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[Daffy Duck]

Thinking about FPS games in general this morning whilst walking to work it got me thinking about the impact Titanfall could have on the FPS genre.

The fact the game has no single player is well known but if it's widely well received by critics and gamers alike, would we see EA/Dice & IW/Treyarc/Activision copy this with their franchises and ditch the single player aspect of there games to focus purely on the multiplayer elements?

Naturally if this was the case and you only got 'half' a game, you would want the price to be reduced, but we all know EA/Activision would never lower the price, would this factor make them stick with the single player aspect of the game?

This leads me to ask would you be bothered if CoD/Battlefield did away with the single player aspect of the games and launched a game that only had a multiplayer element attached to it?

My thoughts are that it takes me a good 3+ months (generally) to grow tired of the multiplayer aspect of a game and venture into single player for a few evenings before getting back into multiplayer, and these campaigns are fairly quick to blast through, and in large are quite forgettable so this time could instead be spent on the multiplayer game and making it the very best experience it could be.

I would not be averse to seeing what Dice/IW/Treyarch could achieve with a game that has the sole focus of multiplayer and not the 'distraction' of developing singleplayer campaign.

I guess this means Titanfall (and Respawn again) could breed a hundred more clones (like they did with Modern Warfare) where we have games following their lead with no singleplayer games.

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Quake 3: Arena.

Google it.

 

[Daffy Duck]

Quake 3: Arena.

Google it.

I know it well (spent many years over at Quake3Arena), but you could argue it did indeed have a singleplayer game.

 

[Clawww]

they would lose out on some sales

there are definitely people out there who buy and play the games solely or mainly for their campaigns. whether the campaigns are shit or not, or if they hold back the MP in some way, doesn't really matter.

 

[Grief.exe]

Naturally if this was the case and you only got 'half' a game, you would want the price to be reduced, bu we all know EA/Activision would never lower the price, would this factor make them stick with the single player aspect of the game?

Naturally? No.

The same amount of work is being put into the game, the resources are just redistributed to the multiplayer.

Personally, I could care less that they removed the campaign. The single player portion of many of these games is just a tacked-on, linear campaign.

 

[Tunesmith]

I know it well (spent many years over at Quake3Arena), but you could argue it did indeed have a singleplayer game.

If you equate what Q3 had as "singleplayer" as singleplayer, then Titanfall has pretty much the same thing as well.

 

[Sub_Level]

I hope there's no huge saturation of chasing the same kind of game as what happened last gen with CoD.

I think regardless of how well Titanfall does, Halo, CoD, and Killzone will continue to feature singleplayer campaigns. The only ones I can see it influencing would be BF (which many would argue would be an improvement) and the upcoming Battlefront 3.

Also keep in mind that TF does have normal multiplayer modes but also "campaign multiplayer" with narrative before and after each multiplayer match.

If you equate what Q3 as "singleplayer" as singleplayer, then Titanfall has pretty much the same thing as well.

I was about to post the same, but then I remembered Q3 could be played offline perfectly fine against bots in the campaign mode. We don't know if Titanfall will have that option.

 

[ViciousDS]

brink, brink, brink, brink with mechs


Brink had so much potential and with the ex CoD4 guys behind the wheel of titanfall I'm happy and looking forward to it.

 

[Sinfamy]

Until I stopped altogether, I bought Call of Duty for its campaign, the multiplayer was an added bonus.

Unless the game comes at s lower cost (not $60), I'm not buying it for online only, as I don't put many hours in online games.

 

[shinobi602]

This leads me to ask would you be bothered if CoD/Battlefield did away with the single player aspect of the games and launched a game that only had a multiplayer element attached to it?

Yes, I'd probably skip out on them.

Titanfall's lack of SP makes me uninterested in the game, unfortunately. I do enjoy Battlefield's multiplayer quite a bit, but not enough to make buy the game solely for it. I'm not that big into multiplayer to begin with. I think the only multiplayer I really care for in an FPS is Halo.

 

[Neuromancer]

As long as there was some kind of offline functionality, like bot matches, I'd be ok with some shooters ditching their campaigns. But personally I think EA and Respawn are making a mistake in completely ignoring offline gamers. I suspect the number of offline gamers who bought CoD games for single player and local MP is not insignificant.

 

[level44]

I would definitely care about not having a single player campaign.
Heck, there are some people out there who only play the single player campaign and don't touch multiplayer.

I find the single player as training for the multiplayer. It needs to be there.

Ediy: Actually looking back, I only played the single player campaign of BF3. Didn't even touch multiplayer.

 

[Wizman23]

The Call of Duty and Battlefield series should ditch SP as well.

 

[level44]

The Call of Duty and Battlefield series should ditch SP as well.

Why?

 

[monome]

lol.

Titanfall is getting away with no SP because of new gen.

Titanfall 2 will either have SP or something akin to Destiny, aka persistent world you wander through with friends.

sales of #1 and potential multi plateforms release of #2 will decide on the scale/novelty of how Respawn will tackle the question of some people not wanting an arena shooter MP only game for 60$.

 

[Grief.exe]

Yes, I'd probably skip out on them.

Titanfall's lack of SP makes me uninterested in the game, unfortunately. I do enjoy Battlefield's multiplayer quite a bit, but not enough to make buy the game solely for it. I'm not that big into multiplayer to begin with. I think the only multiplayer I really care for in an FPS is Halo.

Check out some games with a great, linear campaign Call of Juarez Gunslinger, Episode 2, Metro series, Hard Reset/Shadow Warrior.

Don't limit yourself to Call of Duty and Battlefield, you are doing yourself a disservice.

lol.

Titanfall is getting away with no SP because of new gen.

Titanfall 2 will either have SP or something akin to Destiny, aka persistent world you wander through with friends.

sales of #1 and potential multi plateforms release of #2 will decide on the scale/novelty of how Respawn will tackle the question of some people not wanting an arena shooter MP only game for 60$.

I'm sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?

 

[Interfectum]

As long as they can make the non-pro FPS players feel like they are accomplishing something/contributing to the team in every match I don't think there will be a problem.

Single player campaigns usually make the player feel empowered regardless of skill set. When a lot of those people hop online they get completely disillusioned. If Titanfall can make those people feel comfortable online that could be a potential game changer IMO.

 

[sflufan]

This leads me to ask would you be bothered if CoD/Battlefield did away with the single player aspect of the games and launched a game that only had a multiplayer element attached to it?

No in the least.

The single-player in CoD and BF (especially BF) are goddamned awful with the result that the resources are better allocated towards the multiplayer component.

As Grief.exe mentioned, there are LOTS of great single player FPS experiences (mostly on the PC) that are thankfully not modern warfare and exist outside of the CoD/BF dynamic.

 

[Daffy Duck]

I find the single player as training for the multiplayer. It needs to be there.

The thing is more and more games now, Black Ops II, Ghosts, Battlefield 4 all have either training areas to get to grips with the game or bots, or even battle training to play against low level players to get used to the game.

Maybe I'm too cynical but if Titanfall sells well into the millions and is well received, you just know someone at EA/Activision will be thinking we could do something similar.

It's got to the point with Battlefield campaigns there is almost zero point them being there, I am yet to start the BF4 campaign but the fact they have placed multiplayer unlocks in the campaign is surely there as a carrot to get people to play through singleplayer and not ignore it completely.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Warhawk was one of my favorite games last gen and there was no single-player campaign. It was a brilliant, concentrated multiplayer experience and the quasi-sequel, Starhawk, tried to add a lackluster single-player campaign. Many 'hawk fans believed Starhawk's MP suffered because of that.



Then again, Warhawk wasn't expected to set the world on fire like Titanfall is expected to.


It'll be interesting to see how the masses react to such a massively hyped game with no single-player campaign (or how many people will buy it not even realizing it's MP only).

 

[shinobi602]

Check out some games with a great, linear campaign Call of Juarez Gunslinger, Episode 2, Metro series, Hard Reset/Shadow Warrior.

Don't limit yourself to Call of Duty and Battlefield, you are doing yourself a disservice.

Trust me, I don't limit myself to BF/COD at all, I've played a ton of FPS campaigns. I'll check out Gunslinger as I did enjoy the previous Call of Juarez game, and I really want to play the Metro games but I don't have a gaming quality PC. I'm hoping the rumors of Last Light coming to PS4 are true.

 

[level44]

The thing is more and more games now, Black Ops II, Ghosts, Battlefield 4 all have either training areas to get to grips with the game or bots, or even battle training to play against low level players to get used to the game.

I guess you could say that but it would still feel like half a game to me.
If the publishers cut the cost of the game it would be more reasonable but I would still miss playing the campaign.

 

[BotoxAgent]

I don't play FPS multiplayer at all, so that's the only reason why I am not too hyped on Titanfall. I am still getting it though, but I know I am going to get my ass handed to me...that's never fun. I am just never good at these types of games.

 

[babyghost853]

My thoughts are that it takes me a good 3+ months (generally) to grow tired of the multiplayer aspect of a game.

If in 3 months you are tired of the multiplayer, then the multiplayer was shit.

 

[Milennia]

I could safely say that as of this year.. After seeing these 2 campaigns, i could care less if they didn't include the, from here on out.

Maybe I'm tired of them, or maybe this outing they were just that bad (they were), but i gave no shits at the end of either of them.
I used to love hopping into the single player of CoD/Battlefield before multiplayer, now i just don't care either as much or at all.

Maybe if next years outings are better it will breath some new life into it and get my back into that groove again, I'm not super optimistic.
For reference, i loved the respective campaigns of bad company 2 and CoD 4.
I thought BF3 was okay, however didn't care much at all and skipped Blops 2, however i heard it was decent.
I like titanfall's idea of multiplayer/single player as of now, well see how it is at launch.. If it turns out to be interesting, who knows where we can take things.

As for dedicated single player FPS games.. I still love them, such as metro and bioshock.

(As a side note, i finished both campaigns on their hardest settings in under 6 hours a piece, cod was 5 and a half and bf was 4 and a half)

 

[TheJollyCorner]

I don't play FPS multiplayer at all, so that's the only reason why I am not too hyped on Titanfall. I am still getting it though, but I know I am going to get my ass handed to me...that's never fun. I am just never good at these types of games.

So why are you getting it? The hype?

 

[José Mourinho]

Half a game? Eh, no.

 

[SmokyDave]

I'd be fucking gutted. The campaign is the only part I enjoy, I have no interest in multi-player.

I'm the one guy out there that really enjoyed the Battlefield 3 & 4 campaigns, yet never played either online.

 

[scitek]

OP, if you don't want to pay $60 for the game, wait for a sale.

 

[ptuck874]

Warhawk was one of my favorite games last gen and there was no single-player campaign. It was a brilliant, concentrated multiplayer experience and the quasi-sequel, Starhawk, tried to add a lackluster single-player campaign. Many 'hawk fans believed Starhawk's MP suffered because of that.



Then again, Warhawk wasn't expected to set the world on fire like Titanfall is expected to.


It'll be interesting to see how the masses react to such a massively hyped game with no single-player campaign (or how many people will buy it not even realizing it's MP only).

100% agree to all of this...

 

[Grief.exe]

I don't play FPS multiplayer at all, so that's the only reason why I am not too hyped on Titanfall. I am still getting it though, but I know I am going to get my ass handed to me...that's never fun. I am just never good at these types of games.

Get CS on Steam Sale
Play that until March
I guarantee you will be running circles around typical ADS players. Whenever I go and play CS, then come back to Battlefield its like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[Interfectum]

I'm the one guy out there that really enjoyed the Battlefield 3 & 4 campaigns, yet never played either online.

Wow. BF4's campaign was dog shit. I hope you got the game at a massive discount.

 

[Alcoholikaust]

eh if TF2, and Counter Strike can do it- BF and COD can certainly do it.

playing BF or COD for its singleplayer content is rather silly.

 

[forgeforsaken]

Is this going to have any kind of co-op/horde mode? I find I get far more enjoyment out of those than competitive FPS play of which I seem to bore quickly these days.

 

[Sinfamy]

eh if TF2, and Counter Strike can do it- BF and COD can certainly do it.

playing BF or COD for its singleplayer content is rather silly.

Yes but one is free and the other can be had for about $2.50 on a good day. Is paying full retail price for a stripped version a good deal? Its not like single player was holding the game back before.

 

[Vinterbird]

OP, if you don't want to pay $60 for the game, wait for a sale.

I think getting in late with Titanfall is going to make it a worse experience then paying full price at launch.

Coming in six months after launch of going to be brutal.

 

[Interfectum]

Is this going to have any kind of co-op/horde mode? I find I get far more enjoyment out of those than competitive FPS play of which I seem to bore quickly these days.

I think Titanfall is going to try to blend 'horde mode' into the competitive FPS play. I believe it has AI controlled creeps that you also fight against.

 

[Enkidu]

I guess you could say that but it would still feel like half a game to me.
If the publishers cut the cost of the game it would be more reasonable but I would still miss playing the campaign.

For a lot of people the multi player is the main attraction when it comes to shooters these days. Is Mario 64 also half a game just because it's single player only?

 

[JonathanPower]

Thinking about FPS games in general this morning whilst walking to work it got me thinking about the impact Titanfall could have on the FPS genre.

The fact the game has no single player is well known but if it's widely well received by critics and gamers alike, would we see EA/Dice & IW/Treyarc/Activision copy this with their franchises and ditch the single player aspect of there games to focus purely on the multiplayer elements?

Naturally if this was the case and you only got 'half' a game, you would want the price to be reduced, bu we all know EA/Activision would never lower the price, would this factor make them stick with the single player aspect of the game?

This leads me to ask would you be bothered if CoD/Battlefield did away with the single player aspect of the games and launched a game that only had a multiplayer element attached to it?

My thoughts are that it takes me a good 3+ months (generally) to grow tired of the multiplayer aspect of a game and venture into single player for a few evenings before getting back into multiplayer, and these campaigns are fairly quick to blast through, and in large are quite forgettable so this time could instead be spent on the multiplayer game and making it the very best experience it could be.

I would not be averse to seeing what Dice/IW/Treyarch could achieve with a game that has the sole focus of multiplayer and not the 'distraction' of developing singleplayer campaign.

I guess this means Titanfall (and Respawn again) could breed a hundred more clones (like they did with Modern Warfare) where we have games following their lead with no singleplayer games.

I am already bothered by the fact that COD and BF4 both have a very short, easy and forgettable SP campaign. In fact, this is why I went with Killzone instead.

 

[SmokyDave]

Wow. BF4's campaign was dog shit. I hope you got the game at a massive discount.

£49.99 and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the campaign. I play a wide enough variety of games that a AAA cinematic linear shooter is a refreshing change and something I can look forward to.

I was kinda bummed to find that the China Rising DLC didn't have any single player content, but then I didn't realise that was included until after I'd bought the game anyway. No biggie.

 

[Lerozz]

I have it currently preordered. It looks like a lot of fun. But lack of a single player campaign is quite crap as multiplayer alone will not keep me satisfied (dont have that much time to invest so I am bound to be mediocre at best).

 

[rjcc]

Yes but one is free and the other can be had for about $2.50 on a good day. Is paying full retail price for a stripped version a good deal? Its not like single player was holding the game back before.

I don't consider lacking a particular game mode as being "stripped." Either what it has will be enough to justify the purchase or it won't. I get that not everyone sees it this way, but I haven't played a FPS campaign yet (SP, co-op is a different story) that I couldn't have lived without

 

[LilWayneSuckz]

I'm interested in how Titanfall sells. It requires an internet connection, multiplayer-only, costs $60, only available on three platforms, CoD is still king of multiplayer shooters and is still massively popular.

It gets a lot of hype with the hardcore crowd but I'm not quite so sure that casuals and the dedicated shooter audience are ready to abandon CoD and Battlefield so soon.

 

[Wizman23]

Why?

Because the SP games in both BF4 and COD are utter dog shit and take away dev resources from MP which the majority of people buy those games for.

 

[BrokenIcarus]

To me the problem with mutiplayer only is that the publishers could pull the plug at any time and the game would be completly worthless.

Now I understand that it's very costly to keep servers up 24/7, especially if you have dedicated servers, but if games become completely unplayable without even the option to play split screen or against Bots it's just not acceptable to me.

 

[GameSeeker]

I don't buy games that have no single-player campaign. Even the various MMO's I have played have quite a bit of single player content.

I believe that a game like Destiny will appeal to a broader audience than Titanfall, with it's mix of single player and multiplayer content. Titanfall is likely to find a small, but very vocal and dedicated audience.

 

[TRios Zen]

I have played no more than a couple of hours of the SP campaign in any COD since MW2, but have put many hours in the MP.

Three or four years ago I might have lamented the loss of SP in an online shooter that I would mostly play for the MP, but no longer.

 

[Sub_Level]

I don't play FPS multiplayer at all, so that's the only reason why I am not too hyped on Titanfall. I am still getting it though, but I know I am going to get my ass handed to me...that's never fun. I am just never good at these types of games.

Well, you'll at least be happy to know that everyone gets a titan in TF multiplayer. It's not like a killstreak in CoD.

 

[The Nature Roy]

Didn't the original Game Informer Titanfall reveal article state that there was a singleplayer mode of some sort, although Respawn wasn't ready to talk about it yet? If I'm remembering it correctly, that could be the purchase decider for me. If there is no worthwhile offline mode, I'll likely pass on the game.

 

[Prince Vultan]

If you're going to charge full price for a first person shooter it's more than reasonable to expect it to contain essential game content like single player, and if you ARE going to release a multiplayer only shooter at full price no matter what then you better at least make damn sure it's the most feature complete multiplayer shooter ever made, because just a game that offers no more than the multiplayer component of any COD or Battlefield or whatever out there won't be good enough. They have to justify that insane premium for such a product somehow, so we'll need to see exactly what the finished product actually contains here imo.

Whatever else you may think about Titanfall, it has a lot to prove and no mistake.