Anyone else concerned about single player campaigns?

Is anyone else a little concerned/disappointed by the increasing amount to games being released that have a heavy focus on co-op campaigns such AC unity, Fable, The Division and Destiny.

Don't get me wrong Im really looking forward to all of these but I'm not in school or university anymore, I don't have endless amounts of free time and a group of friends in the same situation. Getting my friends together for co-op/competitive online gaming happens once a week if I'm lucky now that I'm an adult working full time.

I realise that I could match up with random people but after playing on XBL for over 10 years I know how bad that can turn out.

Also the one of the positives gaming has over my other interests is that it doesn't require any organisation of friends, I could just come home and start playing. So I'm a little concerned if this is the way forward for most games and I'll have to wait for that once a week opportunity to continue a campaign.

How do you guys feel about the old style of campaigns seemingly disappearing?

They'll be back.

My understanding is that AC Unity is still primarily a single player game, but with missions that can played with other people, but don't have to be played with other players. So I don't think that should be grouped in with those other games.

There's still plenty of single player focused, or single player only games on the horizon, don't worry about it.

It's likely just a fad, one that'll die out in a couple years once developers get tired of making all games with some unnecessary multiplayer component or "ever-connected" world bullshit. In the unlikely case that they don't, however, there will still be plenty of independent games or games from smaller teams that focus on single-player campaigns, I'm sure.

I don't think single player campaigns are necessarily going anywhere. They're getting co-op elements to be sure, but in most of the examples I can think of the co-op is entirely optional. I think it's great we're seeing more of it, though. Not enough good AAA co-op games out there, really.

They are not. Also, I'm unsure why you seem to think so. There are more single player games than ever before. Just because there are also more co-op oriented games, shouldn't be a problem. Just don't play them and go for the singleplayer ones.

Also, I'd like to point out that while games like Destiny encourage co-op play, you can play them completely solo. In fact, I will probably play Destiny mostly by myself and it is still my most anticipated game.

Well Assasin's Creed can definitely be played solo, and Bungie has said that Destiny can be solo-ed as well if you want. Not sure about The Division and Fable obviously requires at least two people, but I think most games are offering options. Besides, Ubisoft adding co-op to all of their games isn't surprising. Ubisoft only really makes different variations on a single game. This year's new feature is co-op so every one of their games is going to support it in one way or another. There are still plenty of games that can be played all on your own, though.

I think one of the largest gameplay changes allowed by this generation is going to be the openess you can have in level design now. Last generation the super limited amount of RAM required that things get streamed in constantly. Now designers can put entire levels into RAM. This will give us more open levels even in more linear, story driven games. Open levels of course allow for better co-op experiences so I think co-op is going to be a big focus for a lot of games that might have lacked it in the past just because designers can now build levels large enough and open enough that co-op actually will open new strategies and not just double or quadruple the firepower.

Look at what Halo (at least the Bungie designed ones) do with co-op. You have massive levels that allow players to tackle battles from multiple angles. In co-op you can have one player sniping from afar while another goes in close quarters. Or you could have one player drive a tank while another provides support in a Ghost. Or players could occasionally tackle different objectives at the same time. You can't do any of that in the highly scripted corridor shooters of the previous generation. There was no experimentation. When you needed a rocket launcher, low and behold you had one, only for it to be taken away moments later. You drove vehicles in prescribed vehicle sections, whether you wanted to or not. Strategy gave way to spectacle. This generation we can have both and that will make for cool co-op experiences but ones that you will likely also be able to play on your own for the most part.

If anything I feel like singleplayer campaigns have been on the resurgence of late.

Sort of. But Wolfenstein was cool.

You can enable co-op without having the single player game suffer. Halo is an example of this, and Unity seems to be following that design.

Destiny and The Division are MMOs, in the style of Guild Wars 2 in that they have no monthly fee. Fable seems to be multiplayer, but it seems like omitting a single player option might hurt sales, people are more likely to buy if they dont have to organize people to play it.

They're not disappearing. Unless any increase at all in co-op content means single player is disappearing.

Single player campaigns aren't going anywhere, and I'm sure you'll get to enjoy single player within most games for many, many years to come.

@raven10: I know that I could play them solo. It's just that these games feel like they're being developed with co-op as the main or true way to play it. It sometimes feels like if you're not playing online, then you're not getting the full experience.

More developers finally start including co-op in their games and we're complaining about it already? Sheesh.

I think in the wake of games like Journey and Dark Souls, online components in games are going to become more nuanced and varied, rather than emphasising pure competition or shallow cooperation. I think they're going to gel more smoothly with the singular experience as well and I don't think this is going away.

I think the blockbuster campaign will become more common as well, like The Order 1886. Games that are focused on this super cinematic rollercoaster, now that The Last Of Us has shown the world these things can be done seriously, and well. I just think these things will be shoeboxed a little more, or the type of experience you're looking for will just move slightly sideways of where you're currently looking.

There's value to be found in co-op and multiplayer modes, even in what you would expect to just be a single player experience.. Devs just have to take it seriously, and it just feels like they are now.

I certainly am. There's a place for multiplayer games (my 1000 hours in the Diablo series will attest to that) but a great campaign is what I usually buy games for. 99% of the singleplayer games at E3 were indie which for the most part doesn't interest me.

The only multiplayer game I might buy is Destiny because I really like the Borderlands gameplay but HAAAAAATE the "humour". Wizards that were once imprisoned on the moon but now free are also relevant to my interests.

@professoress: I'm not complaining. I really like the idea of more co-op but I also know that I rarely have a chance to play co-op as my free time and my friends free time is limited.

I think you'll continue to see co-op optional modes...was surprised to see that a game like Far Cry 4 has such an option, but as long as I can play solo, I'll be happy. Same goes for Destiny..I just don't have any friends who are super cool hardcorez gamers like myself, so I've never been interested co-op, with the admittedly fun exception of helping random people beat bosses in Dark Souls 2.

I see plenty of alone time on the horizon...

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/fattony12000/lists/wii-u-video-games-that-i-want-to-buy/90528/

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/fattony12000/lists/ps4-video-games-that-i-want-to-buy/90530/

http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/fattony12000/lists/video-games-that-i-want-to-buy/90527/

/cries inside

Big RPGs like Witcher 3 and Dragon Age: Inquisition seem like they'll fill this need nicely. Most other games seem to be co-op optional, though I will admit that when game companies make co-op the focus of their media campaign it turns me off a bit

@stryker1121: making co op an option is a great addition to most game. Some of my best gaming experiences have come from co op. I just don't want every game to turn into Left 4 Dead or Army of Two.

single player games arent going anywhere.so no im not concerned.

Come on: shadow of mordor, dragon age, most of AC:unity, batman, the witcher 3, most of far cry 4 and dying light just to name a few. Some games getting coop modes doesn't mean single player is dying. Most of the biggest games are still single player focused.

Nope because in the past when I've worried about losing single player campaigns...nothing has happened. The focus on single player has decreased but it still exists.

Yeah, and we still get the occasional single player only games - Wolfenstein: The New Order being a recent notable example.

I highly doubt single campaign games will go anywhere.

No.

Gaming goes through phases where sometimes you see a lot of online stuff or coop and sometimes you see a lot of story focused single player experiences. It mainly happens because of the long cycle of development and what not but because of PR it will seem always like something is the only thing or whatever. That's never true.

Gaming will continue to expand on online focused content because it has broader appeal to more people (supposedly- I still am not really sure this is true or not, but they've been saying it is for over 15 years now) but there will always be games for single player experiences. Those won't ever go away completely. Nothing ever really goes away completely.

I'm playing The Last of Us right now, and it's stacked atop Resonance of Fate and A Link Between Worlds. Single player games are doing just fine.

Single player campaigns aren't disappearing, there's just more games with a co-op design being made along side them.

Ummm Sony just announced a new Uncharted, The Order is single player, Bayonetta 2, the focus on Sunset Overdrive seems to be sp etc etc.

I look at something like Destiny: An entire co-op centric game but if you want to do it alone, go right ahead. That's where I see video games going. And I think its not a bad place to be.

Of course, I want my Uncharteds and my Mass Effects. And those will always have its place. But the future seems like it might be headed to single player with seamless co-op (if you desire) and that seems fine)

in pog form.

If anything, more games are coming out with no multiplayer component.

Wolfenstein, the Metro series, Infamous, Shadow of Mordor, Walking Dead/Wolf Among Us/Game of Thrones etc etc, Thief, The Order, The Witcher, and so on.

It'll be fine. The only thing in games that absolutely requires multiple players to experience all the story content is raiding in WoW, and even that is offset by matchmaking.

Competitive multiplayer is quickly becoming something only worth doing if a game is going to be top three on a platform.

Co-op is probably the best fit for most games, unless you've already got two playable factions in the game.

They'll still be around. There will still be plenty of them. As far as AC goes, you'll be able to play it all single player. I imagine the same goes for the Division; there could be some great benefits to being a lone wolf.

Always connected co-op in campaigns are as much a fad as sidescrolling platform gameplay, real time RPG combat, online leaderboards, or open-world games. Those still exist. 10 years ago you would have thought all games were going to be open world and ugh it's gonna suck you guys. 10 years from now you're going to be mad that 'all games have character creators now we won't get any well written established characters'. Two years ago all games were going to be sandbox survival games. Four years ago all games were going to be played by waving at your screen. Six years ago all games were going to be first person console shooters.

Only if bull crap like Titanfall starts taking over. Otherwise, they'll probably be fine. Seamless Co-op never bothered me too much, I think most usually still end up being great single player campaigns. Though, hey, STOP TAKING OUT SPLIT SCREEN. Jerks. Not everyone knows people that actually owns another PS4. I like to actually play with people who I physically know.

I know that Wolfenstein the New Order restored my faith in the singleplayer fps. I mean, it had gibs you guys GIBS!

And you only have to look back a few years to find Skyrim, a massive selling SP-only game.

I'd like to see more games actually incorporate PROPER co-op elements, like Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory for example, you had to help each other over walls and perform other maneuvers. Nowadays co-op just means this guy also has a gun/sword and he's playing alongside you!

I'd like to see more games actually incorporate PROPER co-op elements, like Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory for example, you had to help each other over walls and perform other maneuvers. Nowadays co-op just means "this guy also has a gun/sword and he's playing alongside you!"

Are you saying these games are co-optional?

I'm pretty sure you can do everything in AC Unity by yourself, even the co-op missions.

As technology grows, it only makes sense to increase player counts/have more seamless online modes. I mean, I'll never use that shit, but it's cool to have the option.