Monday Crysis 2 executive producer Nathan Camarillo told CVG that generally first-person shooters actually need multiplayer features in order to succeed on the market today. Other gaming genres typically don't require that particular component to have longevity.
"I think there's plenty of titles that don't have multiplayer that do quite well, but that's more of a genre specific decision," he said. "For an FPS game yeah you really have to have it unless you're a very unique kind of FPS depending on what you're delivery platform is and what market you're going into."
Naturally he goes on to describe the multiplayer aspect of Crytek's upcoming shooter, Crysis 2. After all, the game hits shelves in two months.
"It's different from other FPS games in that you are this ultimate super solider that has the ability to cloak at any point in time, so it's different than modern military shooters, it's different to Halo," he said. "You have the maneuverability, you're in an urban environment, you can jump, you can slide, you can climb. There's so much you can do in that first-person experience that the other multiplayer games don't offer."
But why is the multiplayer component such a necessity for FPS titles? As pointed out, other genres don't rely on pitting players against players online and/or offline. That said, it's quite possible that multiplayer is merely expected from shooters because the feature dates back to the early days of the genre itself thanks to id Software, Epic Games, Bungie and other developers. Gamers may have simply grown accustomed to testing virtual weapons and vehicles against friends. Besides, no challenge is the same when facing human opponents.
"Generally yes for FPS games you have to have awesome multiplayer and that's what we're making with Crysis 2," Camarillo said.
Camarillo also added that FPS titles require high review scores in order to stay afloat, admitting that Crysis 2 will struggle against other FPS titles if it doesn't receive a score in the 90s.
Crysis 2 lands on Microsoft Windows, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 22, 2011.
