobile and will be coming to PC soon. Xbox PC app introduces a wave of new updates: Aggregated gaming library gives players quick access to games from Xbox, Game Pass, and other leading PC storefronts, and with publisher channels players can browse their favorite franchises. Updates for the Xbox Console includes customization for Most Recently Used, free-to-play benefits, Game Hubs, and dialog improvements for game saves.
"Players can now hide system apps, pin favorites to the list, and reduce the number of tiles displayed. This update is part of our ongoing effort to make Home more personal, flexible, and responsive to feedback."
This is welcomed, i like a less cluttered home screen.
Playdead co-founder Dino Patti is allegedly being sued by his former studio and business partner.
Patti was threatened with a lawsuit earlier this year after he posted a now-deleted LinkedIn post that shared an "unauthorized" picture of co-founder Arnt Jensen and discussed some of Limbo's development. Patti said Jensen demanded a little over $73,000 in "suitable compensation and reimbursement," adding that he had "repeatedly" had such letters over the last nine years.
Game Pressure met with the one and only Josh Sawyer at Digital Dragons and chatted about RPGs, Pentiment, Pillars of Eternity, the state of the industry, and the genre.
Uncharted 2 is a perfect example of how to add a fun unique multiplayer while not getting in the way of the single players development
However...
Uncharted 3 is a perfect example of how not to go over board with your multiplayer when doing a sequel. They added "COD" like changes....sorry I mean everyother multiplayer changes and it ended up not being as fun as Uncharted 2. It's become an unbalanced mess. I think U2 was more fun since it was just your skill and your two boosters...nothing more, nothing less.
^ Agreed completely with Mike
Uncharted 2 is a rare exception of a game where multiplayer was built fantastically, and Uncharted 3 was an example of them adding too much.
That said, Uncharted is the only series which I cannot imagine without the Multiplayer, and I think everything else has been a lazy effort to try and cash in on the multiplayer scene.
Bioshock, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, all highly rated single player games that added a multiplayer component that never truly shines and sustains. I feel God of War will be similar, but I am intrigued when I hear small comparisons to Power Stone, and as a huge fan of Power Stone, I have become more interested in following Ascension.
MP games are just becoming unbalanced messes. Overloading the game with perks, classes, weapon addons, kill streaks, death streaks. Its worse than the blue turtle shell. Mario Kart is actually LESS random than modern shooter MP. While i don't want games to be as simple as quake and UT3, i do want skill to make a comeback in multiplayer. watching an XP bar go up and earning red dot scopes doesn't keep me interested. Learning the maps, perfect weapon combos, weapon placement, choke points, and skill keeps me playing good MP games. We like to play games afterall. Why not play for the fun of playing rather than for the next rank up.
Also the whole "60 dollars for 500 hour skyrim, vs 60 dollars of 10 hour God of War" is ridiculous. Lets just compare the endless lollygagging of Minecraft to Uncharted next. Skyrim is a slow paced game designed to let you get what you want out of it. I could personally only stomach the main quest, everything else was useless. Uncharted 2 on the other hand was an excellently made campaign with great combat, pacing, story, and visuals. Both worth 60 dollars for different reasons. Do you really want to hack n' slash on god of war for 500 hours? The time-for-money argument is lame. Some games are great, long, and drawn out. Some are great exciting 10 hour campaigns.
I know I'm in the minority on this, but I really liked U3's multiplayer -- I didn't expect to, but I ended up getting 20 or so hours out of it.
But that's the exception. I honestly can't think of any other franchise that a) started out as SP-only, b) added a multiplayer mode to a subsequent entry in the franchise, and c) said online mode not sucking. I'm sure there are others that I'm unaware of, but they sure as hell aren't Bioshock, Dead Space, or Mass Effect.