Let me break down my criticism into three separate categories, asymmetrical experiences, satellite experiences, and the BFF complex. Now I know you’re probably scratching your head right now, but bear with me, I’m about to explain what the criticisms are, provide examples, and show why I think it doesn’t have to be this way, and how such problems can be overcome. So strap yourselves in, cos this mudafucka’s about to get existential.
Firstly let me explain what I mean by asymmetrical experiences. Have you ever been playing a campaign and found that you’re not allowed to progress once reaching the end of the level, or you’re not allowed to talk to someone to advance the storyline, and you must wait for the guy in the P1 slot to act before anything can happen? This happens a lot in game’s with a co-op campaign experience, and it deny’s one member of the team a large portion of the game based purely on the fact that they’re the second player. This can range from not being able to talk to NPC’s and forward the story, to not being able to pick up items or collectibles, not being able to hand in quests, to not being able to save your progress independently of the other person. In effect it creates the experience of one person playing a game, and you’re just along for the ride, which at times can feel little different from sitting on the sofa watching.
One of the recent culprits of this kind of crime was Fable 3. From my experiences the second player could only really import a character, and whilst they had access to their own inventory and could level up in the same way as the first player, it often felt like if you were in that second slot, you were the sidekick. Other characters ignored you, you disappeared from cutscenes and your efforts felt like they contributed nothing to the progression of the game. Fear 3 is another example, albeit they managed to explain it away storywise and added some extra game-play elements to compensate.
In Fear 3 the 2nd player is quite literally a ghost no one can see... fantastic.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are examples where this is done right. Borderlands for example allows characters to progress on their own terms, accept the quests and side-quests they want to do, earn their own money and buy their own items, and it feels much more like you’re your own person, progressing as a group rather than tagging along. You can however, run the risk of one player falling behind the others and having to play catch up. Saints Row 3 suffered similar problems to Fable 3, but on the whole felt like it was better implemented, with either playing being able to initiate or end a mission.
The second core issue of multiplayer experiences is what I call the BFF complex. Essentially the journey of both characters is exactly the same, at best both you and your friends are the chosen one, at worst you are exact clones of each other. On top of that, you must spend pretty much every moment of your adventure side by side. This is epitomised in the campaign mode of Halo 3. In the single player campaign, the Arbiter will often go off on his own, or has his own objectives to complete, but play the same level in co-op and this is completely written out, with the Arbiter instead staying by Master Chiefs side... the whole... fucking... game! This happens in most game’s with a linear level design, but can appear in open world and sandbox games in a different form, as shown by Saints Row 3, where you must stay within a specific distance from each other.
This causes story problems on top of making linear levels feel even more cramped and constricting. In any other media each character has their own character progression, and their own journey, they’re affected by events differently and they approach problems in a different manner. Heck, characters may even become separated and have unique experiences, but build towards a unified conclusion. Lord of the Rings would be a great example of where this occurs, the fellowship is broken, but they’re all still working towards a common goal on top of their own personal goals. In most game’s you’re restricted from doing this, and aside from the odd puzzle where one person needs to find a switch and open a door for another, you’re pretty much side by side. I’d personally like to see this sort of approach given to a military shooter or action RPG game, for example both players are attacking a city, from different angles, eventually fighting their way through the streets to meet up, or taking out strategic points that can help or hinder the other player.
The final multiplayer no no is the satellite experience. These occur when the main multiplayer campaign or co-op experience is completely separate from the singleplayer campaign, again almost inevitably lacking some sort of functionality or feature that is present in the singleplayer side of the disk. Mass Effect 3 was guilty of this, peeling back the exploration and RPG elements of the series to leave behind a, still fun, but extremely pared back multiplayer mode. Splinter Cell: Conviction was also guilty of this, providing a shorter series of co-op levels that followed a separate, but related storyline to the main plot. These efforts, while welcome, often pale in comparison to the main game. Why shouldn’t I be able to play the full 20 hour game in co-op as well as by myself? Why shouldn’t I expect all the same features from the singleplayer in the multiplayer? It’s already on the disk! On top of that, there are many games such as Minecraft and Magicka that work exactly the same in singleplayer and multiplayer, the problem is that it’s often because the game is meant to be played in multiplayer, and even if it isn’t the games like Magicka and Minecraft lose something when they’re played by oneself.
I’m not going to lie, I have a very clear idea of what I’d want from a co-op game, and I know that with today’s technology and budgets, it’s completely possible. There are many genre’s it could take the form of, and there are few game’s where it wouldn’t work. I want a game where each character has his own story, his own motivations, and deals with problems in their own way. I want this characters to be lumped together in a task, and for their conflicts and compliments to be explored. I want each character to have to go through their own challenges, progressing and growing in some way, but I want everything the characters to to build up towards the final conclusion, when everything is revealed to be relevant. I want each player to feel like they’re playing in the “Player 1” slot and I want all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from a current gen game. If someone could create this, and as far as I’m concerned it’s possible, then they well and truly deserve all the monies.
I don’t care if it’s a remake of Tales of Symphonia, Mass Effect or Lord of the Rings, the potential's out there, get it done people!
Jamie out xoxoxo
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