Under The Hood: Pseudo-MMOs, part two
I realized in my last article I promised to explore the viability of pseudo-MMOs as an expanding market, but it appears I will have to renege on that pledge. I've been getting a veritable glut of the names of games that incorporate MMO-style play in a distinctly non-MMO structure or environment. So instead, here is a brief exploration of the Massive Single-player Offline, or MSO, market, as well as a few online games which share MMO elements.
The one which absolutely fits every single criteria for an MMO except for online play (and a rare few others) is Final Fantasy XII. This game, like no other, incorporates MMO-style play into an expansive and engaging single-player environment. Friendly NPCs, hunting quests, main story quests, instanced environments (monsters respawn after leaving and reentering a zone), real-time combat, non-random encounters (you see it, you fight it), and a distinct waypoint system. It's best described as the solo player's MMO.
Another good one for the player looking for a good, MMO-style single-player is any of The Elder Scrolls (such as The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion) games. A solid story quest along with countless hours of play in side-quests and faction quests, a living and breathing world, and the ability to do just about whatever you want all lend this a very MMO feel. The NPCs react to how they have dealt with you in the past, factions wage war, and it has an overall feel of a world which truly continues when you are not around, even though it doesn't.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has the same feel as well. While being MMO-esque, it eschews the traditional level-based gameplay for more equipment and item focused gameplay. But a good portion of the games' mechanics are rooted in the MMO world. Factions vying for control, a wide-open world to explore, vendors and quests, and the thrill of exploration. Only instead of counting XP to the next level, you are counting cash to the next great gun. It's an addictive form of level-free role-playing that could use some exposure in the MMO market.
On the flip side, the biggest multi-player game (and, arguably, the first) which lifts a few concepts from MMOs is Battlefield 2. A persistent character, who rises through the ranks (levels) as he gains points (XP) to get new guns (equipment). It has badges, titles, achievements, and levels (the experience kind), all set in a competitive online shooter environment.
And it's not even the only one since! Enemy Territory: Quake Wars did it (as did its prequel, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory), Call of Duty 4 did it, and even RTS games are doing it! World in Conflict and Company of Heroes both have ranking systems and badges, and they aren't even among the first. This sort of thing is not restricted to a certain genre, but rather, the whole concept can be spread across the genres leading to a bizarre form of cross-pollination.
So really, in the end, the game industry could use some cross-contamination of mainstream genres and MMOs. So far, it's working out pretty well for the normal side (With games like BF2 and CoD4), but not so much for the MMO side. There are a few games attempting to break the mold (Tabula Rasa springs to mind, although it's up to you to decide whether it succeeds), but nothing ground-breakingly new.
Yet.
Each week James Murff writes Under The Hood, a deeper look at MMO game mechanics and how they affect players, games, and the industry.
