> > > Err... what about Half-Life? Generally HL is considered to be one of the best shooters of all time, and offers a helluva lot more than just "Shoot anything that moves". Incidentally, HL and Thief were released in the same year if memory serves, and HL won more than like 40 "Game of the Year" awards from major publications.
> >
> > That's because gaming magazines have some sort of bizarre love affair with the multi-player aspect of any game. PC Gamer, PCXL, Computer Gaming World... all of them laud multiplayer as the be-all and end-all of the game.
> >
> > When Thief 2 comes out, you'll hear the same comments about lack of multiplayer support. These MP zealot columnists won't realizing that a game where ten people stand in the shadows for five minutes waiting for two guards to walk by just isn't that much fun.
> >
> > -Faux "still working my way through System Shock 2" Pas
>
> I do agree that multiplayer is a little over-hyped these days. This feature can be very entertaining, and add months of extra gameplay, if done right. However, it should not be simply thrown into a game, especially if it comes at the expense of the single-player game. Nor should reviewers trash a game with excellent single player gameplay simply because it lacks what many reviewers seem to see as a necessity.
>
> I do not see this as the case with Half-Life, though, as I enjoyed its singleplayer game, with its immersive style of gameplay and storytelling, squad-based AI, and more strategic combat than most FPS, more than its multiplayer features. On its first release, its multiplayer options were pretty much standard Quake fare... not very innovative or even that great compared to others of the same style. It was only later that the TeamFortress Classic was introduced as an upgrade, providing team and class based online warfare, and which was not available for any of the original, and great, reviews that I read.
>
> As for the original Thief, it got a 90% from PC Gamer, an excellent score from that magazine, and its lack of an online feature was not mentioned as a detriment to the game. Long load times, the sometimes extreme difficulty, and the inability to carry over items and gold from previous levels were the only "lows" which I could find stated, while its innovation, realistic environment, and stealthy gameplay were celebrated.
>
> These games, and their sequels/addons are very different in style, but equally excellent at what they they try to do. It's just different gameplay, and both being equally immersive, it just depends on what you feel like pretending to do at the moment... fight in sci-fi/military combat against aliens and cooperative soldiers, or use your mind and wits to evade, or pick off, guards and other characters and creatures in a medieval setting.
>
> Burger"Gee, I wonder what multiplayer EF would be like"King


I agree, Multiplayer is overhyped, I hate that people are making games strictly for Multiplayer because I only have a 56k. The only Multiplayer game i've ever played was Starcraft because it isn't that graphics intensive...


Li-and what's all this about Pc games dieing because of consoles?-face