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God Of War III Director Addresses Multiplayer Issue

With the huge demand for multiplayer everything these days, games that are built around a single-player campaign run the risk of new-gen alienation.

But if the single-player experience is good enough, perhaps it doesn't matter ('cough' Uncharted 2 'cough'). Developers are aware of the balancing act; just ask God of War III director Stig Asmussen, who says that while SCEA certainly discussed the possibility of multiplayer options in GoWIII, it's not a focus. During a recent GamePro interview , Asmussen compared his game to Resident Evil 5 and asked if we thought the multiplayer there made the experience "better." The interviewer admitted that it kinda didn't, which led to Asmussen's response:

"Hmm, that kind of sets me up for my response, then. I'm a huge Resident Evil fan, but I got two hours into Resident Evil 5, and I wasn't playing multiplayer, either. I stopped playing, which I've never done before. Previously, I've beaten them all. With God of War 3, there's a story we want to tell and an experience we want to deliver, and multiplayer doesn't fit into that.

Does that mean we don't have conversations about multiplayer? No. Of course we have conversations about multiplayer, and there's a lot of things we think about. Imagine two Kratos characters running around at the same time. Once you do that, the story becomes something more about an experience between two players and less about something that we're scripting."

We've said it before and we'll say it again: when you open the door to multiplayer and freedom-oriented single-player campaigns, you essentially cripple the possibility of enjoying a well-written story. A story is linear; constant branching-offs cause almost insurmountable problems from a plotting standpoint. Therefore, SCEA rightly focused on the single-player campaign and story in GoWIII, but Asmussen did say there's a chance of seeing downloadable challenge rooms at some point in the future. That, we can live with.

Related Game(s): God of War III

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Cavan
Cavan
14 years ago

ben, i dont quite get the uncharted reference, i know what your trying to say, that the single player is that good that it dosnt need multiplayer, yet it does have multiplayer, which helps the longevity of the game.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

it may help longevity, and as good of a job as ND did with the MP, regardless the game is built for the single player, and i have a feeling you would have purchased it whether mp was in or not regardless, which proves mp isnt everything!

the reason the mp is so good though i blv is cus when im playing i still feel like im playing the single player! everything from the single player is there, nothing was catered for and i love it!

but in this case bottom line it still wasn't a must and nor is it a must for GOW!

DIsmael85
DIsmael85
14 years ago

People who moan about Multiplayer are those who have severe ADD when it comes to quality games. I'm sick of the "It must have coop" or something crap. People these days are so unappreciative it makes me sick.

Banky A
Banky A
14 years ago

Sick!

BigBoss4ever
BigBoss4ever
14 years ago

agree with the SCEA, keep the focus on single player and make multiplayer in a downloadable pack or in challenge rooms

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

ill take some downloadable challenge rooms for sure!

im glad they stuck to their roots! GOW is a single player game and if you write a script as strong as this the focus should be on it, not elsewhere!

Im very happy with Uncharted 2 MP, and they made it fit, by making the mp feel like the single player, not the other way around! When i play cod i play like i would online. when i play uncharted mp i play it like i play the single player! i try and get the experience outta the mp just like the single playere brought to me and it works better for me!

awesome job by naughty dog to make such an epic game and sticking to the roots of what uncharted is, and excellent choice by SCEA sticking to the roots of GOW 3 and its strength in the script!

Daedusian
Daedusian
14 years ago

I really hope they just stop talking about multiplayer and scrap the idea altogether. They can keep it unless they really find some innovative/interesting way to make MP for GoW, but I highly doubt it as they are already saying "it's not a focus."

King James
King James
14 years ago

Off-topic: LOL!!! I see an ad for Levitra on this page. It an erectile dysfunction drug. What you trying to saw PSXE? Gamers can't get it up?…hmmm. LMAO!!
—————————–

GOW3 will pwn all the remainder of PS3 haters out there. Killzone took the 1st shot at em. Infamous "Sucker Punch-ed"…everybody. Demon's Souls kicked off the holiday releases and set it up for…What for it…..Uncharted 2! U2 knocked out the doubters and the oblivious. Uncharted 2 is so good the xbots are in denial, and the competition/general public are blown away. GOW 3 will clean up the rest. Then…G…T…5!

Game, Set, and Match!


Last edited by King James on 10/20/2009 1:11:39 PM

BigBoss4ever
BigBoss4ever
14 years ago

lol well summarised


Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 10/21/2009 3:48:41 AM

jlch777
jlch777
14 years ago

lol!!! KO

gumbi
gumbi
14 years ago

God of War… Multiplayer… seriously? I can't even entertain the thought of it. How would that even work? … kratouigi?

I'll admit though, I'm not on this bandwagon yet. I don't understand this generation's obsession with multiplayer. Games don't NEED multiplayer to be good, in fact many of the best games I've ever played are single player games. Oh well, guess I'm just getting old.

Zorigo
Zorigo
14 years ago

being in the middle of the debate, i kind of see where both sides are coming from and i ultimately agree that multiplayer isn't always essential. if the game is single player motivated then no multiplayer is needed, and i think most people get pissd bout the price. having to play £40/$60 for a game you'll only use a couple of times is what annoys the most. uncharted 2, i loved it and would pay the £40 but if a game is single only, no matter how epic, the longetivety is capped off a bit, so bring the price down.

Gow49ers
Gow49ers
14 years ago

Great article Ben, I have always enjoyed the GOW, games, the story is very intricate, i am glad there is no multiplier for GOW III , sounds like they didnt want to take away the integrity of the game, which is most assuredly , going to be an Epic!

Zorigo
Zorigo
14 years ago

I feel and spin off style title could be released and this could hold and interesting multiplayer, maybe an open ended map, multiple objectives and possibly more than just a ranking system to spur you on.

NoSmokingBandit
NoSmokingBandit
14 years ago

The "omg it must have multi-player" trend is BS, imo.
God of War is a one player game. It is Kratos against Olympus. One man against the gods. There is no logical way to add multi-player to this.
Just give me a solid campaign and i will be happy.

inkme101
inkme101
14 years ago

i see it both ways. yes, gow is a single player game but mp adds to the replay factor. i have gone through the single player on u2 4 times now and if it wasnt for the mp i prolly wouldnt pick it up again for months, but because of the mp i play hours and hours every day and im not even beginning to get burned out on it. not that the sp isnt amazing but you can only see the same thing so much u know? but i am a huge fan of the gow series and i do think mp would be severely misplaced in such a franchise. but my comment was mostly based around u2.lol

mexgeo86
mexgeo86
14 years ago

I prefer linear for a game like GoW. If I want non-linear I'll wait for something like Heavy Rain.

Aftab
Aftab
14 years ago

Cool how mp was worked in to NGS2, though.

LowKey
LowKey
14 years ago

LMAO!!!! I remember tearing some idiot xbox fanboy a new one on youtube, for saying GOW sucks because it doesn't have multiplayer.

Oxvial
Oxvial
14 years ago

Fuck online multiplayer! the only weak point I see on UC2 was the multiplayer I would love to have 5 more hours of singleplayer campaign than a multiplayer that I cant play with my friends in the same room.

GOW multiplayer seriously the concept its just bad.

just make single player campaign more big that's all the REAL GOW fans need.

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
14 years ago

why cant you play MP with your friends in the same room on uncharted 2?

i agree i would have rather had a longer single player (and thats not saying its short, cus it was epic). but in regards to the MP they did an excellent job!

the MP feels much like im playing the single player, and i praise the game and epecially ND for that effort in doing this! it works great, plays great, and im constantly reminded i am actually playin something that feels like Uncharted, while playing the MP, instead of something that was just tacked on!

i do agree though alot of games dont need MP nor did Uncharted 2, and neither does GOW so it may be best just to leave it out of GOW 3!


Last edited by bigrailer19 on 10/20/2009 3:23:35 PM

Scarecrow
Scarecrow
14 years ago

Yes!

Sony takes the lead again!
and yes fu** multiplayer!

Hexen
Hexen
14 years ago

There's hundreds of multiplayer games out there so why would we want another tacked on one.God of war is perfect the way it is, they just better make sure that part 3 has a single player campaign of 12+.

AshT
AshT
14 years ago

God of war doesn't need multiplayer.
I wud have got uncharted 2 even if there was no multiplayer, although its a welcome addition.

Rings0fUranus
Rings0fUranus
14 years ago

uncharted 2 has the best multiplayer ever. there is a mode for everyone, and they're all a blast to play.
i agree that god of war should stay single player, but just think about this. kratos deathmatch. you could damage the other people till the qte icon came up then rip out their intestines and choke them to death with them…just a thought!

johnld
johnld
14 years ago

I dont see god of war having multiplayer/coop. Kratos is more of a loner right? I can see a game like heavenly sword have coop because theres two characters, nariko and the girl with the crossbow.

JackC8
JackC8
14 years ago

I'm perfectly happy with good old single player games. I would love it if a lot more games got rid of multi-player and put all that time and effort into a longer and more polished single player campaign. The money isn't limitless, and a whole lot of developers only have enough to make a good single player campaign, OR a good multi-player game. Not enough to do both, so you see a lot of mediocre crap and a lot of people talking about "unfulfilled potential". Personally I'd rather play a great game for 15 hours than a mediocre game with multi-player for 25.

Sir Shak
Sir Shak
14 years ago

Don't need it .

jaybiv
jaybiv
14 years ago

Love MP. It adds to the game's longevity. I never play GOW but I know about it and don't see how you can make a good MP experience out of it. I could be wrong. MP modes lend itself well to specific genres. If it fits the genre, they better have it cause the games are so short nowadays.

kirobz
kirobz
14 years ago

For me. I'd rather have GoW3 single player only. I don't think MP would fit good on it.

Nynja
Nynja
14 years ago

Taking GoW online would be as bad as Sonic going 3D… possibly worse.

Some games just were not designed for multiplayer. Throw in some leaderboards (which I actually hate because it shows me how terrible I really am) or possibly a co-op challenge room with Nariko as a special guest. I honestly cannot see any multiplayer mode work well with God of War.

Nynja
Nynja
14 years ago

On second thought, forget any of that. Just give me the damn game on time!

Robochic
Robochic
14 years ago

Not needed at all for this game, GOW is epic and does not need to be ruined with multiplayer. Why does it seem like every game no matter what console has to have multiplayer I do enjoy single player unless it's a game like killzone which calls for multiplayer and needs it. This would not work at all for GOW.

BigT_1980
BigT_1980
14 years ago

Multiplayer is not needed in GOW 3. I could see online verses but co-op no way. You could have one person be Kratos and up to five other people be monsters trying to kill him and the winner gets to be Kratos the next round. I couldn't imagine more than one Kratos on screen at time. But again I will say multiplayer is a waste, and resources.

thj_1980
thj_1980
14 years ago

Well, looks like everyone pretty much dosen't want multiplayer. I haven't played the first 2 but I have played chains and it rocks. I;m looking forward to 3 and the remastered bundle. Multiplayer would ruin the game but it wuld be interesting to see people play multiplayer hack and slash.

godsman
godsman
14 years ago

Well, uncharted 2 there are many characters to choose from to play multiplayers. In God of War, there's only Kratos that seem to be a playable character. Does it make sense to have 10 Kratos beating each other? or have someone play as the skeleton army and be completely overpowered by one person playing Kratos?

___________
___________
14 years ago

would be cool, make up some boss battles, one playing as kratos one playing as a greek god like Hyades, or Poseidon, or the man of steel.
or they could have say 60 V 60 59 players on each team are skeleton army and 1 on each is kratos, each team has to protect their kratos while destroying the other teams.
like what dark sector did.
i would like to see MP added to GOW, but after its out that way im assured its taken nothing away from the SP campaign.

Banky A
Banky A
14 years ago

No need for multiplayer in GOW. It's becoming too cliche.

___________
___________
14 years ago

yea, you dont need MP to make a fantastic game.
thats why almost every game that had no MP now has MP with its new version.
bioshock was the best game in 2007, bioshock 2 has MP and was delayed because of it.
uncharted was another great game in 2007 it had no MP, uncharted 2 had MP.
if i remember right GTAIV was the first GTA game to include MP.
GTA 1,2,3 vice city, san andreas, liberty city, liberty city stories, vice city stories.
all perfect games, loved every single one of them to death, GTAIV comes along and screws the franchise up completley.
im really worried bioshock 2 is going to suffer the same fate.
while i agree with you stig, it looks like were out numbered.
i wont be surprised soon if SP mode in games disappear completley and were forced online with games like MAG or warhawk.
im still really disappointed neither had a SP mode, especially MAG would of been cool.
could of tied me over till zipper go back to SOCOM.
why sony let them slide away from socom ill never understand.
but than sony has always abandoned its mascots.
crash for the ps1.
sly cooper and J&D for the ps2 along with socom, mostly socom.
the only mascot sony has stuck by is R&C.
oh, what i would give to have another crash bandicoot game made by the one and only naughty dog.

fadin_illusion
fadin_illusion
14 years ago

its not about this generation's gamers but i do blame the critics/reviewers for multiplayer induction in every game.. they deduct points if the game doesn't have any multiplayer option.

Starchild
Starchild
14 years ago

Okay we all understand Single player as a single player experience but why arent the people asking the questions asking them to incorporate a co-op and versus mode multiplayer modes not apart of the story. All the freakin stories I read about this are the same thing over and over. Why cant the interviewee ask the right questions and maybe knock some sense into the devs saying hey, do some other options like costum kratos battling it out in multiplayer maps. WHY IS THAT SO HARD!!!!!!

telly
telly
14 years ago

I love me a good co-op campaign mode in games — but God of War isn't the right vehicle for it. Can you imagine how lame it would be if SCEA went Halo on GOW III and let three of Kratos' friends — who would almost never be seen in the cut-scenes mind you — tag along? Maybe the next God of War games after this trilogy is completed will make more sense for multiplayer and co-op, but I'm glad they're sticking with what works for this one.

Wage SLAVES
Wage SLAVES
14 years ago

This is my last game with Kratos man…we better get an awesome game. I'd take the cut of multiplayer any day.

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