Artificial intelligence in games: Less of a priority than last gen?

[Kenny]

To everyone who said Halo 3 and KZ2: From what I remembered of Halo 3, the AI was pretty good, yeah.  Didn't really get far enough to see it wow me, but the characters did have half a brain when it came to tactics.  Can't speak on KZ2, though, since I never played it.

NinjaKido said:

 

Hmm I get your point but even the Soviet Commander respone to the obstacle in Operation Flashpoint but wasn't that impressive , probably better thought out but it's still very simple .

I think the popularlity of online gaming has kinda killed the need to have intelligent enemies , why spend X number of hours making excellent A.I for an offlien campaign when one of the biggest selling points for most games nowdays is the online component.

Anyway what i'd like to see from enenmy A.I is that they adapt and change dependant on the situation , sometimes making smart decisions , other times making stupid ones. but this kind of A.I would only be financialy viable for a very small number of high budget, high production value franchises like the Metal Gear Series , Splinter Cell maybe.

 

Think about it, though: If the Soviet commander's response wasn't terribly impressive, then the jeep driver's response was just facepalm inducing.  On a game made with seven years later with a budget a gazillion times bigger, no less.

As for multiplayer replacing AI, I can see why it's happening, but it doesn't mean I want it to.  I mean, what about the possibilities of running intelligent bot squads in lieu of all human ones in multiplayer?