Poll Question 217 – Would you like Episode Three to include co-op gameplay?

27th March 2011

Has Source modding peaked?

With all the talk about Portal 2 and its co-op feature, finding a first play-through buddy etc, it got me thinking about whether co-op will become the new black.

I believe Valve won’t include it in Ep3 simply because it’s popular in one game, but it might encourage other developers to try it.

Puzzles haven’t traditionally been seen as right for team work, but obviously Portal will work really well and I am looking forward to seeing how community teams find different solutions to those expected by Valve.

In addition, this particular aspect will certainly make modding interesting, although I am not completely convinced that the community will be interested in the long-term. There have been some great concepts in mods that could have been used by the community but were almost ignored. It seems sometimes that it’s too much trouble for modders.

Anyway, back to the main question. Having one player as Barney and one as GF, would work, or even one player as a scientist who can do stuff that GF can’t. Almost like having classes but within a co-op.

So, would you like to play co-op in Ep3?

The Poll


21 Comments

  1. MikeS

    I ticked yes, on the understanding it wouldn’t affect it the single-player campaign.

  2. No, I hope not. (I pressed the maybe by mistake xD)
    People Can’t follow me because I’m to fast, I’m one of those who played through Half life 2 without ever not jumping. (of course some times you are forced to walk.)

    But yea, I can’t wait on my friend to catch up to me.
    But it could be fun to see in a mod 🙂

  3. Main game will be single player without doubt. But I think they’ll add a co-op campaign too.

  4. Rog

    I love coop and it’s the first feature I look for in any game because day-in, day-out I’d rather play with my friends. It’s no wonder to me that MMORPGs are so popular, they’re so convenient for coop.

    Half-Life 2 (and its episodes), with its moments of bot companions, seemed odd to be a single-player game without coop.

  5. Dias

    Half-Life has always been a single-player experience to me, despite the existence of deathmatch. As Half-Life’s narrative has developed, the inclusion of co-op would obviously be counter-productive to even the most casual observer in a single chapter of Synergy or Sven Co-op from BEFORE you get any weapons. The very presence of another player stands out like a sore thumb in the way they look, move & interact in the world, as a constant reminder of how fake it all is.

    I’ve made some pretty silly bets recently when it comes to what people think will happen with Half-Life & I’m glad to say this is one of those things that I’m glad I could bet anything on without any fear of losing. Episode 3 will be co-op free & that’s just how I like it.

  6. I enjoyed playing the Half-Life series because of the serious story and the immersion it brings. However, when I play anything coop there is always an element of screwing around with mates and that kills off any immersion. Though, I still quite enjoy coop for just that reason.

    I have seen what Valve can do in terms of quality so I think it would be possible for them to create an immersive coop experience but it also really depends on who your playing with. For it to work, you need to find someone who is equally serious when playing it through.

    As a side note, I wouldn’t want to be Freeman in coop because it would be a pain to communicate…

  7. Kyouryuu

    I wouldn’t mind co-op in Half-Life, but I’m not sure Episode 3 would be the best place to launch it. That would sound like a key feature for the next formal iteration.

    I don’t think Half-Life’s narrative is so tightly woven as to prevent co-op. There are numerous places in the game itself where you work alongside AI, after all. The difference is that in single player, there are many assumptions you can make that are invalid in co-op, based on the idea that a single player cannot be in two places at the same time.

  8. I would like a separate co-op campaign in Ep3 like in Portal 2.

  9. grabbie

    Personally I would rather it just be a single player experience. We should remember that there has already been a co-op expansion called Half-Life: Decay. It was ported to the PC a couple of years ago and it was just an ok experience. Having to deal with others to solve puzzles isn’t as fun as surviving a zombie apocalypse. Co-op works best when it’s run and gun gameplay. Can’t wait to see what Portal 2 brings to the table.

  10. Vic

    A solid “No” from me. Half-Life is all about the player’s experience, and the way he/she literally becomes Gordon. Having you running about with another player, shouting on your mics, struggling to compensate for lag and using text chat would ruin that completely, even if it were a separate campaign.

  11. David Geraghty

    I’m a sucker for co-op so I’d like an additional co-op mode would be welcomed by me as long as they had a single player storyline untouched by it. Similar to the co-op mode for the original half-life that was on the Playstation version which I enjoyed.

    I blame my love of co-op on growing up with two gaming brothers which meant we’d often find games with multiplayer and play them together.

  12. Hec

    would be interesting, but I prefer left that for the new portal2 or even L4D

  13. Riven

    Co-op at it’s best can be extremely fun, when the game sponsors it independently.

    I clicked “yes” in an assumption that it would be a separate story, and you didn’t play as GF (or any of the main characters for that matter). But I wouldn’t mind spotting GF from a different perspective while playing through the same scene from the main sp-driven game, but instead from a different perspective < (would make for a neat mod, or is there one like that already?).

    I agree about HL being about the player becoming Gordon; that's why co-op would have to be separate and with different characters.

  14. Duke

    I don’t need help (if that’s what co op means) unless it’s part of the game, First person single player is where I’m at..Me against the universe, no hitchhikers.

    1. I’m certainly not an expert but the co-op portion is completely separate from the SP part. You NEED to players to complete it.

  15. No no no no no no. Half-Life is a focused experience. I don’t want to either miss off on part of the intended game because I’ve no friends or, if online is available, be ignoring the brilliant story to rush through it.

  16. J. P. Fernandes

    I guess if it was independend from the main game it would be ok. I would love if the coop would feel more like a sp experience. What I mean is, instead of players having the same weapons and characteristics, they could have different classes [as philip said] and sometimes their path would differ in some small zones forcing players to have different experiences.Maybe one player would get to go into zombie infested lands with minimum weapons while the other would get to go to higher ground having to protect the first player from the zombies with the crossbow. It could be a team of resistance fighters on support missions, maybe Shepard and some of his old buddies from the army.

  17. OG Loc

    Well not in EP3 I’d say, but maybe it’s own seperate game. There are already some mods with Co-Ops like Synergy and Obsidian Conflict.

  18. I say “maybe”, but after reading this (http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/numb-thumbs-blog/2043589/valves-half-life-games-held-success-steam), I’m beginning to wonder if they’ll EVER finish it. 🙁

  19. Ezequielhl

    Maybe if they put bonus missions were you play as resistance members (meaning: with CONTEXT)… like… Griggs & Sheckley!

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