Why Valve Nuked Portal 2's VS. Multiplayer Mode
The competitive multiplayer aspect was a "hot mess."
Valve Software writer Erik Wolpaw revealed that Portal 2 almost had a competitive multiplayer component, however it was removed after early tests. The news came during 1UP's visit to the developer during its 1UP Cross Country Game Tour.
"Along with co-op, [we had] the idea of sort of a competitive Portal multiplayer," he said. "We went down that path, actually, for a little while and had something up and running--the best way to describe it is sort of speedball meets Portal. You know, a sports analog."
Called "spite-your-neighbor," the multiplayer mode involved moving a ball from one end of a space to the other using portals. Competitors would attempt to stop the player by using portals as well--an example described trapping the player with a portal shot onto the ground.
"It quickly became apparent that while it's fun for about two seconds to drop portals under people and things like that, it quickly just devolves into pure chaos," he admitted. "It lost a lot of the stuff that was really entertaining about Portal, which was puzzle-solving. Cooperative puzzle-solving was just a much more rewarding path."
Portal 2 will "ship" with a longer campaign than what was experienced with the original Portal. The sequel will also provide players with a cooperative multiplayer experience when it launches in February 2011.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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NapoleonDK Oh wow... No wait seriously they should give us that VS. gameplay, I want to try it!Reply -
jimmysmitty trialskingGreifing with the Portal gun would have been fun.......Reply
You can probably still greif in the Co-Op. Just because its not VS mode doesn't mean that your portal gun can't shoot portals under the person just to screw with them. -
braneman but if they gave us vs. multiplayer they would spend more time balancing it than the rest of the game Team portal two isn't something I'd like to wait ten years for.Reply -
Acert93 The problem was trying to make it a sporting event. Straight up DM would work. "Tag" and Team objective gameplay would also work wonderfully. I think this is an example of Valve thinking too hard. Maybe a portal sucked them out of the box?Reply -
kezix_69 yeah a simple deathmatch mode would do the trick. Let modders figure out the other popular game modes....Reply -
shotgunpadre if they limit player number to 4,8 maybe the chaos will cease considerably? 16 ppl throwing portals at each other really doesn't sound good but it wouldn't hurt to add a simple vs mode like that.Reply -
mikem_90 Damn. I can understand building games for being a game with more longevity... still would have been awesome cool for a short while.Reply
Maybe they could find a way to revisit the game in both Cooperative and "Deathmatch" style? I for one really enjoyed bizzare fun games like Rocket Crowbar for Halflife 1. Some of those maps and games were pretty close to a "Hot Mess"
Maybe add in puzzle traps into the maps to make it more fun and more interesting?