Is asymmetrical multiplayer too risky for most games to succeed?

[Nerovar]

Nosgoth was great. Really miss that game.

[bmjclark]

I don't really think listing LFD2 helps your point tbh. That game was decently popular for a good while and granted its dying slowly, it was released almost 10 years ago. Claiming that game as an example of a why the genre is weak would be like me saying rts games are dead because wc3 is less popular now

I think the game style can and has worked, it has just had a rough streak.

[dope_danny]

I don't really think listing LFD2 helps your point tbh. That game was decently popular for a good while and granted its dying slowly, it was released almost 10 years ago. Claiming that game as an example of a why the genre is weak would be like me saying rts games are dead because wc3 is less popular now

I think the game style can and has worked, it has just had a rough streak.

I list it purely because almost every developer this gen trying this listed Left 4 Dead 2's versus mode as their go to inspiration, even Dead by Daylight started as a attempt at a fan mod of that that eventually became its own title. There was stuff like it dotted every few years going back to the Super Nintendo but L4D2 Versus is basically where the current incarnation got its start and with the rise in popularity of things like DBD its just a bummer to see the game remains abandoned since Cold Stream. Hopefully 'Back 4 Blood', the teams 3rd game which is unconnected to valve and needs to use a new name, comes up with some nice new ideas to bring it full circle.

[UnluckyAmateur]

I'd chaulk it up to poor management and no post-launch support. Dead By Daylight seems to be doing everything right to survive while the others seem to be dropping the ball every time. In my uneducated opinion, I'd say it works so well because its overall world is somewhat generic in the same way Mortal Kombat or Soul Calibur is which allows them to add literally ANY character from another franchise. Most of those franchises are ones where they'd never get a game otherwise, so it draws in other fanbases to the game.

Hopefully, the predator game stands out alongside Dead by Daylight but hopefully they add some curveballs like Xenomorphs or something to keep it spiced up.

Deep down though I have a feeling that movie characters overwhelmingly can't have their own games be successful and have to be added into games like Dead by Daylight, Soul Calibur, or fornite.


edit: after posting this I realized that the game would be better off as an Arkham/Assassin's creed style stealth game WITH that multiplayer system added in on the side.

[Yriel]

Imo too much depends on the monster player. If he is shit the game is boring, if he is really good the game is frustrating.
Even in games like DBD it seems the victim queue is much longer than the killer queue, they seem unpopular to play.

In a symmetric game teams tend to balance themselves out a bit, no possible in asymmetric games.

[Super Kami Dende]

I think it can work, I just think balance is a main issue. I also think a lot of it comes from the Devs, who focus too much on a "cool" Enemy that they don't want so easily defeated by the team of "heroes".

Evolve is one of those issues, they always hyped up the monsters, but as soon as the Humans figured them out and won all the time, they just buffed the Monsters over and over until they felt like badass monsters, then they won all the time, so the Humans were buffed, ad infinitum.

That and the Genre seems full of MTX.

Though I do enjoy it as a side mini-game. Dying Light had the Be the Zombie Mode which was 3v1. That was super fun.

[Soulwind]

On its own, I'd say so. As a mode for an existing and popular game, however, I think it can be done without too much trouble.

I think most MMOs, MOBAs and hero shooters can (and many have, at least temporarily) add asymmetrical modes.

But indies are free to experiment, eventually someone will come up with a formula to make a truly balanced asymmetrical multiplayer game.