Can anyone else not get into Single Player games anymore?

[pcslookout]

I try constantly to play single player games but they never see to entertain me enough.

The last one I played was BioShock but not all of it. Then another one I tried was DOOM (new one) but it just didn't interest me enough.

 

[BSim500]

Depends on the game. Ever since around 2012/2013, I just can't get into a lot of newer "big hype" AAA EA / Ubisoft / Squeenix games as I just find them either boring, chronically "formulaic" / obvious "recycled cash cows" or just too "consoley". OTOH, I'm playing more games by other "middle-weight" devs and having a blast replaying a ton of older games.

If you're referring to only AAA games, it might be worth looking further afield. I've spent the past year enjoying other newer games like SOMA, Talos Principle, Turing Test, Betrayer, Quantum Conundrum, Crookz: The Big Heist, Dex, Styx Master of Shadows, Divinity Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity, Hammerwatch, The Witness, This War Of Mine, Banished, Don't Starve, Shadowrun, several Wadjet Eye point & clicks, and a few FPS's I missed first time around (eg, Unreal Gold, Prey), etc, a lot more than the usual over-hyped "big money" publishers offerings.

Sometimes you can burn yourself out on an entire genre. If you play nothing but FPS, try interspersing them with other genre's and you may find you'll come back to the games at a later date. Plenty of middle ground between "Early Access bottom rung Indie junk" and "$250m budget AAAA" and it's often the stuff gaming sites don't showcase / hype to the hills that's the most fun / different / fresh feeling.

 

[pcslookout]

Depends on the game. Ever since around 2012/2013, I just can't get into a lot of newer "big hype" AAA EA / Ubisoft / Squeenix games as I just find them either boring, chronically "formulaic" / obvious "cash cows" or just too "consoley". OTOH, I'm playing more games by other "middle-weight" devs and having a blast replaying a ton of older games.

If you're referring to only AAA games, it might be worth looking further afield. I've spent the past year enjoying other newer games like SOMA, Talos Principle, Turing Test, Betrayer, Quantum Conundrum, Crookz: The Big Heist, Dex, Styx Master of Shadows, Divinity Original Sin, Pillars of Eternity, Hammerwatch, The Witness, This War Of Mine, Banished, Don't Starve, Shadowrun, several Wadjet Eye point & clicks, and a few FPS's I missed first time around (eg, Unreal Gold, Prey), etc, a lot more than the usual over-hyped "big money" publishers offerings.

Sometimes you can burn yourself out on an entire genre. If you play nothing but FPS, try interspersing them with other genre's and you may find you'll come back to the games at a later date. Plenty of middle ground between "Early Access bottom rung Indie junk" and "$250m budget AAAA" and it's often the stuff gaming sites don't showcase / hype to the hills that's the most fun / different / fresh feeling.

Yeah but I can play good multiplayer games easily like Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and Battlefield 1.

 

[Sabrewings]

Depending on the genre, sometimes I prefer it. If I do play multiplayer I try to do it with people I know on private servers. Some of the people you encounter on totally open servers are not my cup of tea. I don't need a seven year old yelling into my headset. "Some people's kids..."

 

[local]

I'm the opposite, I can never get into multiplayer games. Probably has something to do with having no real life friends that play games.

 

[zerocool84]

I'm the opposite, I can never get into multiplayer games. Probably has something to do with having no real life friends that play games.

I've played since forever like that. My friends have only ever played on consoles but I'll mostly get FPS games on PC. Occasionally I'll get FPS games on console if all my friends want to play it together like the new CoD exclusively because of CoD4 Remastered. None of my friends have ever played Counter Strike or Team Fortess 2 or Battlefield 2 but I played those games for insane amounts of time with just random pubs.

 

[Merad]

Opposite. Used to play a good mix of multi and single player games, probably even leaned towards multiplayer if you include MMOs. Can't remember the last time I really got into a multiplayer game. As gaming has gone more and more mainstream the average player has gotten more and more annoying... or maybe I've just gotten old and have less tolerance for the BS.

 

[BSim500]

Yeah but I can play good multiplayer games easily like Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and Battlefield 1.

I guess it then boils down to what you personally find irritating / missing in SP FPS games? Eg, story not engaging, pacing too slow, gunplay too "bullet spongy", etc? Or maybe you just like human opponents in general? I used to be heavy into Doom/Quake MP, and noticed all the time I was playing them heavily, I started using the frantic pacing of those games as a frame of reference for judging other games and started seeing all SP games as "slow", etc. Then when I stopped playing MP games, I judged games like Bioshock, Deus Ex, Thief, etc, in their own right and focussed more on the plot and general atmosphere.

It could be you've played so many MP games so often, you're "attuned" to a certain kind of pacing which is typically only found in MP games? If that's the case then it probably doesn't help that a lot of SP FPS have slowed down over the years to accommodate controllers / cross-platform and become "action-adventures" rather than shooters.

 

[zerocool84]

Opposite. Used to play a good mix of multi and single player games, probably even leaned towards multiplayer if you include MMOs. Can't remember the last time I really got into a multiplayer game. As gaming has gone more and more mainstream the average player has gotten more and more annoying... or maybe I've just gotten old and have less tolerance for the BS.

More annoying? They seem just as annoying as ever. I mute people so I don't have to hear them.

 

[Craig234]

Spellweaver is interesting, it has AI and multi-player and you can't much tell them apart except player delays and the challenge, since there' mostly no chat.

An interesting related topic is re-usability.

There's always been a split - The first computer game, Colossal Caves, was a one-use game; one just after it, Rogue, had huge re-playability.

Games without re-playability seem to be on the decline - players might expect huge length of gameplay from single-player or multi-player. That changes games a bit.

But there are still games not re-playable made and good ones. I wonder how much that'll continue.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I've played since forever like that. My friends have only ever played on consoles but I'll mostly get FPS games on PC. Occasionally I'll get FPS games on console if all my friends want to play it together like the new CoD exclusively because of CoD4 Remastered. None of my friends have ever played Counter Strike or Team Fortess 2 or Battlefield 2 but I played those games for insane amounts of time with just random pubs.

I'm in the same boat. All my friends are console if they game at all. The few PC friends I have don't play the same games I do.

However, I get much more adrenaline rush out of multiplayer than single player so yes it does seem I play those more than single player as I get bored with them easily. Every great once in awhile a game will come out that hooks me....re: Alien Isolation, Bioshock Infinite, SOMA, AoE, Binding of Isaac..for example.

 

[Stg-Flame]

I only play single player games, so...

 

[sweenish]

I doubt you're representative of some trend.

I prefer single player or co-op games. Always have, always will. I do still dabble in MP on occasion.

 

[thejunglegod]

I'm almost exclusively a single player guy. Except for LOL and WOW. I always look for a good story and getting sucked in the experience with the characters. I'd any day take a poor Mass Effect ending over a nonsensical grind such as Star Wars Battlefront.

 

[PricklyPete]

Haven't played a single player game for more than an hour or two for 5+ years. It would be a decade, but I did try to make it through Mass Effect many years ago...but failed at that too. Last single player game that I played to completion was the original Bioshock.

It has more to do with availability to time and my many other interests.

 

[ControlD]

I haven't played a game online since Quake.

Most of my gaming is either single player RPGs or rogue style games. My only multiplayer gaming is on the WiiU with the family. I am sort of thinking about giving Battlefield 1 a try though. That game looks pretty neat and it might be fun to try something online for a change.

 

[clok1966]

I'm the opposite, I can never get into multiplayer games. Probably has something to do with having no real life friends that play games.

this.. Back in the day we had a group of 8-10 real life and online friends that played (ages ago, EQ was where it all started). we played and talked and had a great time.. we grew older had kids, divorces, new BF/GF, new games.. Now its just me.. My GF wont play. I tend to just play single player games now.. My reaction times are not good enough for the twitch crap, While i can micro manage, DOTA games are so close to "WORK" to me, you cant just play and have fun, they require specific things to be done just so or you lose. To be honest i think XBOX live adn WOW killed online gaming for me. Dont get me wrong, it made it main stream, anybody could do it, Xbox live is a great service. Wow was a great MMOPRPG, its just they are both used by "PEOPLE" and it seems the lowest is the most common.. the basement dwelling never left the house manchild stereotype sure doesn't appear to be real when you go to E3 and such. But chat on LIVE and in WOW (and most multiplayer games nowadays) is so toxic, the few little fun insults and badgering of the past have turned into utter vile . L4D2 used to be my safe spot, still is fair, but its even been invaded by to many mouth breathers. I get the human factor sure makes VS games better, but voice which should be fun isn't ... just an opinion.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Time to find a different single player game maybe?

Dwarf Fortress... deep gameplay, steep learning curve to keep your brain working hard, great story generation
X3: Albion Prelude ... deep gameplay, steep learning curve to keep your brain working hard, great graphics
Kerbal Space Program ... highly amusing, easy to start, but can get very very difficult
EU4 ... have some strategy will you
Cities: Skylines... grrrr Fvcking traffic!
Fallout 3 New Vegas... my favorite fallout sequel
Skyrim ... because Skyrim

 

[blert]

Just the opposite, haven't played a multi player game in ages. I'm an old fart and prefer to play at my own pace, zero tolerance for anyone elses BS. Plenty of single player games out there if I want action. Currently playing Alien Isolation

 

[ImpulsE69]

I'm almost exclusively a single player guy. Except for LOL and WOW. I always look for a good story and getting sucked in the experience with the characters. I'd any day take a poor Mass Effect ending over a nonsensical grind such as Star Wars Battlefront.

I'm just going to go ahead and assume you think that only CoD clones are MP games? You can waste more time on those 2 games than anything else easily and I imagine you do, so I think your first sentence is false

 

[thejunglegod]

I'm just going to go ahead and assume you think that only CoD clones are MP games? You can waste more time on those 2 games than anything else easily and I imagine you do, so I think your first sentence is false

As per the OP, I assumed that he was basically talking more about how he can't get into single player games rather than not playing multi-player games. I see your point though and it makes me look like a complete idiot.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I prefer single player games.

 

[Root13]

I don't like multiplayer gaming...

 

[RaistlinZ]

I try constantly to play single player games but they never see to entertain me enough.

The last one I played was BioShock but not all of it. Then another one I tried was DOOM (new one) but it just didn't interest me enough.

Play The Witcher 3 and you'll find your love for single player games again.

 

[HOOfan 1]

I used to play Quake 2 Deathmatch for hours and hours a day. Now I prefer single player experiences. Depends on the game of course. The story has to be motivating, or I might as well play multi-player