You all know that I love me some co-op. In fact, more often than not, I’d rather play co-op over some kind of versus multiplayer. To me, there’s nothing quite like jumping into a game with your friends, and playing alongside them while you chat about how things are going or how much better you are at everything. Not that I do that… often.
Anyway, I’m one of the biggest proponents of co-op appearing in most games, but it doesn’t mean I want there to be a death to single player as we know it. In a recent interview, Patrick Redding, the multiplayer director of Splinter Cell: Conviction, had some interesting things to say about playing games solo.
I see this co-op as fitting within a trend or a tendency that I think is emerging – actually it emerged a long time ago, but I think it’s just moved into the mainstream – which is that before, co-op was a relatively hardcore gaming paradigm for people… They don’t want it to be a solitary experience, they want to be able either to sit on the couch with their girlfriend and play, or be on Xbox Live with their best friends and play, and feel that something is unfolding according to some design intention, and they’re getting a chance to experience that but it doesn’t have to be that alone.
While I’m not saying this spells doom for single player gaming, it’s a telling perspective from someone inside the industry. No doubt this is why we see single player games getting multiplayer add-ons, or why Splinter Cell: Conviction only has a 5 hour solo campaign. Don’t get me wrong, I am dying to play the co-op, but it did surprise me to hear that the solo was so light.
So what do you guys think? Do you agree that nobody wants a solitary experience any longer? Personally, I see a place for both, and I don’t see why they have to be mutually exclusive. Tell us your thoughts.
Source- Videogamesdaily
I see a place for both and so does the industry. Final Fantasy games, God of War, Fallout/The Elder Scrolls, these are all fine examples of single player games remaining strong.
Also, co-op is always great fun. I’m hoping the new Socom has single player co-op like the last PS2 iteration. My friends and I like realistic military games so that would be the perfect game to execute pixel perfect Breac, Bang, Clear’s.
I feel there is room for both as well. While I prefer something longer than 5 hours while I’m on my own, co-op enables you to play it with different people in different ways etc etc. Basically makes it 2 new games.
Lately I’ve been more enjoying the single player experience than multiplayer. If anything, co-op is the most I’ve done involving anything of that sort. But, generally, it seems that more and more games are putting more focus on the multiplayer aspect rather than single player (minus the few obvious games.) Myself and a friend of mine believe that if anything, game companies should take the extra time to just do two separate releases; a single player game, and a multiplayer game. As great as it is having the two bundled together, it’s just more for the game to be judged.
For example (just an example); if they were to do say, Modern Warfare 2 JUST as a single player game, with all the focus on that, then a few months later just do like a Call of Duty: Online sort of game, with frequent updates to keep it up-to-date, then that’d be fine. Kind of what Valve does with it’s games. You don’t see a new Half-Life Deathmatch with every Half-Life game.
End rant
Well, it is coming from a guy who’s game features co-op, so grain of salt is needed.
I like co-op, but the day single player games are no more is the day I quit gaming.
Eddy is right, there is a place for both
Don’t mean to contradict you there Eddy, but Splinter Cell’s campaign is not 5 hours. I think IGN mentioned five hours in their review and from then on the number 5 has spread like wildfire across the internet. I played it for a little over six yesterday at medium difficulty and very few retries and I still am not close to beating it. It feels as long as any game of its kind.
[quote comment=”10952″]I like co-op, but the day single player games are no more is the day I quit gaming.[/quote]
Same here. If I can’t enjoy a game on my own, it has no value for me whatsoever.
Well it’s true that Singleplayer is a weakening breed of gamemodes. The simple reason is that there’s only so much fun you can have with Singleplayer until you’ve beaten the game, and for a game that has a short Story mode, it really only passes as a Rental. I don’t mind games having a Multiplayer mode along with a Singleplayer mode because it gives the game some more longevity overall. I do enjoy me a Singleplayer RPG once in a while, and as long as the game is long enough and fun, I’ll definitely enjoy it. If developers add content or make the game replayable enough that the game is fulfilling with just a Singeplayer mode, then those will be the Singleplayer games that stand out and withstand the test of time.
[quote comment=”10954″]Don’t mean to contradict you there Eddy, but Splinter Cell’s campaign is not 5 hours. I think IGN mentioned five hours in their review and from then on the number 5 has spread like wildfire across the internet. I played it for a little over six yesterday at medium difficulty and very few retries and I still am not close to beating it. It feels as long as any game of its kind.[/quote]
Orly? That actually makes me feel much better! Thanks for sharing.
[quote comment=”10954″]Don’t mean to contradict you there Eddy, but Splinter Cell’s campaign is not 5 hours. I think IGN mentioned five hours in their review and from then on the number 5 has spread like wildfire across the internet. I played it for a little over six yesterday at medium difficulty and very few retries and I still am not close to beating it. It feels as long as any game of its kind.[/quote]
1up.com also said 5 hours.
Quote is:
“, it’s also over all-too-quickly; experienced gamers can probably expect the single-player campaign to last about five to six hours.”
As far as most shooters, I could care less about the single player. I never played a halo campain alone. But it has to stay around for at least until half-life ep 3 is done. Then I will allow it to slowly go extinct.
This does not mean that I don’t like single player. It is still neccessary in rpg’s and the like.
[quote comment=”10958″]
Quote is:
“, it’s also over all-too-quickly; experienced gamers can probably expect the single-player campaign to last about five to six hours.”[/quote]
Hmm, I’ve played every single Splinter Cell, and I just finished the Conviction campaign, and I clocked in at about 8-9 hours. And while I will say it’s no Chaos Theory, it does have the best story in the series and the gameplay is refreshing. A great game all around and worth at least a rent, and if you’re a coop person a definite buy.
I will rent it for sure