Games with multiplayer-like single player

[Squilookle]

I actually really love it when a part of a singleplayer experience feels like multiplayer. To do this, the singleplayer section must

1) play out differently each time, because the AI reacts differently
2) involve enemies that are of comparable strength and intelligence to you
3) make you want to replay them a lot- like multiplayer does in general

Unreal Tournament is a great example of this, as each level in the story is an arena fight against dynamic bots that are just as strong as you. The level progression is the nugget that makes you want to complete it and move on to the harder levels, as a good singleplayer should.


Occasionally though, you get a section in an otherwise normal singleplayer game that feels like you're playing multiplayer. Driver 2 had a mission called 'Find The Clue' where you had to track down and wreck 4 cars before they vanished into the city, and their branching paths and equal health to you made it really feel like you were playing an online game of tag.


I think my favourite though, is 'Dangerous pursuit' from 007: Agent Under Fire. in an otherwise fairly linear FPS, you're suddenly given a gadget laiden car and set loose on the streets of Hong Kong, with the ability to freely roam pretty much wherever you want. Not only that, but when you get to the other side of town (at your own pace, too) you encounter a van that you need to run off the road. It drives all over town, never taking the same path twice, and is an extremely fun and dynamic ride, well worth replaying over and over. It feels like the perfect multiplayer sandbox that nobody's ever made yet


Does anyone else have moments from singleplayer games that felt like multiplayer matches?

 

[Squilookle]

Speaking of dynamic bots, the AI in Killzone 2 & 3?s bot matches was pretty good at mimicking what good human players would do. A lot of times it was good practice for online matches.

 

[EvilRoy]

The .Hack series (like... 7 or more games?) is a single player experience that simulates a MMO. It lacks the ability to play out substantially differently, because the AI isn't that great and battles are like a node-system. But they do have allies that just aren't online sometimes for non-story related reasons (they went out side or left to pee or something), and there are points in the game where you can just stumble into missable stuff that involves player interactions that aren't you-centric. The later games got a bit better about that, but it still had limitations wrt AI interaction. They do go all in on it though, and there are even forums with realistic discussions, albeit with a surprising lack of douchebags, to help the illusion.

 

[IceForce]

Surely I can just cheat this question, and say that any RTS game that has a random map / skirmish mode is essentially like this.

 

[BrawlMan]

The Unreal Tournaments games that came out on PS2/XBOX had pretty good AI bots. Quake III is another good example. That is all I got.

 

[Squilookle]

The .Hack series (like... 7 or more games?) is a single player experience that simulates a MMO. It lacks the ability to play out substantially differently, because the AI isn't that great and battles are like a node-system. But they do have allies that just aren't online sometimes for non-story related reasons (they went out side or left to pee or something), and there are points in the game where you can just stumble into missable stuff that involves player interactions that aren't you-centric. The later games got a bit better about that, but it still had limitations wrt AI interaction. They do go all in on it though, and there are even forums with realistic discussions, albeit with a surprising lack of douchebags, to help the illusion.

I never realised there was a series that did that. That's actually kind of cool. So its basically the only MMO you can guarantee can be played until the end of time. Nice.

Surely I can just cheat this question, and say that any RTS game that has a random map / skirmish mode is essentially like this.

You could- but why not make it more interesting by picking the very best example, and tell us why that one in particular is the best?