Staff Blog: Single-Player or Multiplayer?

It's no secret around GameGrin that I can be a little antisocial with my gaming habits, much preferring to play single-player games than multiplayer ones. What isn't so well known however is my reasons behind this train of thought, so I thought I would share them with you all.

My first reason is that single-player games are far more immersive to me. This will come as no surprise to those who know me but for the benefit of those that don't, I'm a massive RPG fan. I like my games deep and meaningful with beautifully crafted stories, large, sprawling world maps to explore and bad-ass bosses which take some strategy to kill but offer up epic loot!

Take for example the recently released Skyrim, the world is quite literally your oyster. After the initial quest line you are dumped into the world and can choose to continue however you damn well please, be that through the storyline or through the hundreds, maybe even thousands of side quests you can do; offering up a kind of depth that is completely unrivalled by any cooperative/multiplayer game I've ever come across.

My second reason, most multiplayer/co-op games happen to be in a genre that I am absolutely horrific at. I'm looking at you, FPS. Whilst I do enjoy having a bash at these games every now and again, I find I struggle with them. Take Left 4 Dead 1+2 for example, two games that I am actually very fond of as they are a lot of fun to play with friends. The trouble is, they are about teamwork, something I don't feel I can properly provide due to my crippling ineptitude when it comes to aiming and shooting at things. So as a result, I feel I am somewhat gimping their game which is no fun at all when you feel like you're the one ruining other players' fun.

I'd like to take this opportunity to mention one co-op game that I do want to have a bash at, but sadly cannot. Payday: The Heist - A game I have been assured is massively fun, but I cannot touch with a 50 foot bargepole due to a phobia of clowns, I see them, I cry and freak out which isn't ideal when all the main characters are wearing clown masks... patch their faces for the love of god!!

Moving on, my last real reason is the cost vs. what you get from them. I will never, ever buy a solely multiplayer game at full price because I personally do not feel it is worth it at all. That's not to say that multiplayer games are bad and don't deserve a full retail price because that's just not true. There are some amazing games out there that are well made and absolutely deserve to be bought at full price, just not by me.

I find a lot of these games are a fad. For example four people buy a certain game, play the hell out of it then in 2 weeks time forget it exists, moving on to the next one. I don't mind that so much when the games are cheap as chips (thank you Steam sales) but the idea of buying a game you are only going to play a few times and is entirely dependant on whether people are still playing or not at full price seems like a waste to me. I would sooner go and spend that money on a good solid RPG and sink a couple of hundred hours into that.

With all of the above being said, I will admit now that there is one multiplayer game I play a lot of, World of Warcraft.

"But Sarah, doesn't that completely contradict what you have just said?", I hear you cry! No it doesn't. WoW, and other MMO's have a great balance between being single-player and multiplayer; a balance that suits me perfectly. MMO's come with massively open worlds allowing you to roam and do whatever you wish, be that questing, leveling up professions, doing some dungeons with friends or just plain exploring meaning you can play solo or as a team which gives you access to both multiplayer and single-player gaming. Not to mention that there are always content updates bringing you new and exciting things to do, and for £8.99 a month its cheaper than the vast majority of multiplayer and co-op games around.

So there you have it, there are my reasons!

Pop a comment in the section below and let me know if you agree with any of my points or whether I'm just an antisocial witch! I'm intrigued to hear your views on this.