Is Gamespot right about the AI?

[rrm]

please tell me they're wrong and the AI is very good. (I haven't played the game yet)

 

[rrm]

come on guys

 

[Peabody McFee]

They are wrong, it's much better than HL:

Spoiler

At one point I was hold up in a small room shooting bad guys. I got through about 5 then out of nowhere a combine picks up a barrel and charges in to the room. He used the damn barrel as a shield and knocked over my three turrets!!!

Amazing

 

[rrm]

wow man, truly impressive if that isnt scripted

 

[kenyo]

no it isnt scripted!
there ai really is that smart

 

[bobbydigital]

They take cover in appropriate places, rush you when you're cornered, throw grenades to flush you out. Damn good AI if you ask me.

 

[rrm]

I'm a happy man again then. the gamespot review had given me nightmares

 

[Thadius Dean]

what got me worried was in the apartments when one of the combine was blocking the apartment where they attack that guy, i threw a thing at him and he did nothing.

also at the very beginning, i stepped too close to a combine, and he chased me with his thing. after about 8 seconds he just walked back to where he was standing. that is what gave me the idea it had somewhat bad AI...

 

[Animal]

What do you expect him to do? Chase you around the whole train station, they have a job to do.

Also, that guy in the apartments was guarding the entrance, he's not gonna come after you and let you in now is he? Think!

 

[Gavon]

Im half way done in hl2...Thus far the a.i. is better than anything out at the moment even farcrys a.i. . Only hl=1 a.i. grunts can still be compared.

 

[Ahnteis]

Far Cry had guys running in place when they couldn't figure out where to go.

Haven't seen that in HL2.

 

[Irish_PSU]

I stopped going to Gamespot a year ago due to another review that bashed a game but was unfounded. I find that Gamespot's PC reveiws are half-assed at best. I have been with IGN ever since and not dissapointed.

P.S. PC Gamer is the best way to go though.

 

[PvtRyan]

what got me worried was in the apartments when one of the combine was blocking the apartment where they attack that guy, i threw a thing at him and he did nothing.

also at the very beginning, i stepped too close to a combine, and he chased me with his thing. after about 8 seconds he just walked back to where he was standing. that is what gave me the idea it had somewhat bad AI...

Well that last part actually impressed me, because he had excellent pathfinding. I ran away for him in those waiting lines between those fences, and he found his way through them perfectly!

But I've only met metrocops, who are wimps. The chopper did have good AI btw, it really made my life miserable.

But there's some cool scripting too, doesn't always have to be AI:

Spoiler

In Ravenholm, you just got the shotgun, and you see some of those fast zombies on the rooftops. I didn't wanna fight them (they scare the hell out of me, Doom 3 imps eat your heart out) so I went inside and closed the door. I thought I was safe, and suddenly two of them jump through the glass skyroof :E

 

[punjabpolice]

i liked the ai so far.

Spoiler

that sky light thing happend to me also but instead i blocked the door with boxes, after the zombie broke thru i launched a gas tank at it and it continued to chase me while it was on fire!

 

[kaf11]

this is killing me to not highlight... it really is. i wont get to play until thursday.

 

[SubKamran]

What do you expect him to do? Chase you around the whole train station, they have a job to do.

Also, that guy in the apartments was guarding the entrance, he's not gonna come after you and let you in now is he? Think!

What is this "think" you speak of? :thumbs:

 

[nbk]

True. Spoilers should be illegal!

 

[Apos]

The AI is great: battles with the combine are easily some of the best in any FPS ever. They are smart, fast, they strafe, retreat, advance, and just generally kick ass. Alone they aren't a big deal, because if you can shoot first, you can generally disable them by knocking them around with gunfire (yes, virginia, they react to being shot!). But in groups flanking you they can really wear you down and surprise you.

 

[Warbie]

The AI is nothing special, but it does the job fine.

Combine seem to run at you like headless chickens, and also tend to stand still while being shot.

HL2 is a great game - but it isn't going to be remembered for it's AI

 

[rrm]

well but other people say the combine are slow and easy to take down, I guess I'll just form my own opinion when I finally play (sniff), but as long as they are better than the hl1 marines I'll be satisfied

 

[Warbie]

well but other people say the combine are slow and easy to take down, I guess I'll just form my own opinion when I finally play (sniff), but as long as they are better than the hl1 marines I'll be satisfied

Don't expect much more than the HL marines.

 

[NeonSpyder]

wait a second here.... we seem to be getting conflicting opinions all across the board.

some people say that that A.I. is phenominal and unmatched, others say it's dull and predictable, i'm starting to think that both sides are right, perhaps the people who are experiencing poorer AI scenes are also people with lower-end CPUs? perhaps... perhaps... what do you guys think? how possible is it that a person running HL2 on a 1.4ghz fights dumb enemies while someone on a 3.0 ghz gets to fight extremely cunning foes?

hmmm, something to ponder.

 

[Foxtrot]

There are some flaws with the AI, but they have much much more depth than the grunts from Half-life.

 

[Warbie]

wait a second here.... we seem to be getting conflicting opinions all across the board.

some people say that that A.I. is phenominal and unmatched, others say it's dull and predictable, i'm starting to think that both sides are right, perhaps the people who are experiencing poorer AI scenes are also people with lower-end CPUs? perhaps... perhaps... what do you guys think? how possible is it that a person running HL2 on a 1.4ghz fights dumb enemies while someone on a 3.0 ghz gets to fight extremely cunning foes?

hmmm, something to ponder.

I think it's because some ppl have diffculty distinguishing between a good game, and good AI.

I'm loving HL2, but aren't at all impressed with the AI. Neither am I dissapointed with it. It does the job (HL never was about strategic/challenging combat)

 

[Amazian]

I wonder if people are setting the difficulty to normal? Because the default game difficulty is easy.

Playing on normal, the AI uses real life tactics and are great shots (none of this standing in the middle of 10 guys and none of the hitting you). I won't give any specific instance that'll spoil it for anyone, but they'll use cover, sneak up and buttstock you if given the chance. There where times where I said to myself, "That sneaky little punk!" they'd actually try to distract me while others circled behind.

The AI is top-notch, I'd hate to see it on hard mode.

 

[axeil]

Here's my AI impression so far, I put the whole thing in spoilers so as to not ruin some parts of the game for anyone.

Spoiler

The "Fast" Zombies of Ravenholm scared the pants off me. They always knew where I was and would just keep on coming. The headcrabs also seem to be a lot smarter and hit me a lot more. As for the combine...absolutely astounding. At the end of Highway 17 I kept on geting owned by the AI. Took me about 20 minutes to get past that part. As for the difficulty of the Airship things...try taking on 2 at once...but I won't tell you where that happens.

 

[Letters]

All I see are people talking about Combine A.I.... yes, they're fine... no reason to complain... but what about everything else? I think they're great... I won't mention anything in particular for spoilers, but some things are just awesome... it's amazing how they move/get around/attack.

Warbie, I'm getting the feeling you haven't played it very much if you don't find it impressive...

 

[Ozzie]

I play on hard mode and sometimes enemies do behave stupid, they rush in a wrong moments or stop shooting, but in overall AI is very good.

 

[Eternity]

The combine are mediocre. Once you get to the other levels, you see what Valve is made of in that department...although I miss some of the quirks of Hl1 AI, which is totally different and scripted, (such as patrolling a room, running clutched over when hit, etc.) this A.I. exceeded my expectations, and I was a doubter.

 

[Warbie]

All I see are people talking about Combine A.I.... yes, they're fine... no reason to complain... but what about everything else? I think they're great... I won't mention anything in particular for spoilers, but some things are just awesome... it's amazing how they move/get around/attack.

Warbie, I'm getting the feeling you haven't played it very much if you don't find it impressive...

It's far to early for anyone to really comment on the AI. I could be wrong .... time will tell (am on level 9 out of 14, on hard setting btw)

However, the fighting hasn't impressed me nearly as much as certain other games (which shall remain nameless to stop pointless arguments/flaming) - there's little thought or strategy required.

 

[qckbeam]

I don't see how the AI could be thought of as anything other than incredible. As an example...

Spoiler

I was in Ravenholm on the balcony of a building. I’d fought my way up from the street level, taking a staircase to the second floor and finally a ladder to an attic space. As soon as I stepped outside I heard one of those turbo-charged zombies coming for me. So I run back inside getting my ass off the balcony as quickly as possible, shut the door, and block it with a load of junk. I hear the zombie come tearing by, make some banging noises, and then finally take off again. I thought to myself “alright then, he’s probably waiting out there for me somewhere”. Just then I hear a crash downstairs followed by that frantic sound they make when they are running. I look down to see the zombie had jumped from the balcony to the street after seeing I’d blocked the door, come in through the front, made it up the stairs, and was now getting ready to jump up the ladder into the attic with me. Needless to say I promptly blew its head off. That totally caught me off guard. Not only have I never seen such agile enemies (these things can follow you anywhere), I’ve never played against such smart ones.

Stuff like that isn't rare, it's common. Sometimes I think I've outsmarted the enemy, and then they scare the hell out of me with some really intelligent maneuvers. HL2 is far above average on all levels, including AI. There is nothing, NOTHING, to complain or worry about here.

Edit: And Warbie, I don't know how you could say the fighting requires no strategy. How far have you gotten? The later levels require careful action, no rush and gun crap.

 

[Asuka]

Reviews = wrong. Ai hasnt come in my way at all. Very very smart.

 

[ThrasherX9]

Warbie... don't be so biased, we can see right through you

The AI in HL2 is incredible. The pathfinding is excellent. The combine flank you, they break up, they circle around you, they find cover when needed, they run away if out gunned, they flush you out with grenades. Greanted they aren't perfect, but they impress me far far more than some other newly high anticipated released shooter for the Xbox But seriously they do. Not just the combine either, but each creature has its own set of AI that suits it perfectly. I'm up to "Entainglments" (not sure how far that is in the game) but a few battles where I fought along side some buddies have proved to be equally as smart. So far they haven't run into my fire or anything like that yet and they take cover and provide great cover fire.

Bascially: HL2 has best AI in a FPS ever.

 

[rrm]

I'm going to agree with warbie on this one...

anyway if the AI does the job I'll be happy, I'm ok as long as I don't feel like I'm fighting robots

 

[Warbie]

Warbie... don't be so biased, we can see right through you

eh?

I'm not pretending, or disagreeing for attention. What are you suggesting?

I also said that i'm only up to level 9 out of 14 and that it is too early (for anyone) to really comment on how good the AI is right now.

Maybe the AI does pick up towards the end, but so far it's been a case of - see a bad guy, run towards bad guy, and shoot him. If they lived for longer than a few seconds then I might get to see them do some of the fancy things you describe.

One thing that isn't debatable - HL2 is easy and, when compared to a 'newly high anticipated released shooter for the Xbox', requires little tactics/strategy/planning etc (i think that's what you wanted me to say )

(don't make it sound like i'm not loving the game either - because I am ..... just not for the AI. There's so many areas that HL2 obviously excels - why even bother debate over this?)

 

[chili pepper]

Err, are we playing the same game?


The Combine never do anything but stand there like sitting ducks waiting for you to shoot them. On occasion they will strafe like about one or two steps but thats it. They rarely, if ever try to take cover, they don't flank, they don't do sh*t. The Combine show no signs of intellignece whatsover. Anyone that says otherwise are either smoking something or working for Valve.

That has been my experience playing the final HL2 on Medium difficulty on a high-end machine. I have yet to try it on the hardest setting, but I've heard the only difference on Hardest is the AI have more hitpoints before you can kill them.

In short, the AI is pretty pathetic.

 

[guise]

ive been playing on normal.. at the start of the game its pretty much easy. the combine are wuss babys. they progressively get tougher. the soldiers are naturally tougher then the metro cops. one cool thing i saw was when a metro cop

Spoiler

take a manhack off his belt or something and throw it up into the air and it promptly came whizzing towards my face. the poor combine had been shot dead by then though, but the manhacks are serious bitches!

 

[Ownzed]

Gamestop sucks ass. The are wrong. I think they are smart.

 

[kaf11]

Spoiler

I was in Ravenholm on the balcony of a building. I’d fought my way up from the street level, taking a staircase to the second floor and finally a ladder to an attic space. As soon as I stepped outside I heard one of those turbo-charged zombies coming for me. So I run back inside getting my ass off the balcony as quickly as possible, shut the door, and block it with a load of junk. I hear the zombie come tearing by, make some banging noises, and then finally take off again. I thought to myself “alright then, he’s probably waiting out there for me somewhere”. Just then I hear a crash downstairs followed by that frantic sound they make when they are running. I look down to see the zombie had jumped from the balcony to the street after seeing I’d blocked the door, come in through the front, made it up the stairs, and was now getting ready to jump up the ladder into the attic with me. Needless to say I promptly blew its head off. That totally caught me off guard. Not only have I never seen such agile enemies (these things can follow you anywhere), I’ve never played against such smart ones.

thats quite impressive. i cant wait to play on thursday. my brother whos playing now has described other instances like this and i can tell by his descriptions and those like this that the a.i. is quite superior to any other game ive ever played.

 

[dovoxove]

what got me worried was in the apartments when one of the combine was blocking the apartment where they attack that guy, i threw a thing at him and he did nothing.

also at the very beginning, i stepped too close to a combine, and he chased me with his thing. after about 8 seconds he just walked back to where he was standing. that is what gave me the idea it had somewhat bad AI...

LOL you crack me up

The Ai thus far is really good. I'm not suppose to expect anything from the antlions.. am i?