Despite the criticism leveled at Battlefield 3’s single player, EA maintains it’s an important part of the package and they’ve got no plans to get rid of it.
Battlefield 3 is currently making its way through the internet review machine, producing the usual eights and nines one would expect. Yet, in nearly every review – and remember, reviews are important – the singleplayer campaign is singled out for criticism. It’s not awful, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not particularly good either. Though, to be fair, there is a quick time event where you fight a rat.
There’s a common theory that no one actually plays the single player campaigns in games like Battlefield anyway, and it’s certainly apparent that Battlefield 3’s multiplayer is the star of the show, so isn’t adding a single player campaign in the first place just giving grumpy reviewers an excuse to knock off a precious star or two? Why not get rid of the campaign entirely? Well according to EA exec Frank Gibeau, that ain’t happening.
“The single play[sic] experience is important,” he said during an investor call. “It’s a great way to get fans into the experience, have them train up and get ready for multiplayer. And a lot of fans just enjoy having that single player experience. So I think you have to have both.”
“Clearly the multiplayer is the richer opportunity for us because of the services opportunity in keeping customers engaged 365 [days a year]. Fortunately, Battlefield, as a franchise, since the late ’90s has been configured around multiplayer and I think that’s why you’re seeing such popularity around the design.”
CEO John Riccitiello then added that single player is vital when it comes to drawing in new players, with the single player campaign, and by extension the rat combat, acting as a kind of training course for Battlefield initiates. “Remember as well that single player is often how new players ramp into the game. It’s a way for new players to get exposed to a franchise,” he said.
Personally I think they should replace the single player campaign with a series of knife battles against rodents of increasing size, until eventually you have to fight Ratatoskr the Godrodent – who is technically a squirrel, but he can pass for a rat in the evenings – atop the great tree Yggdrasil. In case you can’t tell, I really liked the part with the rat.
Source: Eurogamer
