The single player experience is no longer sacred.
There has been a trend going on for years now in that primarily single player games began to feature online competitive multiplayer, as a way to try and convince people to keep playing the game far after they've finished the story. Sometimes it works (Assassin's Creed, Uncharted) whereas sometimes it just feels tacked on and unnecessary (Bioshock 2, Tomb Raider). In any case, I didn't mind it as much others did, just as long as it didn't interfere with the quality of the single player mode.
But now another trend is happening: co-op. While games have featured cooperative play for years, it was always within the confines of the single player campaign. There wasn't a separate mode dedicated to co-op. Gears of War is the perfect example of this. Whether you played the story alone or with friends, the story stays the same. No extra content. You weren't missing anything.
But this past E3 it became evident that developers are integrating more co-op into the single player, some even making it their primary focus. Games like Evolve, Fable Legends, The Division and Far Cry 4 all feature co-op. It has even been hinted that The Legend of Zelda for Wii U may feature multiplayer. While it makes sense for a game like Evolve to only be cooperative, it's completely unnecessary for a series like Fable to do it. But the one that breaks my heart the most is Assassin's Creed Unity.
I was very excited for AC Unity. The Paris setting during The French Revolution gave it a feel and tone that has been missing in the series since the Ezio trilogy. I was eager to see more at E3, but I had already decided this would be a day one purchase for me. But the demo Ubisoft showed during the Microsoft presser turned me away. I love the story featured in the Assassin's Creed series, but I feel like the big focus on co-op in Unity will, in a way, lock me out of certain story elements if I play the game by myself. One thing I noticed is each mission had a difficulty rating attached, which gives me a fear of certain missions being too difficult to tackle alone and therefore must be done with other people, similar to Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
Then there's The Division, another game a seemingly large focus on co-op. Everything we've seen of this game has featured co-op which makes one wonder: can it even be played alone? And if you do play it alone, will it be the same experience? These questions are the reason why I'm not as excited for that game as many other people seem to be.
Fable, a series known for its single player, is now going the co-op route with Fable Legends. And the questions I have for that game are the same as The Division's. I'm assuming Zelda Wii U's hinted multiplayer will be in the form as co-op, but I'll hold off judgment until I actually see it in play.
So what's my issue with co-op? Well for one, it's the reasons I listed above. I don't want to feel like I'm missing a part of the game because I choose to play alone. Peace Walker had missions that made it a chore to complete alone unless you were playing with someone else, and I fear the same will happen with Assassin's Creed. Then there's the availability factor. My friends and I don't play the same games, and when we do, not all of us are available at the same time. So if I want to play co-op, I'm forced to play with strangers, which almost always leads to unpleasant experiences. You either get the guy who verbally assaults you and others for doing something wrong, the guy who tries to do everything himself or just a group of people who don't talk.
I have had fun with co-op and I know plenty of people love it. But I just wish it wasn't becoming the trend it is now. I want my single player mode to stay just that: single player. Leave co-op as a separate option like how it is in Gears of War or Halo. Just please don't force it on me.