5 games with impressive enemy AI

In video games, enemy AI is a vital aspect that often gets far less attention than it needs. When it comes to immersion, smart artificial intelligence is an extremely necessary tool, as it makes a title's virtual world believable. Enemy AI plays a significant role, especially in first-person shooters, horror, and strategy games.

Unfortunately, many big-time AAA titles in the modern era have lacked significantly in terms of smart and adaptive enemies. The issue is so severe that finding games with good enemy AI has become quite difficult in recent times. This is ironic because, over the last few years, the world has witnessed significant innovations in AI technology.

Looking through the annals of gaming history, we have a curated list of new and old titles with impressive enemy AI.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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5 games with amazing enemy AI

1) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The Metal Gear Solid franchise is known for its innovative nature. Created by the genius Hideo Kojima, MGS garnered a signature identity due to its clever game mechanics, hilarious shenanigans, and clever enemy AI. The fifth game in the series didn’t disappoint in these aspects at all.

The title's AI was programmed to respond to the player's favored tactics. If a gamer relies on one or two strategies too heavily, foes will deploy countermeasures. This includes wearing stronger helmets if the player constantly headshots enemies or carrying more lights if they tend to attack at night.

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2) Half-Life

Going from one legendary series to another, the next entry on the list is Valve’s Half-Life. If you are somewhat experienced with the history of gaming, then it is very probable that you have heard of this title. Half-Life was released back in 1998. But it was way ahead of its time.

Among all the impressive aspects of Half-Life, one that stole the spotlight was its enemy AI. The game's HECU marines provide covering fire for one another, try to flush the player out with grenades, and move from cover to cover, limiting how often the player can shoot.

Such adaptive and clever AI is impressive even by today's standards, and the fact that Half-Life was released decades ago truly shows what a masterclass this title was.

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3) Left 4 Dead 2

The necessity for a smart AI in the horror genre is tremendous. The whole selling point of titles in this category depends on the mechanics that are presented as antagonistic forces that will corner the player. While enemy AI used in horror games is mostly very impressive, very few would come near what Left 4 Dead 2 offers.

L4D2 is a co-op horror game where players band together to survive the onslaught of monsters chasing them. However, the artificial intelligence of these foes wasn’t the only reason this game made its place on this list.

The real brilliance of artificial intelligence in Left 4 Dead 2 comes from the AI Director that this game uses to plan out each encounter. It carefully controls the game, choosing when and where mobs of enemies spawn, what items are available to the player, and how many Special Infected they face. This title ensures that no two playthroughs of a single campaign are the same, keeping players tense and under threat.

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4) Resident Evil 2

Capcom’s Resident Evil 2 is placed on this list, thanks to only one of its enemies, Mr. X. While most foes in the game aren't very intelligent, this adversary is an accomplished hunter.

Mr. X stalks the player throughout the game, taking the direct path towards them, and responds to noises like gunfire or fighting. He even watches as a zombie ravages the player rather than charging through and disrupting the fight.

In the modern remake released in 2019, the developers were able to make this monstrosity even more horrific. Mr. X’s code was upgraded in such a way that it made him feel omnipresent. This means every turn you take, every new room you venture into, there’s a threat of facing a massive undead giant dressed in black.

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5) F.E.A.R.

F.E.A.R. features the most clever and uncanny enemy AI on this list by far. Despite being released in 2005, it had one of the most advanced and intelligent artificial intelligence in the history of gaming. Unlike other games, where the AI is programmed to conduct certain tasks and follow a fixed behavioral pattern, the AI in F.E.A.R follows a special G.O.A.P. formula.

G.O.A.P. stands for Goal Oriented Action Planning. With this, the game's AI was programmed to learn the player's actions and adapt to them. The enemies in F.E.A.R. are designed to be aggressive and will actively hunt the player down in packs, often flanking and communicating with each other.

This interaction between foes provides a narrative for the chaos in the game, making its AI feel more intelligent and coordinated while building a feeling of constant dread and fear.