We gamers are a fickle gang, arent we? Cut the hair of our favorite monster-slaying protagonist? Treachery! Port a platform-exclusive series to another platform? Treason! But these are misdemeanors when compared to adding multiplayer to an otherwise single-player franchise. This rabble was recently re-roused when Square-Enix announced that its Tomb Raider reboot would include a multiplayer mode, imposing competitive gameplay onto an otherwise atmospheric, intimate adventure.

But put down the pitchforks and quash the torches’ flames, friends! Adding online functionality to an otherwise solo affair isn’t always bad; the act of “tacking-on” multiplayer can often end with grand results (as we discussed in an editorial a few months back. Here are some examples of otherwise single-player franchises that have wowed us with surprisingly good multiplayer.

7. Dead Space 2

Dead Spaces take on survival horror in the new generation was filled with tense, fright-filled corridors and cheap (but thrilling) jump scares. This gameplay style, realistically, wouldnt adapt all that well to multiplayer, so it was no wonder that gamers were skeptical about Dead Space 2s inclusion of team deathmatch. How could it maintain the scares while prepubescent brats spit insults through their braces over Xbox Live? Well, it couldnt, but thats fine. Though the multiplayer of Dead Space 2 wasnt as frightening as the single-player, it was pretty damn good in its own right.

Players were broken into two teams, each representing a different side of Dead Spaces ongoing alien-from-The Thing-versus-human conflict. In one group was gun-toting security guards who could use all of the fun weaponry of the Dead Space universe against their necromorph adversaries. Playing as the Necromorphs on the other side was a great role reversal, and allowed players to experience the game from the enemys point of view, and fighting alongside other humans (instead of in tense, fright-filled corridors) was a nice change of pace from the otherwise lonely single-player campaign.

6. Red Dead Redemption

There was a time–not too long ago–when Westerns were to films what World War II shooters were to games. Americas love affair with cowboys, indians, horses, and six-shooters was paramount, but faded as the market became oversaturated (sound familiar, pilgrim?). Sadly, that was some time before the advent of the online multiplayer shooter, and as such, gaming hadnt really seen many successful games head out West. Red Dead Redemption, a pseudo-sequel to Red Dead Revolver, changed that, and included an amazing story and an equally strong multiplayer.

Joining with a friend online meant being tossed into the games massive world, where up to 16 players could travel around and complete objectives to earn experience and upgrades–and that was just the lobby. Besides simply causing havoc in the open-world, there were also plentiful competitive and cooperative options spread throughout varied environments. When the Undead Nightmare expansion unleashed a zombie horde on the Wild West it brought with it new multiplayer modes, turning it into an 1800s version of Left 4 Dead and giving you even more reasons to hit the old dusty trail.

5. XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Compared to many games on this list, there wasn’t too much anger over the announcement that Firaxis’ XCOM: Enemy Unknown would have multiplayer–in fact, there was a good deal more misplaced belligerence over the title’s lack of a hyphen. Odds are the community was just so darn happy that there was a non-shooter XCOM in the works that they werent about to take issue with some multiplayer addition thingy. Or maybe they (rightfully) guessed that the tactical gameplay that makes for brutally challenging and rewarding single-player battles would translate flawlessly to multiplayer.

4. Max Payne 3

Heres a conundrum: How do you take a slow-motion-filled shooter and make it work online without the entire experience crawling like a pissed-off paraplegic through molasses? If youre Rockstar, your solution is to create a complex system that slows enemies within your field of view while allowing others to continue at their own speed. That is, unless they see a slowed player, in which case they, too, are slowed in a chain reaction. The brilliance of Max Payne 3s multiplayer is that this all happens under the hood, giving you a seamless competitive experience that feels remarkably advanced while remaining incredibly simple.

Slow-motion is just one of many Bursts equipped and unlocked as you play the game. Others include granting bonus damage on attacks, giving teammates infinite ammo, and even tricking foes into thinking their allies are actually enemies. Different modes (including one where youre able to kill Max Payne to become Max Payne) help create some of the best third-person shooting action in the genre.

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was a monumental success; it was cinematic storytelling at its finest (in 2007). A Hollywood blockbuster wrapped in a third-person adventure, Uncharted sported a lavish cast of likable characters, a wonderful plot, and gameplay that was the envy of the industry. With the sequel, developer Naughty Dog opted to not just expand the story, but also include a multiplayer component. People didnt take it well. Some thought it would syphon resources away from the campaign. Others worried that the series would take a co-op route. In short, it was common consensus that Naughty Dog had peed on the rug.

These irrational concerns proved as valid as most irrational concerns often do. The single-player of Uncharted 2 was leaps and bounds better than the originals, and the multiplayer offerings helped make Among Thieves one of the best games of all time. The three-player co-op was great for those uninterested in traditional team deathmatch, adding a new, vertical spin on the genres normal tropes, and the competitive modes proved surprisingly engaging. Turns out being able to climb stuff makes for a fairly unique multiplayer–who knew?

2. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

“I can imagine a [sic] AC multiplayer mode, one commenter mused when Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood would ship with a competitive complement to the series staple single-player campaign. Two players will stand and stare at each other for hours, each waiting for the other guy to make the first move so that they can counter it… then another guy just runs up and stealth kills them both.” Were not going to lie–that sounds pretty awesome. But he had a point! How could a series based on melee assassinations and parkour in an open world be adapted to deathmatch? Splendidly, apparently. Splendidly.

Brotherhoods multiplayer, and the continued competitive gameplay the series has had since, is beautifully original. Players attempt to score points by stealthily assassinating specific enemy players in a small slice of historical fiction, using social stealth to disappear in with a sea of computer-controlled automatons. Wanton chaos is punished–youre a scalpel, not a sledgehammer–and great reward is found in learning the mechanics and gracefully acting as a blade in the crowd.

1. Mass Effect 3

Who would have thought that now, nearly a full year after Mass Effect 3‘s polarizing ending ignited the nerd riot of the century (or year, or… week, or… look, nerds rage, OK?), people would still be consumed in the game’s wave-based online multiplayer? Like, playing the hell out of it? Spending money on it? And clamoring for more multiplayer DLC? Surely not the commenters on the first preview we wrote about the cooperative mode, who said, “Even if i don’t know what the multiplayer is about, the fact alone that it exists is a bad sign, period.”

But it wasn’t a bad sign. Between the wide variety of enemy types and fine-tuned combat, Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer proved to be an utterly thrilling experience. Fighting off waves of enemies with friends was more fulfilling than wed ever expected. Character classes and unlockable upgrades made for incredibly varied gameplay, and the addition of booster pack-style upgrades with randomized gear and results made the itemization unreasonably addictive.

Lets give others the benefit of the doubt

There are, of course, some examples of multiplayer being added to single-player franchises that didnt turn out as strong. BioShock 2s team deathmatch wasnt all that impressive, and Spec Ops: The Lines competitive side by and large completely undermined everything the game was trying to say. More often than not, however, the trend shows that good single-player games can become good multiplayer games without sacrificing the solo campaign, and thats something we hope to see continued in the coming years.

And if you’re looking for more multiplayer games to enjoy, check out best multiplayer FPS games and the most anticipated games of 2013.

The post The Top 7… Surprisingly fun multiplayer games (inside of single-player games) appeared first on Game News.

PlayStation 3 gamers who haven’t met the Assassin’s Creed series’ renaissance man can become thoroughly acquainted for a reduced price in November. Sony announced the Assassin’s Creed Ezio Trilogy this week, a PS3-exclusive compilation of Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood, and Revelations, which will head to retail November 13 for $40.

The three games cover the fictional lifespan of Italian renaissance assassin (renaissassin?) Ezio Auditore from birth to his golden years spent stabbing orderlies in exotic retirement villas (fine, guards in Constantinople.) All associated DLC for ACII is included in the pack, though Sony made no mention of DLC for the other two games.

The trilogy pack will be preceded on October 30 by Assassin’s Creed III, the first series entry to star a new assassin since Ezio came onto the scene in 2009. ACIII associate producer Julien Laferrière told Eurogamer that Ubisoft made three games starring the suave master assassin because fans “loved Ezio,” and that future appearances of new assassin Connor Kenway will be equally dependant on player reaction.

The post Assassins Creed Ezio Trilogy compiles ACII, Brotherhood, Revelations on PS3 appeared first on Game News.

A conveniently skewed view of history. Corrupt religious leaders. Serious men in silly white dresses who leap flamboyantly about withknives strapped to their wrists.Jade Raymond. What do these things have in common? They’re hallmarks of Assassin’s Creed, which has quickly grown from a single, divisive game to one of the most popular franchises of the current console generation.And if you’ve been paying attention, you know that makes it a perfect target for our continuing Week of Hate coverage. Specifically the part of thatcoverage in whichwe take a moment each day to nitpick a beloved series to death.

1. The spinoffs
suck

It may seem like we’re reaching if the first thing we pick on isn’t even part of the main series, but if you’re hunting for glaring flaws in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, this is the most obvious. Not every game in a series can be great, but it’s hard to think of many that havehad such a clear divide as”console good, handheld bad.” However fantastic the central Creed games might be, their handheld spinoffs – specifically Altair’s Chronicles, Bloodlines and Discovery – look like a bunch of stunted, malformed clones next to the (doubtless embarrassed) originals.

Art by Alex Barrett

Chronicles wasn’t terrible. It also wasn’t Assassin’s Creed, instead giving us a Saturday-morning-cartoon plot and a version of Altair who used a grappling hook to dodge death traps installed on the roofs of small houses. Discovery was a perfectly good Sonic the Hedgehog clone ruined by clunky stealth elements, and Bloodlines – while being the only handheld game to successfully replicate AC’s freeform exploration and climbing – was dull, brown and hampered by too-small explorable areas and idiotic enemies. With the 3DS and NGP bringing more muscle to the table, it’s possible we’ll see an AC spinoff that breaks the trend in the near future, but we’re not holding our breath.

2. The first game was
outrageously repetitive

For its time, the first Assassin’s Creed was revolutionary, and the thrill of being able to freely run, climb and kill in a huge, open re-creation of Crusades-era Jerusalem was intoxicating. However, that intoxication made it easy to ignore the fact that AC was actually a very short game, padded out with grindingly repetitive side tasks. And for those without the patience for grinding repetition, it was hell.

Above: It feels like we followed and beat up like a dozen of this exact guy

Follow that guy. Pickpocket that other guy. Save that citizen. Climb that tower. Go and collect a bunch of flags within the time limit for your incompetent friend. And then when you’re done, get teleported all the way back to your headquarters so you can backtrack through miles of countryside, head to the next city and do it all over again. It might not have been so bad if not for the fact that many of the side tasks weren’t optional. You actually had to complete a few of them before you had enough “intelligence” to assassinate each of your targets, meaning that the interesting parts of the game were withheld until you’d accomplished enough arbitrary bullshit.

3. Beggars

Because fuck beggars.

Above: Seriously, we’re sick of their shit

4. A history of
horrible DRM

The PC release of the first Assassin’s Creed was apparently a hugely pirated game, and publisher Ubisoft didn’t want its sequels to suffer the same fate. Their solution? One of the most horribly draconian DRM solutions ever devised, which required a constant, uninterrupted connection to Ubisoft’s authentication server just to play the game.

Above: GHHGHHGHGHGHHHGN

If your wireless connection briefly hiccupped, Assassin’s Creed II would immediately kick you out, with no chance to save your game. Ditto if something went wrong on Ubisoft’s end. The DRM made the game practically unplayable for some, and while it was eventually toned down and then removed entirely, the fact that it was ever there in the first place was a slapto the face to PC gamers.

5.
Brotherhood%26rsquo;s ending

After we settled accounts with the Borgias in Ezio’s timeline, the modern-day location of the Apple was revealed. As Desmond, we hunted through the Coliseum for a secret chamber – finally, the answers to Assassin’s Creed’s apocalyptic mysteries were within our grasp! And then… THIS happened:

Great. Not only did we not get any answers, but we got a whole bunch of new questions, the biggest being “Wait, what just happened?” Why did Juno hijack Desmond’s body to stab Lucy? Whose voices did we hear over the credits? We won’t know until Assassin’s Creed III, because there’s apparently nothing people who’ve bought a $60 game like better than a massive cliffhanger.

Apr 26, 2011

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1. The spinoffs
suck

It may seem like we’re reaching if the first thing we pick on isn’t even part of the main series, but if you’re hunting for glaring flaws in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, this is the most obvious. Not every game in a series can be great, but it’s hard to think of many that havehad such a clear divide as”console good, handheld bad.” However fantastic the central Creed games might be, their handheld spinoffs – specifically Altair’s Chronicles, Bloodlines and Discovery – look like a bunch of stunted, malformed clones next to the (doubtless embarrassed) originals.

Art by Alex Barrett

Chronicles wasn’t terrible. It also wasn’t Assassin’s Creed, instead giving us a Saturday-morning-cartoon plot and a version of Altair who used a grappling hook to dodge death traps installed on the roofs of small houses. Discovery was a perfectly good Sonic the Hedgehog clone ruined by clunky stealth elements, and Bloodlines – while being the only handheld game to successfully replicate AC’s freeform exploration and climbing – was dull, brown and hampered by too-small explorable areas and idiotic enemies. With the 3DS and NGP bringing more muscle to the table, it’s possible we’ll see an AC spinoff that breaks the trend in the near future, but we’re not holding our breath.

2. The first game was
outrageously repetitive

For its time, the first Assassin’s Creed was revolutionary, and the thrill of being able to freely run, climb and kill in a huge, open re-creation of Crusades-era Jerusalem was intoxicating. However, that intoxication made it easy to ignore the fact that AC was actually a very short game, padded out with grindingly repetitive side tasks. And for those without the patience for grinding repetition, it was hell.

Above: It feels like we followed and beat up like a dozen of this exact guy

Follow that guy. Pickpocket that other guy. Save that citizen. Climb that tower. Go and collect a bunch of flags within the time limit for your incompetent friend. And then when you’re done, get teleported all the way back to your headquarters so you can backtrack through miles of countryside, head to the next city and do it all over again. It might not have been so bad if not for the fact that many of the side tasks weren’t optional. You actually had to complete a few of them before you had enough “intelligence” to assassinate each of your targets, meaning that the interesting parts of the game were withheld until you’d accomplished enough arbitrary bullshit.

3. Beggars

Because fuck beggars.

Above: Seriously, we’re sick of their shit

4. A history of
horrible DRM

The PC release of the first Assassin’s Creed was apparently a hugely pirated game, and publisher Ubisoft didn’t want its sequels to suffer the same fate. Their solution? One of the most horribly draconian DRM solutions ever devised, which required a constant, uninterrupted connection to Ubisoft’s authentication server just to play the game.

Above: GHHGHHGHGHGHHHGN

If your wireless connection briefly hiccupped, Assassin’s Creed II would immediately kick you out, with no chance to save your game. Ditto if something went wrong on Ubisoft’s end. The DRM made the game practically unplayable for some, and while it was eventually toned down and then removed entirely, the fact that it was ever there in the first place was a slapto the face to PC gamers.

5.
Brotherhood%26rsquo;s ending

After we settled accounts with the Borgias in Ezio’s timeline, the modern-day location of the Apple was revealed. As Desmond, we hunted through the Coliseum for a secret chamber – finally, the answers to Assassin’s Creed’s apocalyptic mysteries were within our grasp! And then… THIS happened:

Great. Not only did we not get any answers, but we got a whole bunch of new questions, the biggest being “Wait, what just happened?” Why did Juno hijack Desmond’s body to stab Lucy? Whose voices did we hear over the credits? We won’t know until Assassin’s Creed III, because there’s apparently nothing people who’ve bought a $60 game like better than a massive cliffhanger.

Apr 26, 2011

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The post 5 reasons to hate Assassin’s Creed appeared first on Game News.