Since then it seems like every game is trying to be TF2 on some level. Then of course TF2 came along and blew up the shooter genre. Halo was specifically fun because you could team up on vehicles and have asymmetrical combat. Since then any game that doesn't use asymmetrical mechanics on some level are attempting a fool's errand. I think that on the far opposite end of the spectrum Quake 3 was most likely the most perfect version of symmetrical gameplay. I have a vague memory of some game implementing something similar to this idea, however I cannot recall the name of it at the moment. This could potentially create some interesting scenarios where the GM could change the quests and encounters more dynamically in response to the other player's actions, which in turn might make for a more immersive experience for the other players. The GM then gets to control the enemies and NPCs against the players, either like a strategy game or the player could go into third/firstperson mode to control the enemies individually one at a time. For example a game where there might be a party of four players which play the game in third/firstperson and then there is another player who plays the game in top-down view as the GM(Game Master). However, I have had other ideas of assymetrical gameplay aswell, where the game perhaps takes ideas from traditional pen and paper roleplaying games. Both of which I think are pretty well designed when it comes to the assymetrical gameplay. Most of the assymetrical video games that I have played have already been mentioned in this thread, like Evolve and Crawl. Have any of you played Crawl? I would love to hear what you’re thoughts are on it! This creates a very fluid game where teams and goals are constantly changing and is probably one of my favorite examples.
A team of multiple little ghosts can work together to try to fight against the human player, but only the one who lands the final blow gets to actually take over the power character. The way it works in this game, is you’re constantly battling one player who is designated as a human. What it did, which I hadn’t seen executed so well before, was create an environment where the teams were constantly changing.
In more modern games, Crawl was a great example of a game to pull off a very fluid asymmetric style of multiplayer. They create a situation where players who are competing against each other on the overall game board, have to come together as a team to defeat a player who was given much more power. Personally, I think my first exposure to this concept was in some of the earlier Mario Party games, where a mini game would be 1v3.