Singleplayer games all feel boring

jonny72

I've bought a fair few games recently, but they just all utterly bore me after about a few minutes..

There are a few exceptions, Crysis lasted a few hours, Plants v Zombies a few days.. but all the others.. dozens and dozens of them just lay there untouched. The last game I can truly think of that took up my time was Diablo2.. and it was just after that that I took up online games.. which seems to be the problem..

I've played counterstrike, quake, battlefield, mods, etc, in various clans and teams, teamspeak and so on and so forth for years now and I am extremely competitive, but also love to have a laugh, so the human element just intrigues me, always has.

I just can't get into the single player thing again.. the games look fantastic and I always have that urge to buy them.. but meh they just bore me, usually after a matter of minutes. I think the online multiplayer competitive stimulus is just a much stronger drug.

tba

Well its a common trend, people such as yourself tend to realise they are playing a game and find it difficult to immerse themselves.

For an older example, my friends grandfather loved board games as he enjoyed the crack, but couldn't really enjoy plays/books saying that he could never quite get the fact that it wasn't real out of his head, he hated TV.

I would suggest that you need a dose of role-play, sounds a bit nerdy I know but have a go. You can do it on your own, when I played Mass Effect I just said , ok I'm a bad ass solider who was raised by strict parents not to feck about and I really enjoyed the game much more because of it.

Genghiz Cohen

tba wrote: »

Well its a common trend, people such as yourself tend to realise they are playing a game and find it difficult to immerse themselves.

For an older example, my friends grandfather loved board games as he enjoyed the crack, but couldn't really enjoy plays/books saying that he could never quite get the fact that it wasn't real out of his head, he hated TV.

I would suggest that you need a dose of role-play, sounds a bit nerdy I know but have a go. You can do it on your own, when I played Mass Effect I just said , ok I'm a bad ass solider who was raised by strict parents not to feck about and I really enjoyed the game much more because of it.

...




..







...





nerd

Myrddin

Im kinda the other way around. Running around mindlessly fragging for hours on end get extrememyl repetitive to me. I love the storylines, immersion in a single player game.

Wossack

the bro is like this

I enjoy the story of a game, he has no patience for it at all!

Atlas_IRL

Yeah i'd be the same, i rarely finish single player games.
Although multiplayer wise l4d and cod4 were good but they still dont beat the epic Goldeneye and Bf2. I miss bf2, the ****e they released after makes me think they'll never make a battlefield game like it, although i hope im proven wrong.

Vyse

EnterNow wrote: »

Im kinda the other way around. Running around mindlessly fragging for hours on end get extrememyl repetitive to me. I love the storylines, immersion in a single player game.

Agreed, it's SP all the way for me. Play online the odd time but not that often.

leninbenjamin

This may sound stupid, but I think growing older has a lot to do with. As a kid I used love single player games, found it very easy to immerse myself in them. Nowadays though I find the story lines just don't engage me like they used, even the games I used to adore. I just think that as a medium, games are still very primitive.

BLITZ_Molloy

I think multiplayer appeals to me because I grew up on arcade games. I find these 20+ hour storydriven games a total snooze. Particularly because many are ridiculously easy. You feel like you're just trundling along hitting buttons waiting for the next cutscene.

I like that multiplayer shooters or RTS games are broken up into 30 minute play sessions. Then everything goes back to square one. No leveling bollocks (except maybe in CoD4 but you can play it almost as well with the default weapons anyway, so it's just window dressing). You play it for enjoyment, not because you're going to unlock some sort of frivilous achievement. It's competitive. There are clear winners and losers so you get a real sense of accomplishment, not just a gold star at the end from the computer telling you you're great.

They emphasize replayability. Most FPS multi games have a few wonderful levels that can be played over and over endlessly. SP games have 30 levels most of which are average and you only want to play once. The same thing tends to happen most of the time so there's no point in playing them twice.

Myrddin

BLITZ_Molloy wrote: »

The same thing tends to happen most of the time so there's no point in playing them twice.

Exactly why I find fps online boring. RTS/Driving etc I can kinda see the point of online, but FPS doesnt appeal to me. Its basically an "Im better than you" fest. I find immersing in a story much more engaging and satisfying. For me Half Life 1/2 etc would have NO meaning to me without the storyline, same goes for Crysis. Just feels like the same storyless routine, with the same players running around shooting each other. But every man unto his own also applies as always!

jonny72

EnterNow wrote: »

Exactly why I find fps online boring. RTS/Driving etc I can kinda see the point of online, but FPS doesnt appeal to me. Its basically an "Im better than you" fest. I find immersing in a story much more engaging and satisfying. For me Half Life 1/2 etc would have NO meaning to me without the storyline, same goes for Crysis. Just feels like the same storyless routine, with the same players running around shooting each other. But every man unto his own also applies as always!

I used to love single player games from the 'whats gonna happen next!?' point of view.

When I started playing multiplayer online games the whole novelty of running around killing random other people and my friends was great.. for awhile..

But it did get repetitive and a little boring..

However the games changed dynamically and added the all powerful competitive and teamplay aspects.

Competitive - practicing, getting better, winning, getting more well known, winning leagues, etc etc is very addictive in itself

Teamplay - the best part for me, being part of a 13 tank spearhead on Aberdeen, bearing down on a disorganised enemy, being part of a very practiced well oiled clinical team beating much more individually talented players, being part of a suicide squad sticking bombs onto your vehicle ramming them into tanks, laughing your ass off, etc, etc, etc.. just a mixture of fun and damn good teamplay does it for me I guess.

Twilightning

People are right when they say many single player games these days don't immerse us like they used to, so that's why I propose you just go by your nostalgia and play all the single player games you used to love. It's what I've done.

I have a PS1 emulator on my PC, and my PC is hooked up to my 32" HDTV via HDMI, so I can play all of them on that. Also have the wireless receiver for the Xbox 360 controllers. Configure those with Xpadder and you're set. Thankfully my PS2 is still hooked up and I have most of my games for it and I still revisit many of the great single player games I used to play even now. Here's a few single player games I'd recommend across all consoles and genres that shouldn't have a problem immersing you:

• Silent Hill (PS1)
• Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
• Silent Hill 3 (PS2)
• Resident Evil 2 (PS1)
• Resident Evil 3 (PS1)
• Resident Evil Code: Veronica (PS2)
• Dino Crisis (PS1)
• Dino Crisis 2 (PS1)
• Metal Gear Solid (PS1/PC)
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Libery (PS2/PC)
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
• BioShock (360)
• Mirror's Edge (360/PS3)
• Half-Life 2 (PC/360/PS3)
• Dead Space (360/PS3)
• Dawn of War (PC)
• Total Annihilation (PC)
• Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
• Crash Bandicoot 2 (PS1)
• Crash Bandticoot 3 (PS1)
• Halo: Combat Evolved (Xbox)
• Halo 2 (Xbox)
• Halo 3 (360)
• Halo 3: ODST (360)
• Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (PC)
• Vietcong (PC)
• Manhunt (PS2/PC)

All I can think of for the moment. If you want me to go into detail on any of those let me know.

tman

Find it hard to believe that Crysis kept you entertained, but other games haven't. I think you might be broken...
What other games have you played that you didn't like? Might help to get an idea of what you found to be immersive in Crysis that was missing in others (I'm drawing a blank tbh...)

Myrddin

tman wrote: »

Find it hard to believe that Crysis kept you entertained, but other games haven't. I think you might be broken...
What other games have you played that you didn't like? Might help to get an idea of what you found to be immersive in Crysis that was missing in others (I'm drawing a blank tbh...)

I meant the single player Crysis kept me immersed, not the fact that I loved its online play compared to others. Crysis online wouldnt appeal to me at all. Im simply making the point that the single player story driven aspects of games appeals to me much more. I find the run around, hide, kill, run around, hide, kill thing VERY repetive, no matter what the game is.

Jonny72 raised a good point about leagues and the whole competition side of it, and it fairness its something Ive never explored so couldnt comment on that aspect. But I can see the appeal of it.

And Twilightning, your on the button there.

thorbarry

Ha its funny. I was reading a thread yesterday about someone not enjoying multiplayer in games. It really is different strokes

Kiith

I enjoy multiplayer, but a good single player game will always be ahead for me. Nothing beats a good story, that actually draws you in. Escapism at its finest.

Naikon

Quake Live ftw!

I like Single Player games too but sometimes mindless fragging requires a
bit of concentration to keep at the top:P

Multiplayer games are a great way to tide yourself over while single
player masterpieces are being developed. Quake 3 is timeless imo.

jonny72

tman wrote: »

Find it hard to believe that Crysis kept you entertained, but other games haven't. I think you might be broken...
What other games have you played that you didn't like? Might help to get an idea of what you found to be immersive in Crysis that was missing in others (I'm drawing a blank tbh...)

I am rarely interested in the plot of a game, with Crysis it was just the discovery of it, cutting edge physics and graphics that I liked, I think after a few hours I just grew tired of it (much like half-life 2 really).

Back in the day I loved all the games, UFO, Wolfenstein, Doom, Alone, Ultima, Diablo, XWing, Half-life, etc, etc..

But now, I will get the latest call of duty game or whatever, I'll load it up, look at the shiny graphics for awhile, shoot scripted soldiers in scripted scenes, I'll die and just start again, I'll be in a boat, in a tank, etc etc..

Then I'll go and load up some online game I've played hundreds of times, to a map I've played hundreds of times and have a totally and utterly unique game, an epic one hour 20 minute back and forth battle, 28 players, 2 teams, everyone chattering down the mics, pulling off rushes, strategies, desperate tactics, screwing up, pulling off incredible maneuvers aaand so on and so forth.

As someone else said different strokes

citizen_p

only games i play single player all the time are strategy...
and perferbly with a good mission editor


men of war...........
total war games.....
and gta....mgs 1-4

other games id play the odd mission every once and a while... cod4 etc....
but i mainly play shooters online.......
because bots or 2 player is crap, bots are predictible and 2 player vs is just **** co op is alright though.
but online multiplayer is where im usually at.......

Overheal

Having suspended disbelief/immersion is essential in gaming. Remember when you were a kid, and you werent just some preschool kid on a swing, you were an astronaut, etc.

Similarly in Counterstrike, you're a CT. The Bomb is ticking. You have seconds to prevent disaster XYZ and Oh **** theres that Al Qaeda mother****er formerly known as Ryan your housemate and He's shooting bullets up your ass with an AK-47. Terrorists Win

Best moments in Gaming come from points when you completely forget your just a guy behind a Mouse and Keyboard.

Canis Lupus

There are pros and cons to both. I had a conversation with a mate in work who is a gaming noob and he has an 360 with fight night 4 and he hates going online and he was complaining how he went online the other night and got beaten by someone who kept doing the same move over and over. He said there was a counter but he wasn't used to it cos the compter doesn't play that way. Accordingly, playing online was rubbish.

He wouldn't accept that's the entire point of playing online and facing something that is unpredictable.

On the otherhand I accept that you'll never get a BG2 type experience online.

dreamers75

Borderlands.

Ciaran500

dreamers75 wrote: »

Borderlands.

When I got another go here and kill X amount of Skagg's mission, immersion and interest went out the window for me.

FFS they created a world like that with unique characters and that's the missions they came up with?

tba

Ciaran500 wrote: »

When I got another go here and kill X amount of Skagg's mission, immersion and interest went out the window for me.

FFS they created a world like that with unique characters and that's the missions they came up with?

reminds me of freelancer or assassins creed.

noodler

Valkyria Chronicles.

Fallout 3 (After the first 3 hours).

I would NEVER like a game if I gave up on it after one session tbh.

Agricola

I prefer a good single player game. To me, online is just a nice add-on which prolongs the lifetime of the game, but what i want first and foremost is a good plot, something that pulls you in and compels you to complete the game.
I might be biased cos my new broadband connection isnt really up to online gaming anyway - But im pretty sure id feel the same if it was.