Video games have evolved quite a bit over the years. Graphical updates, movement mechanics, and quality-of-life features oftentimes exceed our expectations. One category that has seen vast improvements since the start of gaming history is artificial intelligence. Looking at how AI is now presented in games, it is easy to see which titles were far ahead of their time.
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There are a few video games where the AI is just plain brutal. They outsmart you in terms of strategy, combat, and even awareness. It’s quite the feat to overcome the computer when it is controlled by the most unforgiving artificial intelligence. Besting these games' AI isn’t impossible, but it has made player after player simply give up and move on.
8Unreal Tournament
Many multiplayer games offer bot lobbies for you to hone your skills. Instead ofmatchmaking against other real players, you can start a game where it’s either you and other bots or you and other players against a team of bots. Unreal Tournament was one of the first games where this didn’t make much of a difference.
If you wanted to get in some practice, you’d have to load into a bot lobby to take on the ruthless AI Unreal Tournament implemented. Even on the normal difficulty settings, the bots would trick you, outmaneuver you, and lay into you with pinpoint accuracy. This made taking on hard-mode bots more of a challenge than queuing up.
7Dark Souls
The originalDark Soulsset the stage for a long series of unforgiving games. They are almost entirely based around how difficult they are to complete. The AI here isn’t going to outsmart you like other games' AI, but it will punish you with brute force.
The world of Dark Souls is already bleak enough without nearly unstoppable enemies blocking your progression. The AI isn’t the only unforgiving aspect, either. It is paired with frustrating features such as losing your money and items upon death andno way to choose a lesser difficulty setting.
6Alien Isolation
The AI ofAlien Isolationis there to tease you and leave you as terrified as possible. The game just seems to know when you are on edge. Make any sort of noise, and the Xenomorph appears to destroy your hopes of moving forward. Maybe they simply want to give you a good scare.
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you’re able to hide in lockers and catch a breather, but this just adds to the unforgiving nature of the AI. The Xenomorph will pace the halls in your line of sight. It will make its presence known at every turn. Just when you think it has backed off, it catches you off guard to freak you out just a bit more.
5Fear
You will find that a lot of unforgiving AI comes from horror games.Fearis an incredible first-person shooter that keeps your heart pounding from start to finish. This is thanks to its Goal-Oriented Action Planning artificial intelligence.
The GOAP system gave Fear’s AI human-like abilities. The enemies would act as you would. They take cover, provide suppressing fire for their allies, and move into positions to prevent your escape. Gun fights in Fear are some of the most memorable, and difficult, in all of gaming due to GOAP.
4Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
The entireMetal Gear Solidseries is beloved because of its cast of characters and gameplay. In particular, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain delivers AI to its non-playable characters that make you rethink your game plan at the start of every new mission.
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The AI reacts to how you deal with them in-game. They’ll start out as useless soldiers that you can pick off with no consequence. Eventually, how you take them out determines how they defend themselves. The enemies will put on helmets if you keep shooting them in the head. They will stand with their backs against a wall if you constantly sneak up behind them. It’s a tough system to overcome.
3Left 4 Dead
The zombie apocalypse setting ofLeft 4 Deadtested players in the genre like no other. The AI here is out to get you. That’s the simplest way to put it. There’s no rhyme or reason for what happens, but just know that it won’t often be to your benefit.
As you and your squad move through the levels, Left 4 Dead’s AI will send wave after wave of the zombie horde in your direction. Then suddenly, it will be quiet, and you’ll have time to heal up and regroup. Suddenly a massive boss fight happens as soon as the last player reaches full health. You have to be on your toes constantly.
2Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombatset the standard for fighting games. It also set the standard for unforgiving AI. The AI was created to cause trouble during player vs. computer skirmishes. A lot of players that took to the arcades called the AI nothing less than a cheater.
Reaction time, ability to counter, and overall movement were not something a human hand could recreate. If you wanted any chance at a victory, you’d need to be on the lowest difficulty setting. Anything higher and, no matter what fighter you choose to play and to take on, you’d be on the receiving end of a Fatality.
1XCOM 2
TheXCOMseries is a fan-favorite set of strategy games. Every single one has had difficult AI, but XCOM 2 tops the list. You control an anti-alien task force and must outthink the opposition to complete the campaign. That’s a lot easier said than done.
XCOM 2 has a permanent death feature, and the AI is well aware. If a soldier dies in battle, they are gone for good. You could very well have no resources to replace that soldier and find yourself outnumbered in the next mission. The alien opposition will do everything it can to dwindle your army down to nothing. And when they do, they still won’t hold back.
