It’s no secret that online multiplayer has became exceptionally popular among the current generation of gamers. In fact it has became so popular that many developers have made it their primarily focus when marketing a new game. As of late some game franchises have even implemented online multiplayer in sequels that were previously only single player games. Games such as Max Payne 3, Dead Space 2, Assassins Creed 3 and the recently announced God Of War: Ascension just to name a few. Do these games really need multiplayer? They were great games by their own right without it. What makes matters even worse is that Santa Monica studios openly admitted that the single player in God Of War: Ascension would be shorter in favor of multiplayer. With developers spending so much time on multiplayer where does that leave single player? Well in extreme cases it's reduced to a five-hour experience with a lack luster story.

Perhaps the greatest example of this is the Call Of Duty series that spends all their development time on multiplayer. Resident Evil 5 is another game that included multiplayer co-op which forces you to play with another player or put up with a computer controlled partner with atrocious A.I. Capcom announced that Resident Evil 6 would follow the same formula. It seems that Capcom is starting to build their games around multiplayer. I remember when I was younger and I played the old Resident Evil games I had way more fun not being tied down by a stupid A.I controlled partner. The old Resident Evils are prefect examples of a great single player game with its story, great puzzles and the creepy environments. I still remember the first time that I encountered Nemeses in Resident Evil 3. This has to be my top pick for most memorable moment in the Resident Evil series. It was one of the scariest moments because you didn’t know when he was going to show up again. Or my first encounter with a zombie in the dark mansion in the original Resident Evil. I miss all of memorable moments that defined a game. It looks like Capcom is moving away from the single player Resident Evil games of the past but I am hoping that some day they will return to the old style that did survival horror and single player so well.

In some cases the multiplayer ends up being poorly executed or just copying off of a successful franchise. Much like the recent Spec Ops: The Line which had a great story driven single player the multiplayer was nothing special. The multiplayer consisted of your standard death match and objective based modes. The only difference was the inclusion of sand. This raises the question of why didn’t they use those resources to make their single player better? Developers need to understand that multiplayer does not have to be in every game. Most of the time I rather have a game I can spend 10 hours or over to completely finish instead of having a 5-hour single player and a multiplayer mode.

As a long time gamer I don’t want to see single player games disappear. I feel there is more thought that goes into single player games then multiplayer. For all you old school gamers out there I am sure you all remember Legend of Zelda Ocarina Of Time, the old school Mario games, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil and many others from your childhood. Those were some of the most memorable games form the last generation and they are all single player. I for one miss the epic storytelling and sense of adventure that used to be present in every game. Fortunately they are some developers who still hold this near and dear when developing a game. Developers like Rocksteady with Batman: Arkham series or Sucker Punch with the Infamous series. Multiplayer is nowhere to be found in these two games. All their development time went in to making an epic story. Even with some developers making single player games I still worry that it will be a multiplayer future. What are your opinions? Sound off in the comments below.