The enemies in far cry 2 behave unlike any I’ve seen in gaming. They lose you, get lost, run right past you while searching. Fights in that game always feel so chaotic.
I haven’t played F.E.A.R., but have read about the AI, may have to give that a try.
In the vast majority of games, when the AI detects you, they just magically know where you are, and will just zero in on your position no matter how much you break line of sight and flank. It is always a frontal assault.
Out flanking an enemy and stalking them from behind as they peak around cover looking for you is something I don’t think I’ve seen in any other game.
They rescue downed buddies, so you can use sniper shots to lure them out, they will crawl for cover when down and shoot you in the back with a pistol when you think they are dead. Mixed with the lack of HUD and mini map means they could be anywhere and in any number.
Highly recommend it even with it’s jank for anyone looking for a unique and brutal FPS experience.
F.E.A.R.
For the type of games I play (RPGs and narrative games), I usually don’t care about the enemy AI.
But I remember the enemy AI being bad in Street Fighter 2. They don’t play like human, they react instantly and are able to perform impossible moves. Guile’s AI can perform flash kicks without charging.
I don’t know any fighting game with good AI, TBH. They always have a major flaw or are roided beyond belief.
Which is fair—they’re multiplayer games.
Man, I replay Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101 all the time, never caught the AI lacking a single moment. Always lethal and coming at you nonstop and it never feels unfair.
In fact, if I have any complaint against combat in these two games it’s that visibility sucks sometimes, specifically in TW101. But hey, no game is perfect 🤷
I’m pretty impressed with the rival ai in the new sonic crossworlds game. They go after you specifically and it’s the closest I’ve seen to emulating a human opponent in a kart racer.
I don’t know, chess? Might have also been the only time when I was impressed…
I find it helps that chess:
- can easily be represented in digital state and tons of research has gone into chess AI.
- is turn-based, allowing our measly human brains to compute some fraction of all the scenarios that an algorithm can take into account.
- does not hide information. There’s no fog of war or field of view or such. AIs don’t get fed screenshots containing only the things that you as a player can see. They need to be implemented with alternative information, like actually just knowing the player coordinates, even if the player is behind a wall. If instead there is no hidden information, then it makes it much easier to implement the AI, by just using all available information…
I liked the enemies in Exanima. They weren’t all mindlessly aggressive. Some of them would stare at you until they decide you aren’t acting like a threat, but others would immediately try to crush your face with a bedpan.
Maybe not the way you meant, but XCOM “impressed” me with its enemy “AI” on the regular. Even without the notorious "R"NG, the whole series is all over the place. Impressively, and even mystifyingly so. 🤷🏼♂️
