The single player mechanic is a gimmick

[Menegrothx]

These games also have a single player mode (except for CS), and both (single and multiplayer) are really good.

That's true. But usually you wont get your moneys worth if you buy a multiplayer game and only play through the single player campaign (like modern warfare games for example). There's no need to add a singleplayer campaign to a multiplayer game if you dont bother making it good.

There actually is a single player mode for Counter Strike 1.6 if you get Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. But needles to say its garbage, no story what so ever, just normal CS maps with objectives like "save all the hostages" and "score 2 headshots with M4A1" etc.

And I actually think that the storyline of Warcraft 3+Frozen Throne is really epic, it's definitely worth buying those games just for the story.

[BurningDoom]

Funny, I always felt the opposite. I've always felt that the main-story mode in games is the meat & potatoes of the game while the multiplayer was an extra. Even in games like Halo I felt the main-campaigns were phenomenal. I don't play straight military-shooters like CoD and MoH, so I can't really comment there.

[isiolia]

Funny, I always felt the opposite. I've always felt that the main-story mode in games is the meat & potatoes of the game while the multiplayer was an extra. Even in games like Halo I felt the main-campaigns were phenomenal. I don't play straight military-shooters like CoD and MoH, so I can't really comment there.

Even if the campaign is entertaining, the enduring popularity of those series is a lot more about the multiplayer. FPS makers recognized that about the genre in the late 90s when we got UT and Quake 3.

Makes a lot more sense from the publisher's point of view anyway. More new copies are sold if players want to hang onto their copy for multiplayer once they've beaten the campaign.


Either way, again, I think the original statement prompting this thread was simply a clumsy or sensationalist way of stating that developers should embrace the model they want for their game. Consoles are connected, not to mention cell phone games...if they want to focus on competitive play instead of a half-ass story mode, then do that. As he said, if they do a single player mode, then do it right, not because they feel it's mandatory.

[Haoie]

Goodness.

Some of us like to play alone!

The main reason I avoid modern games is to get away from multiplayer aspects.