Home Gaming TitanFall has no single player

TitanFall has no single player

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TITANFAIL

Because nobody plays single player! According to Respawn, such a small percentage of people play the single player bits of multi-player centric games, that’s it’s not worth making them.

“We make these single-player missions that take up all the focus of the studio, that take a huge team six months to make, and players run through it in eight minutes,” Respawn head Vince Zampella told GI.

“And how many people finish the single-player game? It’s a small percentage. It’s like, everyone plays through the first level, but 5% of people finish the game.

Honestly, I think Zampella’s being a little bit arrogant here – as if TitanFall is already set in stone to be the next best multiplayer thing. While that may now be true of Call of Duty that its players largely don’t play the single-player campaign, that’s only because it already has an established base of players; and it took 4 Call of Duty games before the multiplayer aspect of the game started overshadowing the single-player.

And then you have people like me, who only play single-player bits of Call of Duty for a bit of popcorn-entertainment. this pretty much assures that I won’t play TitanFall – which is a pity, because its world is really intriguing.

That said, Zampella’s reasons for skipping single player are sound; it’s because Respawn just isn’t big enough.

“Really, you split the team. They’re two different games. They’re balanced differently, they’re scoped differently. But people spend hundreds of hours in the multiplayer experience versus ‘as little time as possible rushing to the end’ [in single-player]. So why do all the resources go there?

“To us it made sense to put it here. Now everybody sees all those resources, and multiplayer is better. For us it made sense.”

What do you think? Is a single-player campaign important? or do multiplayer-centric games just not need them, because they end up being terrible anyway (Hello, Battlefield 3!).

Titanfall is exclusive to Microsoft platforms; The Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows PC – and is set for release in early 2014.

Last Updated: June 24, 2013

67 Comments

  1. Slade Boender

    June 24, 2013 at 12:07

    0.o whut? Thats some what of a gross overstatement no? And the numbers being pulled, I take it that its only the “online” consoles that are being tallied?

    You know, I think the internet is great and everything, but are we now really going to carry on using it a s a crutch for lack of perseverance and scope? Is every developer now going to side either SP or MP?

    Tis a sad day for gaming indeed.

    Reply

    • Rinceyouropinion

      June 24, 2013 at 12:12

      Agreed. When they scrub the option of being able to play with yourself, I mean BY yourself then you know online has won…

      Reply

      • Lord Chaos

        June 24, 2013 at 12:25

        Good covering of the slip there.

        Reply

  2. Jonah Cash

    June 24, 2013 at 12:07

    Destiny is going to own the next big multiplayer scene in my opinion!! And they have single player although it sound like you need to be connected always to play it…. (Am I right or wrong?)

    Reply

    • Melasco

      June 24, 2013 at 12:13

      Agreed…. Can’t wait for this, looks amazing.

      Reply

      • Ultimo_Cleric N7

        June 24, 2013 at 12:22

        Seconded. Thinking of buying a PS4 just for that game.

        Reply

        • Argentil

          June 24, 2013 at 12:40

          I’m amazed that it isn’t on PC. Strange oversight, imo.

          Reply

          • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

            June 24, 2013 at 12:42

            I seriously suspect it’ll make its way to PC.

          • Argentil

            June 24, 2013 at 12:45

            Ja, Bungie have a PC fanbase. Which is why it’s so strange.

  3. Melasco

    June 24, 2013 at 12:07

    I love online shooters. Titanfall is the only Xbox game I’m sad about not getting, but still a small price to pay for getting all the Sony stuff.

    Reply

  4. Lord Chaos

    June 24, 2013 at 12:08

    If we complete your single player game in 8 minutes then clearly it’s a shite game…

    Reply

    • Rinceyouropinion

      June 24, 2013 at 12:13

      Agreed. If you finish it in 8 minutes why was it 8 minutes?!

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

        June 24, 2013 at 12:13

        Is that what your ex told you this weekend?

        Reply

        • RinceTheBurnWithIce

          June 24, 2013 at 12:21

          Ouch man! Ouch!

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

            June 24, 2013 at 12:21

            you should change nick to RinceTheBurnWithIce

          • Ultimo_Cleric N7

            June 24, 2013 at 12:25

            Someone get the herp cream…..

          • RinceTheBurnWithIce

            June 24, 2013 at 12:26

            Oi!

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          June 24, 2013 at 12:21

          SHUT YOUR MOUTH! 8 MINUTES IS A MARATHON!!!

          Reply

          • RinceTheBurnWithIce

            June 24, 2013 at 12:22

            What you said!

          • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

            June 24, 2013 at 12:22

            Hahaha, Mrs Banana (or should I say Guava) doth not agree-eth

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            June 24, 2013 at 12:44

            Ms Banana knows who pays for shoes… cough!

  5. Admiral Chief Groot Wors

    June 24, 2013 at 12:13

    Dafuq????

    O_O

    I ALWAYS complete the SP. I mean, what kind of muppet are you if you don’t complete the SP???

    Ag nee man

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      June 24, 2013 at 12:17

      Indeed ol’ bean…

      Reply

    • Lord Chaos

      June 24, 2013 at 12:25

      Mayhaps we should get a dunce hat?

      Reply

  6. Happy Hamster

    June 24, 2013 at 12:18

    And i can guess its gonna cost R599

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      June 24, 2013 at 12:20

      lol of course.

      Reply

  7. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    June 24, 2013 at 12:20

    I’m cautiously optimistic about titanfall. I like mechs (they’re awesome in Starhawk), but I hate COD, and the jelly blood splatter reminded me why I hated COD.

    Also Zampella is a muppet.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief Groot Wors

      June 24, 2013 at 12:20

      Did I start something now with the muppet thing?

      if so, then yay

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        June 24, 2013 at 12:42

        Every forum starts to built its own lexicon. We can add “Muppet” to the Words of Lagz, Volume 1. I’ll file it under “DaFuq” and “Genugtig”.

        Reply

  8. Ultimo_Cleric N7

    June 24, 2013 at 12:24

    Oh geez, not this stupid argument again. The ONLY reason that CoD became so big and BF did not is becasue the former games have a good SP attached to it.

    Reply

  9. Trevor Davies

    June 24, 2013 at 12:30

    I understand his point about not spending time on a SP campaign for a MP game. It sucks giant donkey balls though.

    I also don’t understand why he thinks everyone will stop playing CoD to play this instead?

    Reply

  10. Skyblue

    June 24, 2013 at 12:32

    meh, Quake 3 and UT2k4 were practically multiplayer only. If you buy this game you know what you’re buying upfront so I couldn’t care less that there isn’t any single player component.

    Reply

    • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

      June 24, 2013 at 12:34

      Yeah,and both of those franchises made the transition to the current gen just fine.

      Reply

      • Ultimo_Cleric N7

        June 24, 2013 at 12:43

        True, but how many NEW FPS game franchises have come out in the last 5 years without a SP and done well in terms of sales?
        I can see what their reasoning is, but you have to set the scene of a game before people get stuck in.
        That said, maybe THIS is the game that changes all of that.

        Reply

        • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

          June 24, 2013 at 12:46

          I was kidding. Neither Quake or UT have done too well this gen – they had games, but they sucked.

          Reply

          • Ultimo_Cleric N7

            June 24, 2013 at 12:50

            -_-
            Sorry cant talk now, I am about to board the failboat. my bad ^^

          • Johan du Preez

            June 24, 2013 at 15:12

            Hey quake 4 was lots of fun but thats a few gen’s old now 🙂

          • Skyblue

            June 24, 2013 at 19:18

            The reason they sucked was because the gameplay was PC centric. You could not play those games on console like you could with a keyboard and mouse combo, fact.

        • Argentil

          June 24, 2013 at 12:47

          It probably is the game that will change that trend. Whether that’s a good thing is another matter entirely. I could so both Activision and EA cutting out SP content to make $$$ faster.

          Reply

          • Ultimo_Cleric N7

            June 24, 2013 at 12:52

            I have always said there are 2 types of gamers.

            1) Competitive driven

            2) Story driven.

            Cutting out SP content is basically cutting out part of the market.

          • Argentil

            June 24, 2013 at 13:10

            Part of the market who like to trade in games. See where this is going?

          • Ultimo_Cleric N7

            June 24, 2013 at 13:43

            I do. Well said

    • Slade Boender

      June 24, 2013 at 12:39

      Those sequels were built from a complete and original game. Thats why you have the 3 and the 2k4. They owe their existence to phenomenal SP games that had a modicum of multiplayer options on them from the original release. I know what you saying, dont get me wrong, but some people prefer to fall for the story of a game, especially one with such an intriguing world as titanfall, before delving off into the “shoot-everything-that-moves-with-my-big-gun-on-the-internet-thing”

      Simply put, after these many years of high priority development, is it a big ask for some substance?

      Reply

  11. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    June 24, 2013 at 12:47

    Interesting approach. Didn’t expect there to be no SP at all. Guess they have some points but it’s sad. I was hoping to have a great SP experience with this game 🙁

    Reply

    • Captain Minion TallTwit

      June 24, 2013 at 12:50

      I would of thought that there would be some SP in this game, especially if they are focusing on MP. But no SP at all? Nooit.

      Reply

      • Argentil

        June 24, 2013 at 13:28

        Respawn and MS have been talking about the advantages of online. One of the interesting mentions was an amalgamation of multiplayer and single-player. You will likely find a few narrative driven co-op events in a more open environment.

        Reply

  12. Aussious

    June 24, 2013 at 12:48

    so much for the xbox’s killer app… another miss.I mean its hard for me to think of a title that’s not free to play that is mp only that’s been a huge succeeds.

    Reply

    • RedRover

      June 24, 2013 at 15:47

      I think Eve Online is a success

      Reply

  13. Argentil

    June 24, 2013 at 12:51

    If it’s true that Respawn Entertainment aren’t “big enough” to develop SP, as Zampella said, then EA are a bunch of pricks. TitanFall is a guaranteed hit. They are just being jerks by waiting for the studio to prove themselves. That, or it’s a paper-thin excuse to push the project out sooner.

    Reply

  14. OminousRain

    June 24, 2013 at 12:56

    Haha, While I was reading this article, I was think of BF3 as an example.

    We agree and disagree. Allot of games you get his amazing Multi Player aspect and this so called single player campaign, which while you play it, you just keep thinking a could be playing Death-match or something. BF3 as an example.

    Then you get an amazing single player with a miltiplayer added, for who knows why. Example Tomb Raider.

    Then you get your perfect balance. Where you can’t have the one with out the other. Star Craft 2.

    Now, if you going to give me a crappy single player. Then just leave it and put everyone on multiplayer aspect of the game. If you don’t have the resources, then you need to make a choice.

    Reply

  15. Lardus

    June 24, 2013 at 13:24

    Well, there goes my whole “first shooter I am looking forward to in years” feeling for this game! Big, HUGE sigh!

    Reply

    • Argentil

      June 24, 2013 at 13:25

      It’s ok, I reckon the sequel will have SP. Stay optimistic. In the meantime there’s Destiny and The Division aka “Tom Clancy’s Borderlands” 😛

      Reply

  16. OVG

    June 24, 2013 at 13:25

    NO SALE… BLAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    Reply

  17. ElimiNathan

    June 24, 2013 at 13:46

    Totally agree with them, screw SP give us a better MP experience rather

    Reply

  18. Tarisma

    June 24, 2013 at 13:52

    /The only way this game Could get better is if AI and physics are run off the cloud/ sarcasm

    Reply

    • Scruff304

      June 24, 2013 at 14:04

      Get back to work you…

      Reply

  19. Uberutang

    June 24, 2013 at 14:06

    Glad they are focusing on their strengths I wish EA will stop trying to punt BF as a SP game and just pump all that extra time into the MP.

    Reply

    • Johan du Preez

      June 24, 2013 at 15:14

      yeh and we will still only have 10 maps to play …. if they are going that route atleast show where the extra work is going they just doing it to cut costs.

      Reply

  20. Argentil

    June 24, 2013 at 14:24

    This game really is nothing special, graphically. Still better looking than CoD: Ghosts though. I do think the impressive elements aren’t in the visual side of things though.

    Reply

  21. RedRover

    June 24, 2013 at 15:40

    I agree with Zampella. Personally I have not played the single player of any game in years. If you take Borderlands 2 for example. Only 29% reached level 30 and only 10% reached level 50. That’s a lot of unfinished SP and Borderlands 2 was awesome. Once you have gone multiplayer there is no going back. 😀 Does that mean SP is dead? Not at all. But at the same time it should not be a requirement.

    Reply

  22. Ltrick

    June 24, 2013 at 16:00

    No single player??? How are they going to take advantage of all the great features of the kinect 2.0 then? ;P

    Reply

  23. Merlot

    June 24, 2013 at 17:46

    I don’t think Ive finished a single player campaign of a multiplayer shooter since Halo 1. All multiplayer for me. Cant wait for Titanfall.

    Reply

  24. iPrimal

    June 24, 2013 at 21:57

    My friends beg and plead for me to go buy the new shooters when they come out, and the only reason i give in, is because I’ll have some single player to look forward to (black ops 2 excluded). Waiting for a big price drop on this title.

    Reply

  25. MieLLiePaP

    June 25, 2013 at 07:35

    i’m working in a Gaming shop and we have so many customers that don’t buy a game if its “only” online. Yes we have customers that buy COD and BF3 to go play online, but most of those same customers wants to play the single player as well. I think in a “South African” market the games that requires to be online is not that successful…just look at MAG and the online Socom Game….oh and don’t forget about the new Simcity that requires you to be online the whole time. When i tell the customer that you “need” internet for that game, then they say that they would rather buy something else.

    Reply

  26. UrbanCr33per

    June 25, 2013 at 13:13

    Whilst everyone seems to be suggesting that this is a bad thing … that it’s a bad thing when a game doesn’t have single player. This is the same as suggesting that it’s a bad thing when a single player game doesn’t have multi player. Personally, I think it’s a good thing for several reasons:

    Firstly … when a game is developed for only multi player, all of its budget is spent on multi player. When a game is developed for only single player, all its budget is spent on single player. But when a multi player game has a single player campaign, a fair portion of the budget has to got to the single player … budget which could have improved the multi player.

    Secondly … often the idea that a multi player game must include a single player campaign results in a single player element that feels like a tacked on afterthought. The single player campaigns in a lot of multi player games are a real let down. A majority of the time, buying a multi player game based on the single player campaign is going to be a waste of money, because the main focus of the game is the multi player element.

    Thirdly … by nature, some games only work for single player, and other games only work for multi player. Games that have a strong narrative element and a strong story work well in single player. On the other hand, games that don’t have that much of a narrative and are more focused on player dynamics work well in multi player. For example, BioShock had a strong narrative, and it was best suited as a single player game. Battlefield 2142, on the other hand, had a very strong focus on player dynamics … it was best suited as a multi player game.

    Let’s keep focus here, people … the idea of a multi player game that doesn’t have a single player campaign is not a new one. Battlefield 2142, which I just mentioned, was a multi player game that didn’t have any single player (single player matches against bots doesn’t count as single player).

    I love multi player games … and I have single player games. When I buy a game … I buy it as a multi player game, or I buy it as a single player game. And I don’t think it makes sense to expect to be all things for everyone.

    Reply

  27. Kevin

    June 4, 2014 at 04:01

    Maybe the idiots that made Titanfall didnt have savy to build a interesting game, a plot or story line comparing to, lets say Crysis…I have played crysis single player many times over. Besides how many people have the internet speed required to play titan online?…Respawn shot themselves in the foot….I wouldn’t have spent 60 bucks for it…

    Reply

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