Of all the many, unexciting boxes ticked by unexciting games publishers, there's no box quite so unexciting, so brain-drainingly routine, so depressingly square as multiplayer. Me-too online components are the bane of otherwise worthwhile mid-tier projects like Spec Ops: The Line and Binary Domain, dragging precious resources away from single player for the sake of a Quixotic, "commercially necessary" tilt at Call of Duty's windmill.
But contemporary multiplayer modes aren't all Horde Mode 2.01 and Conquest With Zombies. I spent this weekend gone playing Anarchy Reigns, a madcap if somewhat broken brawler which smashes a vanilla FPS mode selection against a wildly spinning roster of combos, power-ups and map fixtures. In honour of Platinum's crazed concoction, here's a list of relatively under-sung, relatively experimental multiplayer hits.
1. Red Dead Redemption
You don't even have to start Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer mode to have fun, strictly speaking. The lobby is the world itself, where you're free to wreak all the usual Wild Western mayhem in the company of Xbox Live drop-ins wearing sombreros and ill-advised ponchos. Once you get an actual match going, there's an introductory Mexican stand-off to whet the old carnal appetites - survivors get a headstart on the map while the others respawn.
2. Armoured Core 5
Rattling around inside the ponderous interfacial carapace of From Software's not-quite-scintillating mech sim, there's a really interesting, ambitious online effort. On firing the game up, you're asked to join a clan or form your own. The deeds, misdeeds and messages of other clan members then populate the world map, letting you jump into co-op matches, swap tips or trade parts as you push through the "offline" campaign. Which clan you join also determines which sets of customisable map fixtures you'll get to attack or defend in the over-arching strategy game, along with a host of factors like how much cash you'll earn when you assist other players.
3. Driver: San Francisco
Driver: San Francisco sounds like a terrible idea for a multiplayer racing game. You're not really driving the car, see - you're driving a comatose man who thinks he's driving the car - which means that such sportsmanship-enabling dictums of reality as "human beings can't teleport" no longer apply. Yet somehow, being able to warp to the seat of the car in front results in balanced competitive fun. Each course is filled with milling civilian roadsters, and knowing when to seize possession is generally key to victory. You might, for instance, throw an oncoming lorry across both lanes to inconvenience a speeding front-runner, only for him to hot-swap effortlessly to a car at the far end of the ensuing pile-up.
14 comments so far...
Gonin on 23 Jan '13 said:
Good article Edwin, I have played 3 out of 5 of these. No surprise that Rockstar are in there twice, both excellent MP offerings. If you ignore the JOKE that is the Max Payne 3 season pass.......
CunningSmile on 23 Jan '13 said:
Probably also worth mentioning the sheer bulk of freebies that R* gave away for the RDR multiplayer. On the one hand I'm disappointed that SP only got Undead Nightmare (great as it was) but at least they generous with the MP.
Mendes on 23 Jan '13 said:
Had fun with Max Payne but more of course with the near perfect package that is Red Dead Redemption.... the hilarity garnered from the punch ups in the lobby alone are worth dipping in to its multiplayer... then of course the 16 player free roam. Great stuff.
Was always a little gutted they didn't put trains in to the multiplayer, a game mode where two teams on horseback have to hijack a runaway locomotive and then keep control of it (like a moving King of the Hill with the ticket count of Battlefield for kills). Players on the engine having to keep it stoked else it grinds to a halt making it easier to capture, other player shooting out the windows of the carriages and other players on the roof waiting to be shot off to their lovely Euphoria animated deaths.
Frankly, I think that would have been the f*cking awesome!
PCG The_B on 23 Jan '13 said:
I admire/like the concept of Dark Souls multiplayer, though I'd be lying if I said it wasn't occasionally infuriating in practice when you get set upon by randoms who just seek to kill new players who are otherwise minding their own business for kicks.
I'd definitely say it's up there though as one of the "weirdest" implementations of multiplayer.
Sandbwoy on 23 Jan '13 said:
Red Dead Redemption is my favourite multiplayer experience of all time. The vast choice of different game types keeps things fresh even when you've been playing for hours and hours. I haven't played Max Payne 3 so I'm not sure what Rockstar did with the multiplayer for that, but I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with GTA5.
Decent_Jam on 23 Jan '13 said:
Sneaky? Don't you mean Paranoia?
Anywho, love Max Payne's multi, the reason I'm holding onto the game in fact. The bullet time is really well done. If the multi in GTA5 lives up to the precedent set by Max (and RDR, also good fun), then Rockstar might tempt me into purchasing.
I feel Red Faction Guerilla should feature on this list, since it really thinks outside the box in terms of modes and equipment and suchlike.
Maverick_McCool on 23 Jan '13 said:
YES , YES a thousand times yes , if I had anyone on my friends list who actually played this game , and this was an option I would be over the moon! Get R* told Mendes!
sampsondw on 24 Jan '13 said:
I love Dead Rising 2, but goddamn it's hard to actually FIND a multiplayer game. I've had the game for years and not once have i found enough people for a multiplayer match. So sad..
Mendes on 24 Jan '13 said:
It would be great wouldn't it? I'd be at the end of the train throwing sticks of dynamite at those players trying to catch up. I thought of other elements too... like players fighting over railroad switches to dictate which way the train goes, if it ends up a certain place, like a dynamite laden bridge then game over, this could be the 'Capture the Flag' element of the game. But I think most of the fun would come from the match moving across the whole map.
CunningSmile on 24 Jan '13 said:
Brilliant idea and actually a little surprised it was never introduced since there are several train missions across RDR and Undead Nightmare so it obviously occurred to R* it would be fun.
FishyGinger on 24 Jan '13 said:
Yeah actually that does sound good. I played it online only a few times, the last time someone just sat there in the overworld with a sniper rifle, everytime I spawned I got killed immediately. It wasn't even a match. Not played it since then. I'd get back into it if that mode was there though.
Mendes on 24 Jan '13 said:
Yeah, I can't believe it was an oversight or missed opportunity, I can only think programmatically it was too much of a challenge within the productions time constraints, I can imagine the netcode would certainly be under some additional strain....(Edit : In fact it states on the RDR Wiki trains would have caused severe lag... thought so) ... or maybe even (and I like to think this is the reason) they realised they've got to hold a little bit back to be used on the hard sell for the inevitable sequel... not that it'll need the hard sell of course!
Aye, it's a shame that can happen, worth sticking with it though, saying that I ain't been on it for a while, always have a doss though... maybe tonight's the night. It's worth playing the multiplayer free roam on your own though due to all the AI hideouts either that or shop around for a posse!
CunningSmile on 24 Jan '13 said:
As far as I'm concerned the hard sell can consist of "We've made RDR 2, it comes out tomorrow and costs £40" and I'm sold
Mendes on 24 Jan '13 said:
Yep me too!!
Weird, I'm actually getting really hyped up at the thought of playing it again, even after all this time! Shame I'm pinned down with Far Cry 3 OCD at the moment... must... get ... all... loot!