I was playing Solitaire the other day with an old pack of dog-eared playing cards my family used to take on caravanning holidays in the Peak District. It was the only way I could avoid the ever-encroaching creep of multiplayer modes in games.
That’s not true, it’s a facetious story I made up to poke fun at game publisher’s urges to include multiplayer modes in every game they can these days. Of course, the good ol’ multiplayer mode is a blatant attempt to stop people from trading the game in, as well as leverage some extra DLC cash from your sweaty little paws but publishers and developers are still intent on trying to make us believe that they’re genuinely trying to add something with the inclusion of the same Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Horde modes that every other game released in the last five years has got.
Every now and then, though, something comes along that might genuinely add something new to multiplayer online gaming. God of War might just be the series to do that. Consider it for a moment. Yes, initially the inclusion of multiplayer sounds like another tack-on job that will take away resources from the single player mode but God of War exists in a genre that doesn’t naturally suit multiplayer modes. By necessity, if nothing else, they’ll have to be innovative about it.
Todd Papy is currently preparing to live stream some new info about the game (today at 4PM, UK time) and he promises to have more then.
Update: Some more info has just come through in the official press release. It’s competitive multiplayer, up to eight players online or offline and it’s set in Kratos’ past (as is the main game, of course). Players can customise (and, I assume, upgrade) their dudes and will align themselves with one of four ancient gods – Zeus, Ares, Poseidon or Hades in order to earn their favour and unlock new customisation options.
Here are some very pretty rendered images:
Source: US PS Blog
element666
This sounds interesting………………….
nofi
WHAT IS THIS.
mugsybalone
That’d be the caps lock key.
citizeninsane45
Not interested in online MP at all
Kennykazey
Oh Hades no!
wick15
Gah. Why would you put multiplayer in God of War? Only multiplayer that could be good is 2 player coop, otherwise I’m not interested.
Jim Hargreaves
I don’t see why people still hate on games for trying to innovate with online multiplayer.
Plenty of people slagged off Bioshock 2’s multiplayer yet I thought it was an inventive twist, even going as far as to say it was my favourite on-line shooter of 2010. Hands down. And then look at Mass Effect 3.
I’ll agree that working multiplayer into a melee-focused game is a bit more of a gamble, especially considering the heavy, combo-centric gameplay.
Forrest_01
See Dead Space 2.
Enough said.
Taylor Made
I agree maybe they will do it like mass effect 3 and then throw in some of those big bosses one eyed cyclops
The Lone Steven
I doubt it will work due to the nature of hack and slashes. I imagine input lag will be a major issue and Hack and slash is not a genre suited to MP, yet. Also, they will have to exclude the quick time prompts that GOW is known for as it’s not possible to do in mp mode.
But if it was Horde mode, it would work as horde mode is perfect for hack and slash.
Taylor Made
Playing as hades sweet he looked like a bad mothershtyourmouth in GoW3 can’t wait
skibadee
screens look really nice as long as the SP does not suffer for it.
LTG Davey
Hey, they have to justify that thieving online pass somehow :P