A Warning About Multiplayer Syndrome

With more and more games losing focus on the campaign and instead focusing on the multiplayer element, could it be that we're starting to see the Multiplayer Syndrome pandemic? And could multiplayer only games really be a good thing?

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

This is why, if I were a game developer, I'd lock out the multiplayer until the story is finished.

[gcolley]

and that is why i would not buy your game. i bet you would then sell an unlock code.

[QuodEratDemonstrandm]

No. No unlock codes. If it's too much work to engage more than three brain cells to keep up with the story (note I said story, NOT campaign. I won't be making any CoD clones) then any game I would make is probably not going to be on your radar anyway.

[admiralthrawn87]

what about warhawk and unreal tournament? great examples of how MP only works good. i believe that developers should start offering multiplayer only portions of the game for cheaper than full retail price.

but i also agree with the article in a lot of ways. goldeneye, halo, gears of war, these benefit from the campaign tremendously.

[JonahNL]

I will always prefer singleplayer over multiplayer. I'm currently playing L.A. Noire on PC, instead of Battlefield 3. Why? Because L.A. Noire's storytelling got me by the balls.

[C_Menz]

Yet another article using the Socom Confrontation artwork. At least tag it!

[Hagaf22]

Thank goodness I'm not the only one noticing this. I'm sure this picture will never die and be used over and over again for the wrong game. Next we'll see if used for Rainbow Six: Patriots.

I wish some one would make a story about this picture and how it is only from the game "Socom: Confrontation". No other game used this image.

Please Let This Image Die, it's not the face of fps'

[TacoTaru]

Online Multiplayer games are like Reality TV shows. They don't require expensive creativity and story and environment but they somehow appeal to the masses.

[Winkle92]

I think people just prefer the social aspect of multiplayer. Singleplayer is fun on occasion, but I'd rather share stories with friends than be told a story. Personally.

[MaverickStar7]

I disagree with this article. But there is no right or wrong since it is all about personal preference. The many on either side of the fence and no side is any better. Consumers taste change over time, and if one side or the other dies its because there just isnt enough interest. I'm mostly a multiplayer gamer now. Gaming since the Atari 2600 days, very little on the single player side really wows me anymore. I enjoy the competitive nature of multiplayer, the progression, and the uncertainty that a human opponent brings.

[SillyBastid]

I am honestly starting to get sick of multiplayer... AI has become so impressive, that the computer is a better opponent than humans. Not to mention the story lines, and trophies of course (most are from SP)!

[gcolley]

AI sucks as bad as it did 10 years ago. i don't want better, I want believable. AI is not really AI, but the perception of AI. the better the perception the better the AI in peoples minds. any AI can shoot you from the other side of the game with a handgun, doesn't make it good. i prefer my shooting games in MP thanks, unless it is an interesting game like deus ex or riddick. I find the "interactive movie" style of shooter to be flat out boring. I have played too many in my life to find them anything but a chore.

Time and time again, crap AI is blamed for the lack of a perfect score.

On the article...
This article is just dumb. on the same note, how can you say a single player (or a multiplayer game) is the best game ever when they are not really the same experience.

you (author) stick to your single player games and i'll play whatever i'm in the mood to play thanks. how can you dictate what people should play when it is their money and their time. if i don't want to go through the bore of another campaign shooter no different from the hundreds of other games and movies out there then why is this a problem??? when you have played better SP in the past, even BFBC1 was better, then playing a campaign aimed at the masses [read: lowest common factor or just dumb american] is just not going to happen. i would rather skate around achieving nothing in skate3 or drive around in driver achieving pretty much the same amount of nothing then play another COD clone, especially when they got it right early on (BFBC1)

but when COD 4 outsold BFBC1 by a country mile, EA told DICE to make them a COD campaign and we'll fund your multiplayer. this is what these developers (and people like you) think it takes to be a good game... sales.

i bet this author's favourite movies are michael bay movies haha