Top Video Games With The Worst AI
“Fallout 76” (2018)
Bethesda has an infamous reputation for buggy AI. (Who could forget the notorious head-spinning in “Fallout: New Vegas”?) However, even when taking past games into account, “Fallout 76” stands out as having the worst AI of any Bethesda title! With the game constantly bugging out, it isn’t uncommon to find characters stuck in T-poses or the bodies of your victims constantly spawning at your location after fast traveling. Even when ignoring technical issues, most enemies are too stupid to know when they’re overpowered, often standing out in the open while shooting you with a weak pipe pistol. At some point, it just gets pathetic.
“Resident Evil 5” (2009)
Look, we understand that coding up AI for companion characters isn’t easy. You’re basically creating a character with an extensive script that’s built on a large number of scenarios. Unfortunately, for “Resident Evil 5”, that script was too much for the game to handle. In the midst of combat, companions will often stand in your line of fire, resulting in their death or forcing you to adjust your positioning. The only way to make some progress is to try and leave your companion behind and take out enemies before they catch up. This method is pretty contradictory to the purpose of a companion character, but there’s really no other way to tolerate it.
“The Uncanny X-Men” (1989)
No, we didn’t accidentally grab footage from the wrong game. This is, indeed, an “X-Men” game, and it stands as one of the worst superhero creations ever made. Not only was it panned for its poor depiction of our favorite mutants, it failed in trying to be a competent top-down shooter. Every enemy in the game, including bosses, can be skipped by simply walking past them. They won’t even try to chase you down! Because of this, you can speedrun the entire game in a matter of minutes. Hey, low effort AI means low effort playing!
“The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct” (2013)
Most zombie games don’t have the most impressive of AI's. To make up for this, most developers try to include a wide variety of enemies that keep the game refreshing and challenging. Most. In the case of “The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct”, every enemy has the exact same attack pattern: walking around and attacking the player when close by, or simply charging until death. Such minimalistic tactics make these particular zombies an absolute joke, and fighting them quickly becomes stale. Looking back on this makes us pretty happy that “Walking Dead” found a brighter future in gaming thanks to Telltale Games...well, more or less.
“Daikatana” (2000)
You know, if you’re going to advertise your game like its the next big thing, you better make sure it works. “Doom” co-creator John Romero was at fault for this when “Daikatana” was being marketed with an ad that read “John Romero is going to make you his b***h.” Should have looked before you leapt, pal. What made this game such a disaster was that the sidekick AI was supposed to be the game’s spotlight feature, but ended up making the whole thing a nightmare to play. In short - sidekicks did everything they could to get themselves killed. Not only was “Daikatana” labeled as one of the worst games ever made, but many people speculate it's what ended up killing John Romero’s career.
“Ride to Hell: Retribution” (2013)
There is so much wrong with this game we honestly don't know where to start. In addition to poor graphics and glitches galore, “Ride to Hell’s” artificial intelligence was so stupid that it should have been called “artificial incompetence”! None of the enemies know how to defend themselves and will charge at you, unarmed, as you continue to shoot them in the head. They seemed to have no interest in taking cover or defending themselves; choosing instead to go down in a blaze of...well, not glory. At least the enemies in “Fallout 76” have a high enough IQ to shoot back!
“Homefront: The Revolution” (2016)
The first “Homefront” game wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but enough people enjoyed it to warrant a sequel. Although, whatever significance “Homefront” garnered from fans was quickly decimated with the release of "The Revolution” and its now infamous AI. As you explore a Philadelphia ruled by North Korea, you’ll frequently encounter NPCs running into walls and objects, phasing through each other, or suffering severe animation bugs. To make things worse, companions are utterly useless as they’ll charge headfirst into battle...only to run away a few seconds later. Oh, and enemies are a few fries short of a Happy Meal, to put it generously.
“Aliens: Colonial Marines” (2013)
For many years, this disgraceful outing into the once-beloved sci-fi franchise was the top dog in awful artificial intelligence. Enemies couldn’t aim to save their life, and Xenomorphs became the laughingstock of the gaming community. Today, that reputation remains, especially after a revelation was made in July 2018. In a ResetEra thread, modder “jamesdickinson963” discovered that a single typo was to blame for the abysmal AI, and correcting it showed significant improvements to the Xenomorphs' behavior. Granted, the alteration doesn’t make combat any more engaging, but it took roughly FIVE YEARS for this typo to be found! Had this mistake been spotted before the game launched, reviews may have been less scathing and “Colonial Marines” may not have been branded as such a failure.
