Poll: What happened to single-player?

[Eldritch Warlord]

Never bought a game that didn't have single-player, actually I think you'll be hard pressed to find one without single-player.

In fact if you're counting the training modes in ShadowRun and UT3 as a single-player mode then the only multiplayer only games I see are TF2 and some MMO's.

 

[DeadlyFred]

Simple: single-player takes more effort. With multi-player components all you need is a static set of assets and a player base. With single player you need stories, objectives, you need content that goes beyond a handful of maps, player models and weapons. You need enemies, you need AI. Single player aspects are basically getting the same level of content as their multi-player counterparts these days. Which means they are incredibly brief and bereft of any depth.

 

[Darth Marsden]

Much as I hate to agree with DeadlyFred, he's made a good point. It's evident in mods - there's always more multiplayer mods then single player ones simply because it's harder to make single player ones. With multiplayer games (and mods), you can keep updating them with patches and fixes. You can't with single player ones, which means you have to spend more time and effort to get them right in the first place. When it comes to mods, most teams put together will fall apart before the mod is finished, and the whole thing is abandoned. It's a shame, really.

Personally, I much prefer single player games, because I'm an anti-social little git, so that's what I buy. I cannot name a single game I own that is solely multiplayer.

 

[xitel]

I don't think that you can't update single-player games. Just look at Oblivion (wow, popular game for this thread): they have released tons of DLC that changed the game a fair bit. True, most of it was just some houses, but it still changed the game. Then you have the expansion sets, which may have taken longer to make but actually all new story lines and quests. My brother actually single handedly created a mod for Morrowind in which you went to a slave island and overthrew the captors. It may take a little more effort to make new single-player stuff, but that just means that the finished product will be that much better.

 

[DeadlyFred]

What's so bad about agreeing with me?

Another thing which probably effects overall game content is cross-platforming. Yes, in many cases, there are individual teams and even separate development houses to account for various iterations of a title but all those teams still need to get paid. With games costing ever more to make in the first place, splitting the bill 4-5 different ways can't be beneficial.

 

[xitel]

I'm sorry, not to offend or anything, but I'm quite sure how that affects DLC? And besides, DLC is kinda off topic from single-player. I'm not attacking the internet, that would kinda hypocritical. I'm saying that, at the very least, games should have at least bots. I mean, I loved Battlefield 2, and I never played that game online, only with bots. Well made bots can convince me to buy a game, I will admit. Unreal, for example, was a good game, because it had GOOD BOTS. I think one of the best combo games I've played and loved was Perfect Dark for the N64. Great single-player, good multi-player with variable bots. You could play with the really stupid bots that would sooner throw their own teeth at you then shoot you, or the bots that actually pretty close to a real person (for the time). I like multiplayer, but seriously, we need a way to play these games alone.

 

[Jobz]

I absolutely refuse to buy a game without a single player campaign (Save for WoW of course, that's the exception that proves the rule. But that I don't even play anymore.) The main reason I play video games is to have fun when no one else is around. Sure my friends and I will play a round of Smash Bros. or Halo once in a while, but for the most part we have better things to do than play video games. Drinking copious amounts of liquor and trying to get lucky for example.

I play a few games online (Halo 3 every once in a while and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 for a few weeks after I got it.) but I would have never bought those games if it weren't for the great single player campaigns. The reasons I don't enjoy multi-player as much as single player are more or less the same as for everyone else. With one that I think is specific to me, I suck terribly at multi-player.

For some reason no matter how good I am at the single player version of a game, and no matter how much I play online or with friends (We had several 4 on 4 Halo 3 matches every day for a couple of months after it came out in my dorm, and I played online whenever I had nothing important to do.) I just can't seem to get very good at it. Not I'm not the absolute worst, I usually manage to place somewhere in the middle of the rankings, and I managed to win rounds every once in a while. But getting crushed by 12 years olds and being called terrible names only stays entertaining for so long.

 

[the monopoly guy]

two words: TEAM FORTRESS 2

Three words: I can't count

I hope that was deliberate.

I wish it wasn't.

There, I fixed it for you.

(Note that this is meant simply as a harmless joke)

Anyway, lack of single or multiplayer make no difference in me buying the game, as long as it's a good one I'm interested.

 

[shatnershaman]

I hope that was deliberate.

As for the main topic, I hardly think single player games are dead. Don't forget that some of the rated best games ever are single player (To name an obvious one: Portal)

GTA 4 is the highest rated game this generation though.

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/grandtheftauto4

 

[PlasticPorter]

I think that when multiplayer become a must have was when the bar for games was lowered.
Games became more cookie cutter because its so easy to use the same format for every multi player game and so hard to come up with new ones. Back when multi player was less important game makers placed more value on innovative gameplay and good story.

 

[cthulhu257]

I think developers should just make games single-player only, at a lower price. Then, if you want, you can just download the multiplayer.

 

[42manZ]

I dig single player games, but I get a little annoyed when some games don't have multiplayer, or only have online multi player.

 

[Jumplion]

Your avatar is so cute xitel :3

Anyway, Multiplayer has reached a peak recently, at it will only get higher but it will never overshadow Single-Player games. Multiplayer is an important factor for me, but almost all of the times I complete the single player mode before ever touching the multiplayer unless my friends push me to play a round online.

Also, maybe a reason you don't see any questions about the single-player aspect of a game is because it might not do much anyway, especially for sequals. In, let's say, Gears of War 2, we already know that Marcus is going to be fighting some Locust and stuff, we know he's going to fight some big guy and save the day, but what new features in the multiplayer mode will it add like the Meat Flag mode? Or, to put another game in the Limelight, how about Resistance 2? We know Hale's going to fight some Chimera and go all around the USA, but the multiplayer is vastly different from most other multiplayer games with different weapons and scoring systems AND has 8 player co-op with a separate story parallel to the Single Player mode. Or again, to put another game in the spotlight, how about Killzone 2? Well, we don't know much about single-player yet but we do know the person will be going around the Helghast planet, but for multiplayer they have this badge system that alow you to mix and match classes together.

That's not to say that Single Player games have died down, there are still plenty of good SP games out there, but I'm fearing that developers (especially for 360 games, not to sound like a fanboy or anything) are relying much to heavily on the success of their multiplayer aspect (IE, Halo, CoD4, Bad Company, Haze, Gears of War) than to put in a decent single player experience.

 

[Gotham Soul]

I suppose these days, multiplayer is seen as a free Get Out of Jail card to developers because in this day and age having an "excellent" multiplayer within a game, which not only includes the basic shoot-everything-that-moves but also includes cooperative play, makes up for a hilariously bad or infuriatingly mediocre single player experience (read: Halo 3), or so the consumer charts will have you believe.

I don't really have a problem with multiplayer games, since I'll freely admit I am somewhat bad at them, depending on the genre, and I lack the time or focus necessary to actually practice for that sort of thing. The reason I enjoy a high-quality single player experience over a multiplayer experience is not because I hate multiplayer, its because I hate those snarky, narcissistic cunts that tend to plague the community of a lot of multiplayer games. I know that there are only a select few of those bastards and that they make a very small percentage of the whole community, and that most of the community is actually decent in some ways with a sense of humor but having just one is guaranteed to crash the whole experience for you.

I wouldn't mind multiplayer as, say, being integrated later as an optional piece to a game, because single player will always be the best experience I'll have in a game.

 

[The Iron Ninja]

In a direct response to the thread title that always forms in my mind before I read the OP and find the question to be a bit more complex:
"Judging by the results of the poll I would say that nothing has happened to single player"

 

[shatnershaman]

(especially for 360 games,not to sound like a fanboy or anything)

See you still have a great sense of humour Jumplion.

 

[Jumplion]

(especially for 360 games,not to sound like a fanboy or anything)

See you still have a great sense of humour Jumplion.

I'm like the Jack Black of the Escapist.....or something.

 

[Rapadas]

Multiplayer becomes boring to me very quickly.

 

[LewsTherin]

(especially for 360 games,not to sound like a fanboy or anything)

See you still have a great sense of humour Jumplion.

I'm like the Jack Black of the Escapist.....or something.

but can you play the guitar?

I do enjoy a good single player game, as they are generally more rewarding and fulfilling for me, but a fun multiplayer function helps if it doesn't hinder. Sometimes I want to play eiht my friends, and sometimes I'm just too lazy to do much more than clear out the mine down the road solo-style. What ever works. But if the multiplayer just seems shoe-horned in for it's own sake, of the single player is just weak , it's no good.