After the failure of Evolve, many video games of the genre tried it, although not a few have passed without pain or glory.
Capcom surprised locals and strangers with the announcement of Resident Evil Resistance (formerly known in code as Project Resistance), an independent title from the main saga that in the end has been marketed in the same package as Resident Evil 3 Remake. Initially, the Japanese company toyed with the idea of launching it as a separate project, but according to their own statements, they made the opposite decision because the third installment did not have two campaigns; nor in the classic mercenary way. Despite this, their narrative link with the main saga is weak because the study does not consider their history to be part of the official canon.
In the vein of other asymmetric multiplayer games, four survivors battle a master brain, the latter also managed by one of the users. The concept responds to the idea that in the same game, two antagonistic parts face each other. Generally, the distribution of players is uneven, as the group faces individuality, usually represented by a more powerful monster. While the group tries to survive at all costs, the enemy is in charge of activating traps and sending the horde of enemies. This is the case of Resident Evil Resistance, a title that is named after a renowned saga, which does not ensure success. Similarly, its status as a free video game is not a guarantee.
Mr. X, the master brain, is approaching.
Having good ideas is not enough
All online products must start from the correct operation of your netcode. The Capcom title, however, presents many problems in this regard, especially when it comes to finding a master brain, since the wait is very long. Those kinds of technical problems can be solved with new updates, although Resistance players also complain about issues related to the balance of gameplay. On paper, everything can be fixed, but the clock always goes against the developer.
Except in very specific cases, tracing a failed boot is highly complicated. Capcom itself suffered its way to revitalize Street Fighter V, which was also born with problems in its online modes. Some companies go for the relaunch, like Final Fantasy XIV or Anthem, though again, once it is confirmed that things are not going as they should, reversing the situation is a really arduous task. As much as one product implements great ideas, one failed launch is enough to make the entire castle fall apart. Recovering players when trust has broken is sometimes a virtual reality game … or a reality bathroom.
A Jack the Ripper store doesn't sound too rosy in a city full of zombies.
The future of Resident Evil Resistance will largely depend on Capcom's next moves. Through a message on one of its official Twitter accounts, the studio has promised to work on improvements, which will be reflected in a new patch. "We are listening to your feedback and working on making more improvements for matchmaking," they say in the tweet. "We are working hard on a patch, while investigating other quality tweaks, such as changes to daily missions."
Despite the situation in which society finds itself, gripped by the epidemic of COVID-19, the number of concurrent players of Resistance has not reached 5000 users on Steam, an unflattering sign for these first days. Still, the support continues, and Jill Valentine, star of Resident Evil 3 Remake, has debuted as a character in the asymmetric multiplayer.
Jill Valentine in Resident Evil Resistance.
The Predator is already here
Friday the 13th: The video game had some characteristics that fit perfectly with the premise of the asymmetric multiplayer. Based on the popular horror slasher franchise, the killer Jason Voorhees awaits the arrival of his victims at Crystal Lake, a camp where, it is said, a boy drowned in its crystal clear waters. Converted as a place of rest and summer debauchery, the young people come with the bottle of alcohol in hand and eager to party. Of course, the fun turns to terror when the first head rolls on the lawn of the cabin and Jason's machete is dyed red. The game transferred that spirit from the movies, but was not able to take off. Illfonic, those responsible for the project, once again opt for an asymmetric multiplayer title, although this time with another film saga on the table, that of the Predator.
Predator: Hunting Grounds has been developed in collaboration with FOX and will be released by Sony Interactive Entertainment on April 24 on PlayStation 4. It will not be an exclusive to the Japanese machine, since it will also be released on PC. The players will travel to some fictional mountains in South America to play one of the two factions: on the one hand, a soldier from the paramilitary group; on the other, the Predator himself, who moves through the trees and with his blades raised. Whatever your role, the premise is based on the idea of "hunting or being hunted". As if that were not enough, another series of additional objectives will have to be met.
That soldier has the seconds counted.
Unlike Resident Evil Resistance, Predator is not sold as part of a larger project. It is true that it will not come out at full price (69.99 euros), but can be purchased for 39.99 euros. The newest from Illfonic shares a genre with its previous title, but it uses shooter mechanics, at least when the player handles the soldier. Predator changes the approach and offers a cooler playable style.
Now, in this kind of titles the content is crucial, since the idea is to keep the user properly hooked, with an eye toward the future. A short-term approach implies an almost certain sentence. In these circumstances, the strategy is usually tacked in a rescue attempt under the free-to-play model (too often, unsuccessful). In that sense, Illfonic must learn from what did not work on Friday the 13th: The Video Game. Not only that: you will have to look into the eyes of one of the pioneers of the genre, who once received awards and applause, true, but who in the end plunged into a spiral from which he never managed to get out. Here's the Evolve story:
Which will be faster, the crossbow or the firearms?
Evolve's lessons
"Evolve has been an incredible success," said Take-Two shortly after launch. "We love that things go like this, especially on the download front." The company that owns 2K Games was happy with the initial sales, but things started to go wrong quickly. Proof of this is that this title was sold in the traditional way, that is, at full price and with its box. But one year after its arrival in stores, in February 2015, the publisher decided to try its luck with the free-to-play model.
The maneuver was carried out with the intention of promoting the project, as it could not be otherwise, but at this point it was too late to reverse the situation. And that at first the numbers shot up on Steam: a mirage. This asymmetric multiplayer developed by Turtle Rock Studios – a team with some of the creatives behind Left4Dead – ended up going down. “We had big aspirations for Evolve, and while we spent an incredible five and a half years on the planet Shear … we didn't feel it long enough. We were hungry for more, but unfortunately, today is the last day that Turtle Rock Studios can work at Evolve, ”stated the studio. In 2018, the closure of the servers was announced and that is how Evolve's journey came.
On the hunt for the monster.
Evolve's fate was forged by different variables, which together were responsible for sinking the last nail in his coffin. As much as the study spent hours and hours building the universe, studying biology to enrich the environments and drawing up its master plans with the aim of creating a living world, the nuclear concepts adapt to the realities of the market. After all, if you are not able to sell the idea, the project will never materialize. Its initial proposal was a cooperative game for four people in which users would collaborate to exploit the different scenarios. "But there was no way that anyone would give the green light to this video game. No one would pay for us to do this title, ”Matt Colville of the studio wrote in a message on Reddit. They then transformed it into a 4v1. "We believed in him 100%," he admitted, despite the fact that the initial idea was different. The developer asserted his pride in the work done, but recognized mistakes at different levels.
“The heroes didn't need to feed, they didn't level up, they didn't get skills. It was not simply asymmetric, since the two sides basically proposed two different video games. That was a problem that we never managed to fix, it was always a vicissitude. It meant that all new content was very difficult to implement: forget the balance, just enter it. Grab this great idea for the hero or monster and implement it. It was very difficult ”, because the mechanics were in conflict.
Well prepared, but don't miss the cigar.
Other structural problems were linked to the business model. It was sold at full price, which did not give access to all content, because the number of micropayments was very high. In the end, the player had to pay a much higher price to stay current. "If your client needs four friends to enjoy the game, don't charge 60 for it," concluded Colville.
Evolve did not fail exclusively for being an asymmetric multiplayer. His approach was one of the many factors that led him, overall, to his sad fate. It remains to be seen if games like Resident Evil Resistance or Predator: Ground Heroes manage to fill that gap. Perhaps another yet unknown title will do. Who knows.
