I've always been a huge fan of single player games. Whether it be Half Life, Oblivion or banging away at the Dawn of War Campaign on the highest difficulty, I've always had a fascination with challenging yourself against what is essentially a machine rather than human players. I'm all for co-operative games as the essence of that genre is still go to mano y mano against the sometimes sluggish and generally predictable cpu ai. Maybe I just like the fact that single player games follow a set of predetermined rules; absence of chaos, if you like. Or maybe it is an embittered twist of fate stemming from not being wanted to join certain guilds in World of Warcraft.
I have a better theory.
I like to de-construct games to their bare bones. I like to analyse WHY the ai is doing that, WHY am I being shot at when all I did was eat an apple? What was the point of me traversing the entire lab on the second floor when my objective was on the first? Humans in this sense are actually more predictable. Their aims are the same even if their objectives are different. With the computer as your enemy, it maybe more clear cut but there is no reason to WHY it does it; only that it DOES.
Don't get me wrong. I love playing against other people but the sense of satisfaction beating a peer in Dawn of War is nowhere near the same satisfaction you get when solving a puzzle in Portal 2. My experiences against human players have always been sporadic because of lag issues, connection issues, the opposing player deciding to dip out at the crucial moment. Worst of the worst being they just happen to be playing their first ever game. Ever. Or they having tournament trophies of the game gathering dust on their custom-made games-shelf.
The computer just doesn't do that. It just doesn't.
I have a better theory.
I like to de-construct games to their bare bones. I like to analyse WHY the ai is doing that, WHY am I being shot at when all I did was eat an apple? What was the point of me traversing the entire lab on the second floor when my objective was on the first? Humans in this sense are actually more predictable. Their aims are the same even if their objectives are different. With the computer as your enemy, it maybe more clear cut but there is no reason to WHY it does it; only that it DOES.
Don't get me wrong. I love playing against other people but the sense of satisfaction beating a peer in Dawn of War is nowhere near the same satisfaction you get when solving a puzzle in Portal 2. My experiences against human players have always been sporadic because of lag issues, connection issues, the opposing player deciding to dip out at the crucial moment. Worst of the worst being they just happen to be playing their first ever game. Ever. Or they having tournament trophies of the game gathering dust on their custom-made games-shelf.
The computer just doesn't do that. It just doesn't.
