Which shooter has the best enemy A.I?

[Black Arrow Officer]

Without resorting to "cheating" tactics such as godlike accuracy or shooting through walls, which shooter has the best enemy A.I? Splinter Cell Conviction A.I is always surprising me. Even though they're a little blind some of the time and make some mistakes, I've never seen more tactically proficient A.I. They'll advance while moving from cover to cover smartly, do a good job surrounding you quickly, breach rooms from multiple angles and even judge your position after you've shot an enemy without instantly snapping to you. A lot of people also say Half Life 2 has great A.I, but I thought they were pretty stupid a lot of times. Yes, they're pretty good, but a lot of times I'll be shooting one at point blank range over and over again and he doesn't even know how to react. Plus, they're horrible shots and constantly shoot you from 50 feet away, standing completely still as you line up your crossbow.

 

[teh_Canape]

I think Duke Nukem Forever has a pretty good AI

also, Crysis 1/2 and FarCry series

but that's just me

 

[Daddy Go Bot]

Halo: Reach without a doubt.

 

[Platypus540]

Definitely Halo: Reach. It also has the best hitboxing for the character models that I've ever seen.

Edit: Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 also had pretty good AI. My friend and I always get flanked on terrorist hunt missions, and they usually move in small groups. However, they are sometimes pretty blind.

 

[Irridium]

F.E.A.R.

Fights with the clones are the best parts of the game.

 

[Black Arrow Officer]

Yeah, Halo: Reach had good A.I, at least on the enemy side. The friendlies.... I can't even list the amount of controllers I've broke to Kat running over me or driving my vehicle off a cliff! Oh yeah, and Jorge was cool except for the fact he acted like a blind Heavy Weapons Guy and was good for little else then a meatshield.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

STALKER SoC had some fantastic AI, which was greatly amplified by a Mod I used. Apart from a few hiccups, enemy troops reacted believably... if they had numbers on their side they would likely push their advantage against you. If they were few, they would be more cautious, peeking in and out of cover and waiting for me to make my move, or using grenades to flush me out. The squad AI wasn't particularly good, but they did try and flank me on occasions while I was busy with others.

Not only that, but the world had a believable ecology to it. Feral Dogs hunting in packs, taking on small groups of bandits. Packs would also circle me, rather then charge straight at me, making me waste shots on moving targets while being assailed in ones or twos.

Some of the lone hunter creatures would charge in on me, strike, then bail before I could properly react. In one instance 2 of these bloodsuckers constantly tagged then retreated, then returning from a different angle, bringing me down to near death. I was forced to leg it into a nearby camp where the guards helped me deal with them. The reaction of the guards was even memorable, the first guy to notice them got killed, which alerted the rest of the camp where they all started to close in on one spot. This might have been a coincidence, but for me, it looked like they were forming a defensive line, with me included. Was an incredibly gripping few moments.

The mutated pig creatures would run away on approach, but if I neared the rest of their herd, they would all charge me as one, but then pull off once I left their area.

All in all, the game had some fantastic moments... but the mod made it insanely adaptive. Though scripted events were still in place for most of the games, some of the most memorable moments were based on the AIs initiative.

 

[CupboardNinja]

I'll go with Uncharted 2. The enemies there were awesome at flanking the shit out of me.

 

[Mr Thin]

You know, I think you're right about Conviction.

One of the cleverest things the AI in that do is not strut off into the shadows where I'm waiting to break their neck for their idiocy.

No, the sneaky bastards hold back, call for backup, and wait for me to make a move.

It's the first time in a long time that an intelligent action (not a glitch, in other words) by enemy AI has actually caused me trouble.

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

Rainbow Six Vegas 2's AI was almost perfect in my opinion, the enemy could flank or corner you even better then you possibly could.
They would also call for backup, stay behind cover and throw several types of grenades, which resulted in many "you got killed, while you didn't kill any NPC's" deaths.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Killzone 3. Fuck you shock troopers! Seriously, the Higs are a bloody pain to fight, since they blind fire from cover, before grenading you and then charging your position while you run like hell. It's like you're on the receiving end of a door breach from modern warfare.

 

[TheEldestScroll]

ArmA 2 hands down. a little glitchy at times, but the AI is very very smart.

 

[The Madman]

STALKER SoC had some fantastic AI

Going to have to agree with this. Most games in truth use clever scripting a and level design to try and make their AI seem smart, FEAR does this extremely well for example, they even say so in a few interviews. It's the same for pretty much every linear corridor shooter from Half-Life to Halo and Killzone. Clever scripting and level design used to make the opponents seem smarter than they really are.

Not deriding it, it works. Just saying they're not actually terribly 'bright' so to speak.

For actual AI you've got to look at open world games, a few of which have been mentioned here: STALKER, Crysis, FarCry, ArmA 2. When the opponents are placed into large open environments like they are in those games the developers have to program it to react fluidly to a variety of situations. True it also means there's more ways to trick it, Crysis and Far Cry for example had some annoying AI glitches as did ArmA 2. But the actual thought going behind the units actions is much more complex than what you'll encounter in the linear shooters above. Might not always seem that way, but it's true.

And of them STALKER is the one that consistently most impresses me. Hell, I remember the Gametrailers review for STALKER: SOC even complained the AI was too good because it kept killing them. Hilarious! True, but hilarious.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Yeah, Halo: Reach had good A.I, at least on the enemy side. The friendlies.... I can't even list the amount of controllers I've broke to Kat running over me or driving my vehicle off a cliff! Oh yeah, and Jorge was cool except for the fact he acted like a blind Heavy Weapons Guy and was good for little else then a meatshield.

If I remember correctly, the mission with Kat driving the Warthog is also the mission that there is the achievement of going the whole mission on foot.

I was attacking some intrenched grunts behind some fallen debris, when I heard the sound of the Warthog behind me and a second later Kat ran me and the grunts over and then proceeded to back up over my corpse. Oh, and that apparently counted as me being in a Warthog.

Reach's enemy AI can be good, but there are times on Legendary where it is like the enemies are psychic. I could be hidden somewhere out of sight, breathe in real life, and a grunt will say, "He's over there!"

 

[Soviet Heavy]

ArmA 2 hands down. a little glitchy at times, but the AI is very very smart.

Even if they're smart, I can't really take them seriously with the hilarious voice acting.

 

[archvile93]

Without resorting to "cheating" tactics such as godlike accuracy or shooting through walls, which shooter has the best enemy A.I? Splinter Cell Conviction A.I is always surprising me. Even though they're a little blind some of the time and make some mistakes, I've never seen more tactically proficient A.I. They'll advance while moving from cover to cover smartly, do a good job surrounding you quickly, breach rooms from multiple angles and even judge your position after you've shot an enemy without instantly snapping to you. A lot of people also say Half Life 2 has great A.I, but I thought they were pretty stupid a lot of times. Yes, they're pretty good, but a lot of times I'll be shooting one at point blank range over and over again and he doesn't even know how to react. Plus, they're horrible shots and constantly shoot you from 50 feet away, standing completely still as you line up your crossbow.

To be fair, the AI in HL2 is limited by the fact that most of the environments are very linear and don't really allow for much tactical movement beyond zerg rushing. Mods have shown them to be quite capable when placed in environments that are more open.

OT: I'd say farcry, but I've been told their AI is very scripted, and when placed in user made levels that don't have the proper take cover here markers in certain things and other such markers, they're very inept. I'd have to go with FEAR. Only game I've ever played where I got killed because I found myself being shot from all angles when all of them started in front of me.

 

[StrappingYoungLad]

FEAR and Crysis 2 are pretty good.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Easily Halo: Reach for me, at least for the enemies that were supposed to be smart. In other words; the elites and skirmishers. They are always a pain in the ass for all the right reasons.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I have to agree with Conviction, they seemed more like enemies you might face in real life, rather than enemies that like to throw themselves at you all the time, and hope that one of them manages to kill you.

Although I did find it strange that they all talk loud enough for you to hear exactly what they are saying, which gives you an edge.