A.I.: Swarms of morons, or one big smart M.Fer?

Halo is a franchise that has always been revered for one thing, if nothing else, and that is intelligent enemies. From all I've read and heard Halo 3 is a shining example of this, a game that features intelligent enemies that will use strategy to take you out. Another game that made its reputation almost entirely off of the A.I., despite somewhat lackluster environments, was F.E.A.R. When I played through the game, I noticed on many occasions how much smarter the enemies were than normal enemies. Constant attempts to pin me down and flank me, lots of intelligence that made the game engaging. So that is one way of designing a game, one that takes a lot of time and energy but can have a great payoff.

Another school of thought is, if we can't outsmart 'em, we'll overwhelm them with numbers. The most recent example of this, or at least highly reported on example, is Heavenly Sword. The reviews for Heavenly sword almost all mentioned two things, the brevity of the game and the fact that rather than fighting intelligent baddies, you fight swarms of idiots. I'll call this the Dynasty Warriors school of A.I. There is something to be said for being the player who holds back a tide of enemies single handedly, something grand. There are other games which use this tactic to varying degrees. So which is better? And why would anyone choose to go one way or the other?

Well as to the first question, I'm not sure there is a simple answer. Obviously better A.I. is a plus, a huge plus even. Something important enough it lead the infamous "two Gamecubes duct-taped together" comment. I lament the lack of good A.I. in a game that needs to have it as much as the next gamer. F.E.A.R. was one of those Ah-ha moments, when I saw just how important good A.I. is to the gameplay of a shooter. The difference between enemies that stand around and wait to die and those actively trying to outsmart you is pretty intense. It also adds a significant element of replayability to a game. You can approach fights in multiple ways, because the enemies always do something different. This idea is one that will become more and more prevelant as "next-gen" systems can power better and better A.I. I for one look forward to it.

However, I've also had some amazing times in the one against a crowd scenarios. In fact one of my absolute favorite moments from Guild Wars involves a structure being invaded by a crowd of enemies. As a single player it was hard as hell to hold them all back and was frantic for the entire fight. By the end though, I felt powerful and had discovered that swarms of enemies have their own appeal. So while I'm not saying Heavenly Sword made a wrong decision or a right one, I haven't played it at all, there is a certain appeal to that whole idea. But is it something that can sustain you through a whole game, even a seven hour one? I don't know, it sounds dicey to me and honestly the appeal of good A.I. is such that I'd almost always prefer that to any other set up. The one area that I reserve the right to change that opinion in is the world of the MMORPG. I do think that there is a perfect time and place in the MMO for swarms of enemies as opposed to super powerful single enemies. I know it makes me feel powerful to destroy swarms of creatures.

As to why use one or the other.... well I think I'm going to cap this post off and see if I can get a little help from my friends to get some opinions on that very issue. Until next time.