Better Off Alone: 10 Good Games With Lame, Tacked-On Multiplayer Modes

Right or wrong, game publishers are convinced that stamping "Now with multiplayer!" on a box will sell more copies. Whether it's good or not doesn't seem to matter. There are exceptions (say what you will about Mass Effect 3, but its multiplayer holdout mode is surprisingly good stuff) but all too often tacked-on multiplayer modes end up complimenting the single-player game like chocolate syrup on halibut. These MP modes are frequently so superfluous, obligatory, and straight up boring that the results can end up actually making us like great single-player games less. Here's our hall of shame of recent games that would've been better off sticking with single-player.


Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2's multiplayer proved that in space, people can hear you sigh loudly in disinterest. No, the space janitors vs scythe-armed mutant terrors multiplayer isn't abjectly horrible, but neither is it particularly remarkable or memorable in any way. The asymmetrical nature of it all sometimes makes it feel like Left 4 Dead Space would've been a more fitting title, but a series of standard shooter objectives got old fast -- as did the relatively limited map selection.




BioShock 2

Rapture's undersea world is so very interesting, but BioShock 2's multiplayer fell flat with the sort of thunderous thud typically reserved for face-planting Big Daddies. Rapture was envisioned as the setting for a contemplative single-player campaign, so a hodgepodge of tried-and-tired classics -- deathmatch, capture the flag, point-capturing, etc -- simply feels out of its element here. Occasional Big Daddy spawns and a skeletal storyline make BioShock 2's multiplayer feel obligatory, not necessary, and don't turn it into a game worth playing for long. That cheer you heard last week, by the way, was in response to Irrational's Ken Levine confirming that the upcoming BioShock Infinite will be 100% multiplayer-free.




Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line's multiplayer (and its co-op, which was added in a patch after launch,) has the dubious distinction of being called a "low-quality Call of Duty clone in third-person" and "another game rammed onto the disc like a cancerous growth" by the lead designer of the game. Granted, the multiplayer portion was farmed out to a different studio, but Mr. Davis pretty much has the right of it. While Spec Ops' single-player campaign is a daring examination of the madness we dredge up when we embrace virtual murder, its no-frills multiplayer manages to play up the "killing is totally cool" angle without a hint of irony. "Cancerous" is probably too strong of a term, but it's definitely not benign.




Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm does wild weapons and over-the-top finishers better than just about anyone in the business, but its multiplayer largely fails to capture any of that curse- (and, oh yeah, bullet-) spitting charm. Anarchy, the sole multiplayer mode, is essentially a Horde game with skillshots, and it quickly devolves into spurts of relatively challenge-free NPC corpse juggling. Unfortunately, without the single-player's progression, impressive setpieces, or character-driven laughs, the limits of the skillshot system become glaringly apparent. This tacked-on multiplayer mode not only failed to enrich the overall experience, it straight up backfired.




Two Worlds 2

Eventually, someone will get co-op multiplayer in a sprawling open-world non-MMO RPG right, and it'll be the most amazing way to have hundreds of hours guillotined right off your life ever. Until then, however, we have to put up with lackadaisical efforts like that of Two Worlds 2. While the overall package is a marked improvement over its predecessor, multiplayer is roped off and corralled into its own little corner. The seven co-op mini-missions require us to create entirely new characters, rather than using the ones we grew to love in single-player, and mid-chapter saving isn't an option. Competitive multiplayer, meanwhile, is terribly balanced and insanely frustrating.




Far Cry 3

Far Cry 3's a wide-open, anything-goes labor of love -- a leafy green playground of shooting, stealthing, stabbing, and very mean bears who are nothing like the ones from The Jungle Book. Oh, sorry, didn't mean to get your hopes up; that's Far Cry 3's single-player. The only superlative its multiplayer can lay claim to, meanwhile, is biggest wasted opportunity. Really, it's a matter of picking your ho-hum, non-psychedelic poison. Do you want cramped corridor co-op? Well, I'm not sure why you'd want that, but here you go. And how about some generic deathmatch and point capture competitive modes? Yep, also here and accounted for. Firestorm -- wherein, everything eventually catches on fire -- is pretty neat, but it can't salvage an otherwise snooze-worthy package from the lazily smoking ruins of mediocrity.




Overlord 2

Overlord 2 is another case of multiplayer that could've been really unique, but instead emerged from the oven decidedly undercooked. Cooperatively commanding minion armies or duking it out across large maps could've been a castle-crashing, friendship-building/breaking good time, but instead all players get is four single-level modes: invasion, arena, dominate, and pirate plunder. Invasion's village-pillaging antics, at least, have a glimmer of potential, but again: one level. Nowadays, the servers are largely populated by crickets and tumbleweeds. Even then, it's only the ones with an exceedingly high tolerance for repetition.



(Sorry for the German -- so few people cared about Overlord's multiplayer there are few videos available.)


Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena

Adding multiplayer to Chronicles of Riddick's up-rezzed re-release/expansion makes all kinds of un-sense. Sure, Pitch Black mode -- wherein one player skulks through the darkness with the aid of Riddick's magical glow-in-the-dark Lite-Brite eyes – was a neat idea on paper, but the remaining modes are utterly uninspired. Not only that, Chronicles of Riddick is at its worst any time it thrusts a piece of high-powered projectile weaponry into players' hands, and that became glaringly apparent when running and gunning was your only real option. Riddick can see in the dark, and he might even be able to see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I doubt even his all-powerful peepers could perceive why Starbreeze thought multiplayer would be a good idea.




Rage

OK, before we go any further, let's grab a little reference material to work with. Google "who invented deathmatch." No, wait, let me Google it for you. Sure, some accounts vary, but id's always near the top of the list. Now then, the mystifying twist: Rage doesn't have any sort of traditional deathmatch. Instead, you can either drive dangerously or team up with a friend in brief, stand-alone co-op missions. Now obviously, not every game needs deathmatch, but even without that, Rage had so much to work with. A gigantic, gorgeous world, a variety of sidequests, bonus activities, etc. Instead of leveraging those things, though, it just left players feeling... oh, what's that one emotion with all the negativity, shouting, and hopelessness that only the most potent of puppy YouTube videos can cure? Oh, right: disappointment.




Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Tight, tactical squad-based affairs are Brothers in Arms' bread and butter, so you'd think BiA3's multiplayer would attempt to emphasize similar strengths. You'd be wrong. Instead, it's just snooze-worthily straightforward attack-and-defend fare -- with nary a hint of the methodical yet streamlined commanding that makes this series tick. It's weird, too, considering that previous entry Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood didn't have a problem sending NPC squads into the online fray. It's almost as though Gearbox just ran out of time. Sequel-turned-spinoff-turned-entirely-separate-thing Furious Four, meanwhile, might give the spotlight to multiplayer. Or maybe not even a little bit. Not even our craftiest spies can breach Gearbox's defenses on this one.