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The Power of Single Player Narrative.

Humans are social animals and as a result, most things, games or otherwise, are better with a buddy. However, having said that, I take issue with certain aspects of a column in The Buddy Issue of EGM (#234) titled "Let's Play Together" by Robert Ashley.

But first, the case for Co-op...

Certain games lend themselves well to co-op: Gears of War and the Halo series are two excellent examples, (although the narrative is shot in Halo CE and Halo 2 with no explanation as to the sudden materialization of a second Spartan in the campaign). There are few things better in gaming than the sense of completion one gets after destroying Venezuela with a friend in Mercs 2 (arguably the only redeeming quality of that game) or saving a friend just before they bleed out in a hellish firefight on Sera in Gears of War with the 5.1 surround cranked up disturbingly high. It just feels good to share those experiences with a friend as they happen in real time; I'm no Freud, but I would venture to guess that such experiences increase some hard to quantify bond between the two (or more) participants, such as soldiers in real war experiences or high performing sports teams.

Now, come closer to my soapbox so that I may peddle my wares...(and by wares I mean ideas, not snake oil)...

Please, I implore both the gaming industry and gaming community: Do not forget the power of single player narrative. Famed game creator Peter Molyneux suggests (and I'm paraphrasing) that games that are reviewed five years from now that don't have co-op just won't compute. He predicts a world where all games will have co-op functionality. But ask yourself, with any degree of intellectual integrity, what would Dead Space or Bioshock be like with a chatty friend along for the ride? If your answers are words like "awesome" or "actually that would be pretty cool" then you have failed to give sufficient thought to the finely constructed and intimately detailed story that these game creators (storytellers) have crafted exclusively for you, (or it could be that you don't care about story and you just want to blast the s--- out of aliens, nazis, zombies... ad infinitum), and honestly, there's nothing wrong with that; but there are some games in which there is no place for it.

All in all, it was a great article by Robert Ashley, who has a masterful and articulate comprehension of the Queen's English. I merely wanted to provide a counterpoint to the co-op hype before it spins wildly out of control; think of me as Isaac trying to prevent the USG Ishimura's orbit from deteriorating. I love cooperative play, player v. player and Massively Multiplayer Online games, but let's encourage the storytellers to keep on telling stories; sometimes a Hero needs to walk alone....

The Power of Single Player Narrative.

Humans are social animals and as a result, most things, games or otherwise, are better with a buddy. However, having said that, I take issue with certain aspects of a column in The Buddy Issue of EGM (#234) titled "Let's Play Together" by Robert Ashley.

But first, the case for Co-op...

Certain games lend themselves well to co-op: Gears of War and the Halo series are two excellent examples, (although the narrative is shot in Halo CE and Halo 2 with no explanation as to the sudden materialization of a second Spartan in the campaign). There are few things better in gaming than the sense of completion one gets after destroying Venezuela with a friend in Mercs 2 (arguably the only redeeming quality of that game) or saving a friend just before they bleed out in a hellish firefight on Sera in Gears of War with the 5.1 surround cranked up disturbingly high. It just feels good to share those experiences with a friend as they happen in real time; I'm no Freud, but I would venture to guess that such experiences increase some hard to quantify bond between the two (or more) participants, such as soldiers in real war experiences or high performing sports teams.

Now, come closer to my soapbox so that I may peddle my wares...(and by wares I mean ideas, not snake oil)...

Please, I implore both the gaming industry and gaming community: Do not forget the power of single player narrative. Famed game creator Peter Molyneux suggests (and I'm paraphrasing) that games that are reviewed five years from now that don't have co-op just won't compute. He predicts a world where all games will have co-op functionality. But ask yourself, with any degree of intellectual integrity, what would Dead Space or Bioshock be like with a chatty friend along for the ride? If your answers are words like "awesome" or "actually that would be pretty cool" then you have failed to give sufficient thought to the finely constructed and intimately detailed story that these game creators (storytellers) have crafted exclusively for you, (or it could be that you don't care about story and you just want to blast the s--- out of aliens, nazis, zombies... ad infinitum), and honestly, there's nothing wrong with that; but there are some games in which there is no place for it.