Multiplayer is sexy. (Even if it's a sausage-fest).

Hey all, thought I’d blow off a little steam by being creative instead of my usual smashing up of household items with various pellet guns and fire (just found out I didn’t get a job I was really banking on), so I’d like to discuss some really rad multiplayer trends I’ve noticed cropping up recently.

My first blog on this website was about how disappointed I am with the PS3’s neglect of multiplayer prospects in this generation of games. Few games for the console have any form of multiplayer, and the ones that do usually lack a local option and/or simply aren’t fun. But since writing that, I’ve played a few titles that have actually given me a great deal of hope for where multiplayer aspects are headed in the near future.

For starters –since it is probably on everyone’s minds and consoles at the moment – there is the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta. If you’ve played it, you probably think it’s awesome, if you haven’t you probably need to. And if you’ve played it and don’t think it’s awesome, well, maybe you will after this.


(Level voting is sexy, and so can you)

All of this from a racing game? Surprising I thought. And to top it all off, it also has the local/online multiplayer combination which allows you to play with one friend next to you as you compete with others online. This is a great aspect that has really been missing from games in general, even dropped from games it used to be in like the Burnout series. Thank you Motorstorm for bringing this back.

So there you have it, at least two reasons why a small shred of my faith has been restored in the future of console multiplayer. Not to say I didn’t have fun with Killzone 3 or wasn’t looking forward to Battlefield 3, but those are different, and if we’re being honest – less versatile. I’m just glad that developers are remembering that friends don’t always want to just sit on the couch and watch us have fun with a bunch of strangers. Cheers Naughty Dog, Evolution Studios, may your financial futures be bright.