^Uhmm, sorry but i disagree there. MGS2\'s enemy AI works is based on one solid protocol ; squad based tactics with \'traces\' as
their primary search and destroy perimeter.
SC\'s AI is indeed very different, but by no means \'less\'. Lemme try to sum up some key differences ;
* Visual and Audio cue by player actions : MGS2 AI is rather insensitive to that opposed to SC AI\'s noticable reactions to you, the player. MGS2 AI is in this respect only triggered by clearly assigned game SIGNS like \'walking over a metal floor\', the deliberate \'knock on the wall\' or visually speaking, the \'wet footprints\'. SC comes off as more natural here, becuz every action Sam does could trigger suspicion. The whole nature of Splinter Cell IS to sneak up to the guards and take them out. Their AI is perfectly suited in that respect becuz they react pretty unpredictable and with variety. We DO have to note here we\'re talking about the Xbox and PC versions though, becuz the PS2 and NGC SC AI were really dumbed down.
* 3D vs 2D aware AI : Snake\'s moves are actually still rooted on a flat 2D plane. Yes, he is walking in a 3D made world but the AI \'sees\' him as walking on one single floor. Dropping down a ledge let\'s you see the visual representative animation of dropping down in 3D. But to the code, the AI, he just switches floors. In essence, MGS2 is still the classic 2d topdown game ; HENCE all AI, like collision detection and also enemy guard AI is bound to that horizontal 2D plane.
In Splinter Cell I once alerted this Chinese guard but I got away up a ladder before he could actually see me. I thought I was safe, but a few seconds later I noticed being shot at ; he had suspected I went up that ladder and he climbed up too. There\'s the difference ; The whole SC engine has physics and AI suited to 3D movement and thus 3D aware enemy AI. (MGS2 only has a few deliberately placed exceptions like the guard with binoculars looking over connecting bridge E - F, on top of the Heli port. But by default enemy guard AI is bound by a 2D plane)
* Variety of AI ; like I said, MGS2\'s enemy AI is actually one huge single homogenous being. Respawning search and destroy squads who hunt down player tracks (game assigned SIGNS) ; all this based in one single setting ; the Tanker or the Plant.
SC\'s AI is varied by setting and by composition. For example ; the T\'bilisi police guards do not operate the same as the Chinese military. They are also not infinitely respawning. They react as individuals becuz Sam mostly takes them out by approaching each of them one at a time. Snake\'s tranq. M9 distances him from the enemy AI. This way the player can stay outside of the guards\' limited range of sight.
Then there\'s the 2nd level of AI in SC ; the civilians and the maintenance technicians. These npc\'s react differently than the guards and they add variety to the whole expierence. Sometimes they chicken out or they stay static in a state of shock or they go straight for alerting alarm.
So, I\'m not saying that SC AI is perfect or that it never goes \'foggy\' but it\'s not less good than MGS2\'s , just different.
The only \'downside\' SC has is that the more you know the game the less the AI stays lethal. Ubi should have really decreased the numbers of hits Sam can take with increasing difficulty level. Well, occasionally SC AI still surprises me and gets me killed. Especially those guards with full automatic weapons stay very lethal.
Anyway, with SC Pandora Tomorrow Ubi will alter enemy AI
( innocent trainpassengers and Jerusalem civilians will be even more 2nd layer AI) considerably which goes hand in hand with the new and more free level design.
