Vague as the title is, it has a certain weight on this topic. In my first semester doing these 300-500 word pieces, I discussed unnecessary multiplayer modes in singleplayer game franchises such as Ninja Gaiden, Bioshock, Resident Evil, etc.
I labeled Call of Duty as the source of this new fixation on adding multiplayer but I never outright blamed it. Instead, I blamed the developers and publishers who think that adding a (pardon my French) half-assed multiplayer mode will lure the casual game buyer to purchase their game.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing works more often than not so developers, most of the time, will outsource their multiplayer mode to another studio. But, Cory Davis expressed his disdain for the multiplayer mode of Spec-Ops: The Line which released in June of this year.
When discussing with Joystiq on August 29, Cory Davis called out the multiplayer in Spec-Ops: The Line as “a negative light on all of the meaningful things we did in the single-player experience.”
Considering the wide variety of colorful language, Davis says the multiplayer was a “financially motivated ‘checkbox’ for publisher 2K Games. It’s another game rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth.” He called the multiplayer mode for Spec-Ops: The Line “a waste of money.”
At gameshotpedia, chief designer Jorg Friedrich spoke out that having achievements, which is a number being unlocked that adds to a worthless aggregate score that is connected to all games, tied to moral choices was a mistake.
“I regret having put achievements in moral decisions,” he says.
...And that achievements lessened the impact of these decisions.
This, to me, sounds like a team of people who wanted to craft an engaging single-player only experience. While they did just that, the multiplayer mode devalued the single-player experience. In an industry that emphasizes social connectivity and competition, especially for military shooters, speaking out against it takes guts.
Much like studios in the film industry, the publishers of the video game industry are interested in one thing and one thing only: money. Who really can blame them? They exist to make money. It’s when the objective of cash impugns the artistic integrity of a team of people who want to do something special do people become outspoken about whatever was forced onto them to serve the studios and publishers.
This comparison that arises leads into the follow-up question: Will the video game industry get a Christopher Nolan, Joss Whedon or Ridley Scott? Meaning someone, or a team of people, that studios trust in their authorship to get a return on their investment. Judging from the two statements made by the designers of Spec-Ops: The Line, it sounds like they wanted to subvert modern military shooter conventions and a 21st Century video game while preserving artistic integrity but the publisher forced their hand.
Follow me on Twitter @MaroonandGamer and email me at shfawcet@asu.edu for any questions, comments or complaints that you may have.
