Marketing Game Manager at Rocksteady Studios the superbly named, Dax Ginn, has explained that forcing multiplayer onto Batman Arkham City would have lead to the production of two average games rather than one good one.
Speaking to Gamerzines, Dax pointed out that, MP would have "(split) the development effort".
"It's the sort of thing that you think could be cool but when you start to play out what that would mean from a development perspective, splitting the development effort to make a single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode would have ended up with us making two pretty average games.
"Our focus is on delivering an off the scale, awesome Batman experience, and that experience is fundamentally a single-player experience. We did consider it but when we thought it through from a production perspective, we thought it would compromise the end result."
He then said something to make all sane people applaud!
"It's quite on trend at the moment to have multiplayer, but if it doesn't fit it can feel a little bolted on. To create something that would have felt crowbarred in and that would have ultimately compromised the thing that we're passionate about, all those signs said to us this is not something we should do."
What thoughts on multiplayer versus a satisfying single-player?
Speaking to Gamerzines, Dax pointed out that, MP would have "(split) the development effort".
"It's the sort of thing that you think could be cool but when you start to play out what that would mean from a development perspective, splitting the development effort to make a single-player campaign and a multiplayer mode would have ended up with us making two pretty average games.
"Our focus is on delivering an off the scale, awesome Batman experience, and that experience is fundamentally a single-player experience. We did consider it but when we thought it through from a production perspective, we thought it would compromise the end result."
He then said something to make all sane people applaud!
"It's quite on trend at the moment to have multiplayer, but if it doesn't fit it can feel a little bolted on. To create something that would have felt crowbarred in and that would have ultimately compromised the thing that we're passionate about, all those signs said to us this is not something we should do."
What thoughts on multiplayer versus a satisfying single-player?
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Comments
Cfan 18 Mar 2011 11:11
1/4
Mostly play SP games, so MP comes as a bonus, I don't go for pure MP games anyway. if you flip the coin there's players who find SP as the bonus to a MP game.
I really don't think MP would of suited Arkham City, Co-op on the other hand...which leads me into...
What time line are these games based on? I just wondering how or which Robin would fit in, or have Rocksteady created their own timeline?
I really don't think MP would of suited Arkham City, Co-op on the other hand...which leads me into...
What time line are these games based on? I just wondering how or which Robin would fit in, or have Rocksteady created their own timeline?
DrkStr 18 Mar 2011 13:11
2/4
I always worry that the single player is becoming the tutorial for the multiplaer these days.
I much prefer a good single player like God of War or early Tomb Raders to a multiplayer with no thought.
Warhawk was good tho.
I much prefer a good single player like God of War or early Tomb Raders to a multiplayer with no thought.
Warhawk was good tho.
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realvictory 18 Mar 2011 13:40
3/4
However, you can't just say "multiplayer's not suitable." If people want a multiplayer game, they aren't wrong because the game doesn't match. It's the developer's decision to avoid multiplayer, and it's up to the players to decide whether that was a good decision or not, not the developer.
SPInGSPOnG 18 Mar 2011 14:35
4/4
I favour MP as a bonus to a good single player game, and I really do not even mind if there is no MP option. But there seems to be an increasing number of, primarily younger, players for whom multi-player is an absolutely vital aspect of any game.
They aren't wrong, they are just different. But they are also well catered for - and not every game NEED a multi player aspect. Batman Arkham Asylum won game of the year without Multiplayer - there is no reason Arkham City will be any the less of a game for the lack of it.
They aren't wrong, they are just different. But they are also well catered for - and not every game NEED a multi player aspect. Batman Arkham Asylum won game of the year without Multiplayer - there is no reason Arkham City will be any the less of a game for the lack of it.