Epic’s design director, Bleszinski, urges Japanese developers to add multiplayer components to their games and wonders why Vanquish never player-versus-player to start with.
Before beginning it would be wise to first add a bit of background as to what Vanquish is; the game was developed by Capcom and one of the developers of the Resident Evil series, and was nothing but a fast-paced, unadulterated, no holds barred third-person
shooting extravaganza. It was a game that critics praised but also a title that very few gamers actually played.
Cliff Bleszinski was one of the few who actually played the game and judging by his comments, loved the experience, yet, at the same time, he also wondered why the game did not expand beyond the single player component.
He said, “And if you’re going to make a third-person...the fact that Vanquish didn’t have a multiplayer suite was a crime. That IP, it was pretty good as far as being Western, but the gameplay was great, the vibe...and I’ve often said on record that if Gears
(of War) is the kind of Wild, Wild West coal train chugging along, that Vanquish is the Japanese bullet train, with style and everything.”
Cliff continued, “And there is absolutely no reason I shouldn’t have been zipping around, doing the mega slides, diving up in the air in an arena with other players.”
It seems that a number of Japanese developed titles suffer from the same problems which make them less of an attractive prospect to purchase when they make it over to the West.
Bleszinski was very blunt when advised Japanese devs not to ignore the multiplayer component any longer, while at the same time warning developers not to “tack” it on to games either. Cliff was of the opinion that multiplayer could be done in a number of
ways and that since the developers in Japan had a tendency to innovate, they could possibly come up with something new.
Whether or not Japan heeds the Gears of War design director’s advice remains to be seen, however, it has to be said that the prospect of a Vanquish multiplayer would make the game more attractive for a large number of gamers.
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