While we all talk about AI in our world today, video games have been utilizing AI for decades now. Open world games are designed around intelligent NPCs and inhabitants to make their universes feel alive.
AI can be used in everything from enemies and bosses to NPCs to make a world feel believable and real. When this aspect is off, it’sbad. There are tons of games that fail to immerse you in the world because the AI just simply isn’t there, or is so bad that it makes the illusion fall apart at the seams.
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We’re going to pick out the best AI in open world games today and discuss how it impacts the game experience as a whole. The criteria is going to be AI that changes the game in a profound way, and AI that can outsmart you just as much as you may outsmart it.
10Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
You Are The Hunted
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Ghost Recon: Breakpointmay not have gotten the best reception when it released, but one area thatit absolutely nailed after a handful of updates was the AI. There are tons of enemies to contend with throughout this game and, unfortunately for you, they are not stupid.
When trying to penetrate the defenses of the various buildings and facilities you’ll find in this game, you’re outnumbered, and the smart move would be to go in quietly. That’s easier said than done, because these enemies are so attentive that any vague sight they have of you will trigger an alarm, and a whole lot of reinforcements.
The enemy soldiers are deadly, fast, and use various tactics to take you out, like rushing you from your blindside or smoking you out of hiding spots with grenades.
You will find yourself failing the majority of the time if you don’t take your time here, because the AI is sharp as hell and unforgiving when it comes to taking you down.
9Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Adapt Or Die
Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid Vhas the best gameplay in the series, anda large part of that is due to the amazing AI of the enemies. You can still trick them in classic ways, but for the most part, the AI here is elite. Guards will investigate anything and everything, and you are going to have to work your hardest not to get spotted in this game.
Enemies won’t let you just crawl under a truck and let you get away; they’ll check under, over, and inside of anything they think could be suspicious. My favorite way the AI adapts to you is if you’re taking too many headshots. They will simply start wearing helmets more often if you do this, making you find another way to take them out.
The enemies will also call for backup, communicate with each other, telling them where to investigate or to check why the power went out. Overall, they feel like real beings.
Because of that, you need to think and be able to adapt and, luckily, Metal Gear Solid V has pretty much endless possibilities for how you can approach a mission.
8Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War
The Orcs Are Alive
Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
Fextralife Wiki
The AI inMiddle Earth: Shadow of Warneeds to be seen to be believed. The Orcs are so intelligent that you might be dumbfounded the first few times you encounter them.
They adapt to moves that you abuse too much, and even grow their personalities throughout the game if you fail to kill them off. Each time you lose to these enemies, they grow in power, stature, and confidence. That means a low-level Orc can suddenly be in command of an entire unit, and each time they find you from that point forward,they will react and remind you of the time when they absolutely wrecked you.
It’s hilarious and impressive at the same time, and that’s the reason that the Nemesis system has often been copied since but never quite achieved that secret sauce.
you may also have Orcs on your side defect to the other side and vice versa. It’s a crazy system that runs on some high-powered AI that allows these characters not only to feel real, but rarely repeat themselves in the process.
7Days Gone
The Horde Attacks
Days Goneis an incredible example of what enemy AI can do in games. While the AI for the gangs and various people you’ll find yourself fighting in the game is pretty good to begin with, it’s with the hordes of Freakers that it really shines.
It is objectively terrifying when a horde gets you in its sight in Days Gone. There is just something different about them. They are a hive mind, but the relentlessness of how they come after you is just a “wow” moment in gaming.
There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hidewhen the horde finds you. It’s one of the most frantic moments I can think of in a game, and you had better come prepared with enough ammo, or it’s going to be all over in a very short amount of time. There are a bunch of these fights throughout Days Gone, and they become a game separate from the main ones in many ways.
Never have I felt hunted in the way I do when the horde comes in Days Gone, and that’s thanks to the amazing AI at work.
6State Of Decay 2
You’re Never Safe
State of Decay 2
State of Decay 2takes you by surprise. It opens up in a rather mundane way that doesn’t feel all that scary, but shortly after, you start to see what’s really in store here. That answer isthe most terrifying zombie AI I’ve seen in a game.
For brainless horrors, they are pretty damn smart here. You’ve never been more vulnerable in a game than you are in State of Decay 2. Simple supply runs become mad dashes to survive due to the crazy present AI for the zombies in the game.
Daytime may be easy enough to survive, but once the sun goes down? You’re in big trouble. Zombies are more aggressive, more types come out, and your settlements are all the more vulnerable.
I don’t know if it’s the deceptive speed of the zombies here that throws me off, but I get so tense when they close in during the game. Most horror titles don’t do that for me. The different types all act in different ways, so you can’t treat any encounter the same because they function like different creatures. It makes progressing in the game a terrifying experience because of it.
5Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
You’re Just A Man
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2is a brutally realistic experience, and the AI is responsible for making everything feel so real. The wolves and other wildlife react appropriately to your presence, but it’s the people, the bandits, the guards, the civilians, and every NPC you find that makes it all feel so lifelike.
Fighting in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 puts the AI on full display, and it’s because you’ve got to really think during battle. Your enemies react to every attack you go for, so if you’re abusing overhead attacks, you’ll find your enemies start defending with overhead blocks and countering you in the same way you may counter them.
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It’s not just the combat where the AI shines, as the stealth is also wildly impressive on that front. You need to be quiet, and not only that, but if you go a long time without washing yourself, enemies will literally smell you. I can’t say I’ve seen AI like that in a game before and, while it’s weird, it definitely fits in this medieval world.
All this goes into making Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 an unforgettable and incredibly immersive experience.
4Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Dangers Of Exploring
Dragon’s Dogma 2
Dragon’s Dogma 2may not be my favorite RPG out there, but there is no doubt in my mind the AI is incredible. The pawn AI is great and incredibly flexible, but I’m specifically talking about the monsters in the world. They are some of the smartest and most devious you find in gaming.
Goblins will gang up on you and stab you in groups. The different varieties of lizards will steamroll you and knock you on your ass. Gigantic Cyclops will smash you and if you attempt to take them down by climbing on them, they’ll literally ram their backs into the side of a mountain to get you off.
It’s the way the enemies react to your attacks that is so impressive here. While the enemy variety isn’t the greatest, each one you fight feels so damn real.
You can tackle a goblin and stab it to death on the ground, but it can do the same to you, and that goes for a variety of enemies.
My favorite example of AI in the game is when I was exploring, I saw a dragon far below me roaming around a canyon. I was running around some ruins and saw there was a massive crossbow-like device that seemed like it could hit the dragon. I lined up a few shots and was just slowly taking down the dragon’s health.
The device took a bit of time to reload and, all of a sudden, the dragon flew up to me, floated in the air in front of me to taunt me and then essentially went “Oh, fun! My turn!” and unleashed a blast that blew up my crossbow device and sent me and my pawns flying off the top of this castle. I wasn’t even mad, just impressed.
3Monster Hunter World
A Living Ecosystem
Monster Hunter World
Monster Hunter: Worldwas an incredible moment in the open world genre as it gave us a true ecosystem to explore for the first time I can remember.
Stepping into any of the open zones is an experience, because you actually feel like you’re disrupting nature. The smaller monsters, for example, roam in packs and have routines. While you’re going to inevitably disturb these, just witnessing them from afar is incredibly impressive as well.
It’s not just the small monsters though, as each different big monster you hunt has their own personality and way about them that is completely unique from each other. While they also roam and go about their routines, they also interact with each other, sometimes in full-on battles.
That’s right, bosses can fight other bosses completely independent of what you do, and it’s something I’ve really never seen in another game. Their AI is what’s powering it, it’s impossible to predict, and you’re pretty much just along for the ride.
The feeling that you’re invading somewhere you truly don’t belong is palpable here, and that’s because the AI fully fools you into believing that.
The Old West Realized
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2is one of the most realistic feeling games of all time, and I think a huge reason is because of the incredible AI powering the NPCs that roam the world.
Rockstar is no stranger to having games with incredible AI, and this one is no different. The citizens react to everything you do in a way that most games don’t fully manage to nail.
For example, punch a guy in the face in the middle of the street and run away, and someone who sees you will run and tell the police. If you come back after you’ve eluded the cops, that same person may recognize your face and report you yet again. That means you might need to kidnap them to silence them completely.
Well, if you do that, then someone may report them missing and send bounty hunters after you. That’s just one example of how immersive the AI in this game can feel.
There are also different AI for different enemy types. Your horse acts and reacts depending on what’s going on around you, and the NPCs of the world live actual full lives while you exist alongside them. It makes you feel guilty anytime you commit a crime against them.
1STALKER 2: Heart Of Chornobyl
Few Are Meant To Survive The Zone
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Stalker 2was a breath of fresh air for open world-style games. Not only is the game brutally difficult due to the survival features and how easy it is for your health to disappear in seconds, but also because of the AI powering the many enemies you’ll find throughout the game.
The AI of the monsters you’ll encounter is particularly frightening, because they will absolutely maul you if you go into an area unprepared. They are relentless once they’ve sensed you, and what’s even scarier is how some you may’t even see and others will stalk you like prey rather than go charging at your full speed.
It’s not just the monsters you have to worry about though, as soldiers and other enemies are always present in The Zone as well. In firefights, you are massively under prepared. Enemies will perform flanking maneuvers, call out your location to each other and, I think most powerfully, fight with a desperation that you don’t feel in most games.
There is a terrifying realism to the AI in this game that others in the genre don’t have. I feel afraid when I’m exploring The Zone. I don’t know how to exploit the AI here, but rather, they know how to exploit me. That feeling alone means the AI is running on something different.
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