- On various magazine covers previewed earlier today, we discover that Mass Effect 3 will feature some sort of multiplayer. Since then, Bioware has confirmed that the multiplayer mode will be four player co-op missions.
- They also said, "Don't panic." It's too late for that. But then, this is the Internet.
- There is a post to be written about the stupidity of tacking multiplayer modes onto single player games to curb used game sales, but it was already written several times in several places over the last couple years. It is just as true now as it was then. But that's not the post I want to write.
- I don't like multiplayer games. I don't like to leave my fun in the hands of other people. I don't want to be the reason that other people do not have fun.
- How much do I dislike multiplayer? I have never played the co-op mode in Portal 2. I play League of Legends entirely with bots (and I still lose). I played Borderlands front to back, both on 360 and PC, in single player, even though I had several invitations to play with others. (Sorry, Jayedub.) I solo my way through MMOs. As far as I'm concerned, multiplayer is a waste of disk space.
- Just because I don't like multiplayer, don't mistake that as me wanting to impinge on other people's fun. It would be hypocritical of me to mimic all those who say that single player games are an aberation, though in inverse. I understand that I'm in the minority here.
- But is this really necessary? Is co-op the thing that was keeping people from trying out Mass Effect? I doubt it.
- UPDATE: Chris Priestly posted the details of the co-op missions as well as the Mass Effect 3: Galaxy At War system. I'm glad that they are going out of their way to say that you don't have to play multiplayer to get the best ending in single player. Gee, Bioware, thanks for putting all of this stuff in the game that I'm going to ignore. What the hell is going on over there? Why foist that on this game at all?
- UPDATE 2: I tweeted this late last night, but I think it bares repeating here:
They didn't call it #ME3 Galaxy at War just for co-op, folks. Just wait until they announce the Facebook game and iOS app.
© 2011 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
Not only is it something that won't bring new players to the game, but it's not a decent enough addition for those who have stuck with the series. I'm a big ME and ME2 fan, and honestly there was more than enough stuff to do with making characters that carried over both evil and good. I personally don't need multiplayer.
ReplyDeleteNow if this is some sort of test to try and start some sort of match based gameplay, ala Call of Duty, then I'm going to hesitate before dropping money on it.
"I don't like multiplayer games. I don't like to leave my fun in the hands of other people. I don't want to be the reason that other people do not have fun."
ReplyDeleteUh, what? You're an MMO player! By definition this is what we DO!
Well, if you do happen to get ME3 for the PC then we will just have to try the coop!!!
ReplyDeleteI love coop, but personally I don't think coop fits in a Mass Effect game. I don't understand why it's needed in ME3.
Ugh, Bioware's doing it again. I loved ME1 but was really leery of starting ME2 because of the way the marketing was handled. It seems like a much darker game full of unlikeable characters. Fortunately I was very wrong and ended up loving it even more than ME1. Hopefully my misgivings about ME3 turn out the same, but as this is gameplay giving me the heebeegeebees, I'm not so sure.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts exactly. Funny, as I was talking to a friend about this very thing earlier today. Can't say I care much care for multiplayer when it's so obviously "tacked on". I enjoyed Mass Effect 1 and 2 without it and I can enjoy 3 without it too. To those who are excited for the co-op in ME3 and will be playing the hell out of it, more power to ya. But I'll be happy enough with my single player portion.
ReplyDeleteAs long as the quality of the single player game isn't compromised, I don't see much of an issue. More gameplay modes for the same price is hardly a bad deal, even if you don't care about anything but classic single player.
ReplyDeleteThat said, multiplayer can sometimes become an excuse to skimp on single player. For example, Halo III had the shortest single player campaign of the original Halos, and no-one seemed to much mind because a lot of players were getting it solely for the PvP options. It may well have had the best matches, but to me it was far and away the weakest of the three because all I cared about was the single player campaign.
We'll just have to wait and see if something similar happens with ME III. However, I seriously doubt these additions are going to compromise the single player mode. Bioware knows full well that deep single player RPGs are their bread and butter.