In
a new Gamasutra feature interview,
War in the North lead designer Andre Maguire tells Gamasutra that "everything that we built is about teamwork... likely that you won’t get the most complete experience in single player" -- and muses on whether co-op is the future.
When asked if the game is intended to be played cooperatively, Maguire answered, simply, "Yes."
"Everything that we built is about teamwork," said Maguire. "It’s about working together as a team, and by doing that, you really get the best experience. If you were playing single player, we certainly support that, and that’s cool."
How does Snowblind Studios, the developer of the game, support single player? With AI bots. "They’ll use those skills, they’ll upgrade their gear. You can direct them to attack your targets, or defend, or whatever you want, but you’ll miss out on a lot of the loot, you’ll miss out on the side areas. It’s likely that you won’t get the most complete experience in single-player," Maguire said.
So is single-player dead? "I don’t think it’s over, but I think [co-op is] certainly becoming more compelling for consumers, and for gamers. I certainly think its cooler but it’s, it’s just a different thing."
With
War in the North he said, "there’s an incentive to playing online with your friends. It’s easy to connect up online; it’s not a big thing. Making it accessible and making it worthwhile for players, I think that’s the key, and if you can tie that in with your core pillars, then that’s great. I’d say it’s a challenge, but it’s worth it."
The full interview, which covers more about the development process of Warner Bros. Interactive's latest Lord of the Rings Game -- which releases this week -- is
live now on Gamasutra.
