In case you didn’t hear, Portal 2, one of the most anticipated games of the year, released last week. The game not only had more of the great puzzle-focused intricate levels that we all love, but it also featured a separate, standalone co-op mode. The addition was certainly well-received, which isn’t surprising, as co-op and multiplayer additions to games seem to be a common theme now. Valve has realized this, and has decided to focus more and more on multiplayer in the future, reportedly to the point where they may drop single-player only games.
Valve is certainly no stranger to multiplayer, as they have produced many successful games with the feature as the focus in the past. In addition to Portal 2‘s co-op, the Left 4 Dead series made running through swarms of zombies with your friends one of the most fun ways to kill time. Valve is still showing support for Team Fortress 2, a game that’s been out for almost four years now and you’ve probably heard of Counter-Strike.
According to Valve founder Gabe Newell, that may be the case. He said that Portal 2 will probably be their last game “with an isolated single-player experience.” What exactly this means is something even Newell himself is a bit unsure of, but it certainly raises a bit of controversy and confusion. While all of the aforementioned games focus on the multiplayer aspect, this does raise some questions about the series that put Valve on the map, Half-Life.
While there have been some hints that the next instalment in the franchise could be on the way, this recent announcement may put that into question. Half-Life was always single-player focused, so could this dispel the rumors and mean the franchise is done? No. It’s more likely that this means the next Half-Life game, whenever it arrives, will have a multiplayer feature as well. Whether that be through co-op and giving Gordon Freeman a partner or by adding a competitive multiplayer mode, it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise to see one or the other (or both) added for Half-Life 2: Episode 3 or Half-Life 3 should Valve skip the episodic title.
What are your thoughts on this? What does this mean for future Valve games? Is there a new, multiplayer Half-Life on the way?
Leave any comments you may have below.
Source: Kotaku
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Adding another stand alone coop mode to Half Life would be awesome. But eliminating the single player entirely, hell no. It wouldn’t be the same.
Agreed, it can be like Portal 2. Both coop and single.
I hope that’s what Gabe means. Reserve the right to be furious later.
THis could potentially be awesome.
Perhaps Shepard and Freeman together at last.
I personally absolutely love this idea. Sheppard was always awesome to me and I have really wanted to see how his story continued… Aside from that mod that came out a while back which wasn’t official
I personally love multi-player. It can be either split-screen or online (split screen is better and cheaper than owning 2 separate consoles and 2 copies of the game).
I would love if TF2 had a split-screen ability for consoles and actual updates and DLCs for the console versions..
Just don’t delay HL-3 too much, I am not a big fan myself but we don’t want your HL fans spazzing so much. xD
it would be cool to have a HL3 multiplayer mode. like portal2. two stories 1game! or like a deathmatch. or a mode where you do capture the flag with resistance and combine!
I could see it working well if it was a co-op with Gordon Freeman and either Barney or Alex. It would be really awesome if they did 4 player co-op with both Barney and Alex as well as either a Vortigaunt or Chell. Seeing as Portal is supposed to be in the Half-Life universe, and the ending of Portal 2 leaves this path open, it’s a possibility (an awesome one at that) however slim.
I live in a college apartment with very slow internet and I personally do not buy games that make the main focus co-op. My friends are frat kids who could care less about video games and I don’t enjoy playing co-op with strangers, especially when item collecting plays even a minimal role. Valve tends to use A.I. to make the single player still feel like co-op and I find that even more irritating. Another option developers use is to allow a game to be played single player but the difficulty rarely scales down to accommodate playing with three less people.
Basically, I’m saying that the single player should be a real single player with scripted events and solo play. If there is an extra co-op mode I wouldn’t be the least bit upset but personally if they take a Left 4 Dead approach I will not be buying HL3. I’m also sick of Source engine, Valve’s looking a lot like Infinity Ward lately in that regard.