Off-line Multiplayer: It's Death

[AgainstAll]

You know it's all coming. I don't know if this is posted somewhere else so feel free to let me know. Off-line Multiplayer, it's death is nigh. Very rarely now do I pick up a new game and am able to sit down and enjoy it with friends. Is this good or bad? In your opinion. Games like Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 both offer awesome multiplayer experiences, with complex and highly integrated class systems but for what cost? The fact is rarely can I rent a game, invite a few buddies over, and sit down and frag each-other. I just want to know other peoples opinion about it (i.e. may come back? is doomed? not needed?).

 

[De-Ting]

I mostly played multiplayer with my brothers and dad, when we were younger and all living in the same house. It might only seem dead, but families everywhere still use it. Online multiplayer is for when you grow up and appart, or if you're alone, but in no way should developers allow it to completely remove local multiplayer.

 

[AgainstAll]

I'm sort of speaking specifically about fps. The only games I can play with my friends is COD. All other games I play just don't offer it. Games like Rock Band 2 are made simply by the use of multiplayer, but I feel like all fps are missing it. I want Golden Eye style, or more Perfect Dark. Capture the hill with bots and friends.

 

[Longo_2_guns]

Really. I don't give a shit how good online multiplayer gets. There is no way in hell it can be better than a good split-screen match. Being in the room with someone, making it personal rather than your only incentive to keep playing is that you can unlock new online costumes. Probably the best part about Halo 3 is that it has both of them combined.

Frankly, if it has local multiplayer, I buy it. You know, if I was some reviewer with a big cult following and nothing to lose, kind of like Yahtzee, I'd call for a boycott of games that don't have local multiplayer and should.

 

[KoalaRainbowPoop]

i'm so tired of multi player. screw you all and your competitive nature. give me a good solid single player experiance with a good strory anyday.

really its multiplayer that is ruining games. so few game developers focus on making one solid game. they expect multiplayer to expand the longeviety of their games. but yet every few months there comes a game where it tears people away from their multiplayer to a new multiplayer game.
so while you all are being competitive asses, i'll be playing my singleplayer experiance and having far much fun rather than some idiot trying tell me how to play a game or gloating how much better they are.

 

[De-Ting]

Partially agree, but a good online multiplayer match can feel like a completely unscripted, revitalized experience for a game that I otherwise might have only put a few days of playing the campaign into.

Except, of course, when some scum-of-the-earth decides to utterly obliterate the entire thing by playing like a camping prepubesant girl scout. I'm looking at YOU 360 CoD4 players!

 

[madster111]

I really hope they don't remove offline multiplayer.
Otherwise me and my friends are going to have to play with each other through xbox live in the same fucking room, like we do with Bad Company.

 

[tigerlily521985]

Don't most games (not sure if this is with all consoles or just 360) require having two separate consoles hooked up to two different TV's in order to play with more than two people (and I'm obviously not talking about games like Rockband and such)? If offline multiplayer is going to die, that is probably the reason for it.

A bunch of us were hunting for some good real four person games that only required 1 TV and 1 360 and so far we only found one game and it isn't like it's fantastic or anything. I hope they don't completely kill offline multiplayer because I like being able to actually hang out with people I'm playing with. Sure when the screen is split into 4 it can be a bit annoying, but it's so much fun to actually be able to be with the people I'm playing with.

If offline multiplayer does die, which I really hope it doesn't, then we will get the chance to live up to the stereotype of sitting home alone in the dark with our games. And all of our friends will be at their houses doing the same thing.

 

[Peanutkiller]

I agree with De-Ting here. A decent multiplayer is a bad excuse for a broken single player experience, but offline multiplayer used to enhance the overall experience and, more ironically, the fun also. I'd still prefer playing a game of chess with my friends in the same room. In fact, if my friends could be here all the time and they weren't as obsessed by new technology and next gen graphics, I probably would never have bothered throwing out my N64 to make room for a 360. If I really want nerdrage and ranting, i'd just go have some religous debates with Jehova's Witnesses.

 

[Green_Lantern]

^ I know that in CoD you can play 4 player split screen. Although it seems that alot are just 2 player now a days.

On that note, I hate how games have the whole two pictures with one screen when you play with one TV...What happened to just the bar across the middle of the TV, and why replace it with the two separate pictures that then lose like 15% of the screen that isn't being used.

If you don't understand what I'm talking (since it's kind of hard to explain) about just check out this picture http://media.photobucket.com/image/resident evil 5 coop/driftglass/res-evil-coop.jpg?o=1

 

[Peanutkiller]

^ that seems to be another problem these days with co-operative play. WIth the new insane depth in next gen videogames, they are reluctant to change the aspect ratio, so that while you have full width in your split screen, you still can't see anything.

 

[Master_Craig]

When it comes to offline multiplayer, I used to play it a lot when I was a kid. GoldenEye 007, Diddy Kong Racing etc.

I think offline multiplayer, especially co-op games (I think of Resident Evil 5 as I type this) is a fantastic idea. Sure there are some issues like screen ratio stuff, frame rate drops but it still can be awesome.

A lot of games I reckon that offline multiplayer really works. Resident Evil 5, Halo 3, Mario Kart, Diddy Kong Racing, Super Smash Bros. etc. The list goes on.

but now that I think about it, the only times I don't really enjoy offline multiplayer is first person shooters, or games in general when you have your own part of the screen (e.g split screen) and you're actively hunting down other players to eliminate them. The only reason I'm not fond of this is people tend to watch, and use your screen for their advantage, finding it easy to evade your attacks, neutralize any efforts of stealth etc. It gets on my nerves.

 

[AgainstAll]

Screen-watching is totally stressful, but to me it's just part of the gameplay. Like, the fact is that if your playing in the same room with other people their going to watch your screen. I try not to do it on purpose, but my eyes always drift. But I still enjoy those moments where you blast off your buddy's head, and he's right next to you. I just don't really think it's a fair toss up to get better online multiplayer for the cost of no off-line multiplayer, which is increasingly the case. People can be so annoying on-line, but I've for sure had some awesome on-line games.

 

[used44]

Offline co-op is the bee's knees. My brother and I would almost exclusively play games with co-op. Offline splitscreen multiplayer deathmatch types stuff is pretty useless nowadays unless you have a LAN party, or good bots, like Smash Bros. or Timesplitters.

 

[Briggsred]

Halo 3, when I was playing with a few friends on split-screen, was definitely better than playing with them over LIVE, mainly because of the hilarity of our match- sticky bombs only is probably the most fun you can have on Halo 3. Like Longo said- its more personal, and therefore more enjoyable.

 

[schimmel]

I used to worry about things like this, and whenever I go to visit my cousin I wish it still existed, but the truth is that after I moved to college there aren't as many people I know who play games like I do. Because of this I love online multi. That and also I tend to kill everyone I know too quickly. I think I've gotten too good at FPS

 

[AMANIAC]

I think it's ridiculous that some racing games don't even have split screen 2 player. What the hell Grid?

 

[MattAY]

Really. I don't give a s*** how good online multiplayer gets. There is no way in hell it can be better than a good split-screen match. Being in the room with someone, making it personal rather than your only incentive to keep playing is that you can unlock new online costumes. Probably the best part about Halo 3 is that it has both of them combined.

Frankly, if it has local multiplayer, I buy it. You know, if I was some reviewer with a big cult following and nothing to lose, kind of like Yahtzee, I'd call for a boycott of games that don't have local multiplayer and should.

I agree. People who prefer online play are blatently people with no friends. 8)

 

[Daddio]

when i was younger 4 of us would get together and eat up GE64, Perfect Dark, WCW:Revenge and the likes. those were fun times, but that was 10 years ago and now I'm an old fart at the age of 25 with 2 kids and a wife (who happens to play video games woot!).. just dont have the time to get together with guys to play offline multiplayer, so the online multiplayer was a good fix for a while.

but now we moved out of the city (a good 30 minutes) and while we didnt have internet hooked up we realized that offline multiplayer games suck now.. CoD has those shitty screens everyone is talking about and when a game is played solo / offline multilpayer they last what.. 4 hours game play?

the only good game we have found was Gears 1 and 2... but combined we beat those in a night and a half. not cool!

hopefully UFC 09 and FN4 kick it up a notch!