One of the more frustrating trends in modern gaming is the emphasis onmultiplayer. Some of the best games are strictly single-player adventures. You boot the game up, finish the campaign, and move on to the next game.
However,thanks to advancements in technology with online gaming and greed from corporate executives, we’re seeing more and more single-player games add multiplayer modes. Sometimes, these multiplayer modes surprise us and can keep us entertained for hours; a great example isThe Last of UsPart I’s Factions multiplayer orMass Effect 3’s surprisingly enjoyable horde modethat was missing from the game’s Legendary Edition.
These multiplayer modes, however, were better left on the cutting-room floor.
10BioShock 2
Would you kindly stick to the single-player?
BioShock 2
At the time ofBioShock 2’s development, I was raiding with someone who claimed to be a developer on the game. One of the things he kept touting was the game’s new multiplayer mode.
I had reservations; BioShock works best as an immersive, narrative-driven single-player experience, and the stereotypical multiplayer modes felt like fitting a square peg into a round hole.
Lo and behold, my concerns were validated on release.BioShock 2’s multiplayer is bland, generic, and largely forgettable.
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Some proclaim that the game’s multiplayer is actually underrated since it does an excellent job telling a story during multiplayer matches.
My issue is that when I’m playing against other human opponents, I’m not concerned with a story. My focus is to beat them. Most people refuse to do objectives in multiplayer and are perfectly content to shoot each other’s face off. It was a good try but ultimately not worth the effort.
9Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Abort mission
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Another narrative-driven FPS sequel with a tacked-on multiplayer mode! At least BioShock 2 showed promise.
Despite the pre-release hype from Nintendo Power, I firmly believe this thing was always dead on arrival. It turns out thattrying to shoot opposing Samus players who are constantly shifting into a morph ball to avoid oncoming damage isn’t anywhere close to fun.
Plus, it didn’t help thatMetroid Prime2 didn’t exactly solve the control issues from the original game. It was still annoying to play the game as an FPS compared to a first-person narrative adventure.
My friends and I played this once on release, turned it off, and then had more fun taking turns with the Resident Evil 4 demo.Metroidworks best as a single-player experience.
8Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Neat idea; terrible execution
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Okay, I was excited about this one.
I remember playing the multiplayer demo at E3 and being impressed. It was absolute chaos, with assassins popping out of hiding left and right to assassinate everyone.
Say what you want about theAssassin’s Creedseries, but when the gameplay is firing on all cylinders, there’s nothing quite like it.
Sadly, the multiplayer forBrotherhoodcouldn’t fulfill its promise. It was a bit of a mess at launch, and the in-game moments never reached their full potential.
It wasn’t the chaotic environment I remembered at E3 when everyone tried their best to have fun.It was a slow, boring affair as players only popped from the shadows to assassinate opponents. I suppose that’s a realistic interpretation, but it’s not exactly fun.
7Max Payne 3
Bullet time me outta here
Max Payne 3
Before Grand Theft Auto Online, Rockstar’s track record with online multiplayer was spotty at best. Grand Theft Auto 4 was a gigantic dud that wasn’t functional. Heck, even the launch of Grand Theft Auto Online was a disaster that didn’t work at first.
Those are massive games, though.Max Payne 3is a far smaller, more focused title. Surely that would lead to success, right?
While the gameplay was surprisingly fun,Rockstarwas operating on a Nintendo level of internet prowess. Any potential was killed by connectivity issues and cheaters running wild without moderation.
It still had a cult following, but the multiplayer scene died out once Grand Theft Auto Online was fully up and running.
6Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
The definition of tacked on
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreasis the poster child for a single-player game that does not need multiplayer. It’s a massive, open-world delight that is a miracle for even running onPS2hardware.
That didn’t stop Rockstar from aiming for the moon. Sadly, they burned up during launch.
San Andreas' multiplayer is an incredibly frustrating experience limited by its local co-op nature.
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The camera remains fixed and doesn’t venture into split-screen territory. This means that if you’re going one way and your friend is headed in the opposite direction, the camera is going to pan out as far as it can, which makes it difficult to see anything of interest or value. Most of my time spent playing San Andreas multiplayer was spent arguing about which way to go.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Fans were hoping that following the success of Grand Theft Auto Online, Rockstar had finally nailed how to deliver a compelling multiplayer experience. Sadly, you have to wonder if that was a flash in the pan.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s multiplayer is like trying to capture lightning in a bottle twice. Red Dead Online tried its best to duplicate the success of Grand Theft Auto Online, but it suffers from being prone to glitches, exploits, and accessibility issues.
Furthermore, there was a severe lack of content. Perhaps that has to do with the game taking place in the Old West; it’s harder for engaging content to happen organically. We can only hope that Rockstar has learned their lesson when it comes time toGTA 6’s multiplayer.
4Tomb Raider (2013)
Great reboot, awful multiplayer
Tomb Raider
On the one hand, I get it.Tomb Raider’s 2013 reboot was a bit of a risk given the state of the franchise, but it was one that paid off, even if Square Enix’s sales projections were misguided.
Given that it was a game released in the early 2010s, though, the inclusion of a multiplayer mode was mandatory.
Like 2K with BioShock 2, developers Eidos Montreal stressed how Tomb Raider’s multiplayer experience was an extension of the single-player campaign.
I am here, once again, to remind developers to stop tacking on multiplayer where it’s not necessary under this guise. I can’t get people to fight on the objective point in Marvel Rivals; they just want to shoot each other silly.
Worst of all, it’s clear theTomb Raider’s gameplay foundation doesn’t support a proper multiplayer experience. The game was built as a single-player experience, and its multiplayer modes fail because of this. The wonder and adventure you feel as Lara Croft is lost when the game forces multiplayer modes on you.
Cosmic waste
Dead Space 2
When I think ofDead Space, I think of atmospheric gameplay, a strong narrative, and one the scariest games I’ve ever played.
What I don’t think about is multiplayer. Yet, as you’d expect from a video game sequel in the 2010s, there’s a multiplayer mode tacked on.
To its credit, the multiplayer in Dead Space 2 tries to be as on-brand as possible. Rather than being a generic deathmatch, it’sa 4v4 battle between humans and necromorphs. It felt similar to Left 4 Dead’s multiplayer, only Left 4 Dead does it far better.
The only reason multiplayer exists in Dead Space 2 is so that gamers can spend more time actively playing the game, and honestly, if they choose to remake it in the future, it’s best that the multiplayer is left out.
2Super Mario Galaxy
Single-player GOAT, multiplayer dud
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxyis one of the best games of all time, delivering an unforgettable platforming experience on a console not known for its traditional gaming.
Mario Galaxy also features a co-operative multiplayer feature, but unlike its core gameplay experience, it’s incredibly shallow.
Okay, you ready for this?The second player in Mario Galaxy can control the Star Pointerto help gather Star Bits and shoot them at enemies. Exciting!
I mean, I guess you’re able to also help Mario jump higher, but at the end of the day, this feels like the multiplayer experience you’d tack on just to keep your younger sibling happy while you play the real game.
1Spec Ops: The Line
Outscourced
Spec Ops: The Line
I loveSpec Ops: The Line. I think it’s one of the best shooters of all time. Yager Development was able to craft a story and environment that plays on our expectations of a stereotypical pro-war cover shooter into an impactful, deep message that instead highlights the horrors of war.
So then, why is its multiplayer so, to be blunt, bad? That’s because Yager didn’t handle development on the multiplayer side.
Instead, Darkside Game Studios helmed the development of the game’s multiplayer. If they sound familiar, that’s because they also worked on the multiplayer for BioShock. Sadly, their track record is 0-2 in this regard.
The game’s multiplayer lacks any of the magic and gravity of its single-player and is immediately lost in the shuffle among the countless cover-based shooters of its time. There’s nothing that helps it stand out compared to other similar shooters. Instead, it’sas bland and generic as possible, which, compared to the strong single-player, is incredibly disappointing.
