Some of my most memorable and long lasting video game memories happen in singleplayer. Getting to the end level in a Mario game, destroying a Halo ring, overcoming bosses in Shadow of the Colossus and Dark Souls, being Batman, entering the city of Rapture in Bioshock… the list could go on and on. Multiplayer doesn’t deliver those moments.
Sure, you’re going to get those “OMGWTFBBQ” moments where you can’t believe how the time and effort you’ve spent is finally paying dividends but eventually those moments happen again and again and the experience becomes over-saturated with those moments. I enjoy those experiences but it’s an immediate satisfaction that passes right over me.
Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with the strength of singleplayer games over multiplayer.
Jonas Antonsson, Gogogic CEO, says he believes games like the aforementioned Dark Souls and DayZ are the poster boys of games that involves multiplayer components in a singleplayer game and ushers in what he calls a “multiplayer singularity.” Antonsson also says he thinks it is worth to note that the single player mechanic is a gimmick.
"Games are meant to be played with others and it doesn’t matter if it’s in person or online since there was no reasonable way to connect people in other ways," he says. "The arcade was the only serious attempt it became an industry need to project the game as the other player.”
I respectfully disagree with Antonsson’s statement that the singleplayer mechanic is a gimmick because there are high-selling games that have either declined multiplayer fully – recently Batman: Arkham City – and others like Spec Ops: The Line that have had a multiplayer mode forced upon the game and the lead designer speaks against it.
Dishonored, a singleplayer game released in early October was the second highest selling game in the United Kingdom behind FIFA 13 in its third week thus demonstrating that there is a market of gamers that singleplayer games cater to and still generates a little less, but still high for a non-franchised title, revenue than a sports game.
With his example of Dark Souls, I can’t tell you how many times I dreaded the prompt “XXl33tgamerXXX has invaded your world.” It did make the game feel more tense and engaging but I immediately hated whoever invaded my game with the sole intent of killing me because they prosper from my death and there’s nothing I can do to stop them.
The game also won’t let you leave the area unless you challenge the boss that might result in your death anyway or kill the invader. I would get summoned into other people’s games, by my own volition, and the area boss would become a cakewalk which subverts any notion of difficulty that Dark Souls is known for.
The bosses will get more health with more players involved but the A.I. for the bosses is so easily fooled and manipulated that it becomes a case of which player can hold the carrot in front of the bosses face long enough. Dark Souls is at its best when you are alone and traversing environments where death lurks around every corner.
I enjoy multiplayer as much as the next guy but we don’t have to shoehorn multplayer modes into those singular experiences. Singleplayer games made this industry what it is today and dubbing it a gimmick feels a bit unfaithful to those developers in the past and present that took the time making sure that the gameplay mechanics in the game supported the narrative that create experiences and emotions that are unique to video games.
Leave a comment below with your two-cents on singleplayer games as gimmicks.
Follow me on Twitter @MaroonandGamer or send me an email at shfawcet@asu.edu with any questions, comments or complaints that you have.
