Portal 2 "Probably" Valve's Single-Player Swan Song

[Aurora Firestorm]

Y'know, with the number of interpretations this can have, let's not jump to conclusions just yet. Wait for Valve's next game, and if it's really the anti-single-player experience that half of this thread is predicting it will be, then we can panic.

For now, I generally believe that while Valve likes to make money, if that was all it was in for, it would be making less innovative, less awesome games and more standard non-risky types. (Portal was quite a gamble; Portal 2, not so much, but they really put some oomph into the sequel to make it as good as they could instead of just riding on Portal's coattails.)

I have faith in Valve. They may decline like many other companies, but for now, I'll wait for proof of that downward slope before I freak out. So right now I'm assuming that they're just including multiplayer or co-op in everything. (Frankly, we need more co-op. I hate watching other people play games. Though I definitely believe in single player so long as I'm playing it. )

 

[Beryl77]

We shouldn't take this statement too serious. Gabe Newell and his team are known to think often about the future and make theories about it. In November 2010, Erik Johnson told Gamasutra in an interview, that Singleplayer games will have a good future.
I think it's a bit farfetched, if not wrong, to think that Valve will only produce Multiplayer games from now on, only because of this statement. In my opinion it's more likely that the people at Valve want to integrate the community more and further develop the way we consume story-based games.
People shouldn't get worried because of a statement that has been quoted out of context because it's good for a headline.

 

[KazOondo]

Hopefully this means the games will play like L4D. You can play L4D single player just fine, but you have the option of taking people with you as other characters. So much for awesome character animations, though.

 

[Quellist]

Multiplayer games can kiss my ass, so can Valve if this is the way they are going.

 

[crazypsyko666]

I'm not overly concerned. Even if the Half Life series is affected by this, it will likely mean a co-op function that doesn't impede the story. Alyx Vance has been waiting to be played for quite a while, if I say myself. This could also mean a simple deathmatch function, or nothing at all. They could just decide that Singleplayer is too important.

Keep in mind that as a pirate, I see great value in buying games that have good multiplayer, because online connection is basically the same thing (functionally) as always on piracy protection. With rare exception, it's impossible to access a lot of great online content.

 

[wammnebu]

Oh, no. Not the horrors of multiplayer. Whatever shall we do?

Thanks for caring so much. /sarcasm

Caring about what, exactly? Here's a hint. Valve's a business. They "care" about money.

what he said.

besides from the way so many gamers turned their backs on Bioware for not being
"rpg enough (because bioware has always been an rpg purist)" I wouldn't care much for fan 'loyalty' either. In fact its probably more dangerous as you will never be as good as your first game.

so i for one, am more than enthusiastic to bury my crowbar and see Valve do what they do best (what THEY want to do)

 

[Daveman]

Well tbh I never play any co-op PC games because I don't want to play with randomers and organising it is a faff.

I'm actually pissed off because I bought Portal 2 on release and none of my friends are buying it until it gets discounted so I won't even play the co-op for a few months at least!

Frankly Valve I play video games by myself and I go out and get pissed with my mates, not the other way around.

Also, admit it, you're stuck on half-life. You've lured a lot of people along with the plot and people expected some kind of payoff but really the game is nothing more than the video game equivalent of Lost where nothing has any real meaning so just do what they did and make some random shit up so we can conclude that games series just like you desperately want to.

 

[BillDaCatt]

I have a simple answer to this. If Portal 2 is "probably" the last of Valve's single player games, then Portal 2 will "probably" be the last Valve game I buy. Simple!

 

[Rayken15]

Funny how VALVe NEVER released a game with 3 at the end. <-----Way off-topic.

OT: I really hope this means single player + multiplayer component not multiplayer only.

 

[Rewdalf]

So are we talking Call of Half-Life, Half-Life of Duty or some other abomination?

"What?! How'd he Crowbar me from that distance! Fucking Commando!"

Spoiler: Also

 

[Josh123914]

whats this mean for half life 3

I'm guessing player 1 will still control Freemon, but friends might be able to jump in occasionally and be side-characters

 

[Rewdalf]

Funny how VALVe NEVER released a game with 3 at the end. <-----Way off-topic.

No wait, that actually is really funny!

Half Life
Half Life 2
Half Life 2 Episode 1
Half Life 2 Episode 2
Counter Strike
Counter Strike Condition Zero
Counter Strike 1.5
Counter Strike 1.6
Counter Strike Source
Team Fortress
Team Fortress 2
Portal
Portal 2
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Alien Swarm

That three is really being avoided here...

 

[TriGGeR_HaPPy]

Is this really that big a deal? There's only one Valve game that doesn't have any multiplayer function (Portal). Hell, looking at Valve's catalog of games (specifically Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2), they appear to do multiplayer focused games really well.

This. Seriously, this could mean a major change in the way they do things... Or it could be an extremely minor change. That is to say, no more Portal 1's.

I think we should wait a while to see what they really end up doing before declaring this the beginning of the end of all things good in Valve games...

 

[Savber]

LET THE OVERREACTION AND BITCHING BEGIN!

...crap, I'm 3 pages late in typing this.

 

[Rayken15]

Funny how VALVe NEVER released a game with 3 at the end. <-----Way off-topic.

No wait, that actually is really funny!

Half Life
Half Life 2
Half Life 2 Episode 1
Half Life 2 Episode 2
Counter Strike
Counter Strike Condition Zero
Counter Strike 1.5
Counter Strike 1.6
Counter Strike Source
Team Fortress
Team Fortress 2
Portal
Portal 2
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Alien Swarm

That three is really being avoided here...

Avoided like a plague.As it looks number 2 is VALVe's favorite and most succesful number ( as in, it sold well).

 

[Casual Shinji]

I don't mind if they add a multiplayer mode like they did in Portal 2, but I hope they're not going for somekind of "jump in, jump out" multiplayer feature in the next Half-Life. I know Valve wants to be the one who pushes the industry forward with new engines and innovations, but if that means they're saying goodbye to the singleplayer all together it would be a very sad thing.

Then again, maybe it's not as bad as all that. Let's hope so.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

You know maybe this just means all games will have some form of co-op play in it or something similar. Doesn't mean they are out right ignoring singleplayer.