Games Inbox: Will using AI make video games worse?

The Thursday letters page gets ready to celebrate 17 years of Fallout 3, as a reader lists the best music from the Metal Gear Solid series.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Room at the top
It’s worrying to think that Satya Nadella is the head of a $4 trillion company, in charge of thousands of people’s jobs, and one of the most influential, and I assume richest, men in the world. And yet to hear him talk he sounds like a clueless highschooler faking his way through a book review for something he hasn’t read.

I don’t believe he knows or cares a thing about games, and I’m not even convinced he understand AI properly (or he wouldn’t be calling it AI, for a start). He was so vague in this latest interview that ‘new interactive media’ could just mean a new game or some sort of attempt to make their own version of TikTok. Who knows? I’m not convinced he does.

The problem is that Microsoft owns so many developers now that they’ve got them all using AI and that’s going to start seeping into our games soon. So, I hope you like your art to make no logical sense (six fingered men and impossibly angled buildings), with tons of inconsistences, and non-player characters talking nonsense because AI wrote their dialogue.

AI is guaranteed to make video games worse if it’s used for anything important and if Microsoft actually tries to make a whole game with it…. Weirdly the Take-Two boss seems to be the only one to understand what a bad idea that would be. Maybe he should be in charge of Xbox.
Golem

Truth accepted
I am genuinely shocked at how much sense the Take-Two boss is talking about AI. I have literally not heard a single exec anywhere who understands it like him and is willing to speak the truth.

I’m kind of confused as to why a company like EA, which is not connected to Microsoft, is going all in on AI but the makers of GTA 6, who surely have a lot of little boring details they could do with help on, are not. Since the Microsoft guys sounds half-crazed when he talks about AI, and the Take-Two one sounds completely sane and reasonable, I’m going to assume he’s right.

I do feel this is the calm before the storm though. Once companies start trying to make games, and ads, using AI the amount of slop is going to become unavoidable and either people are going to rebel or too many people will put up with it and we’ll get nothing but it ever again.
Korbie

Spending a penny
I see people complaining about Battlefield Redsec and I’m afraid I don’t get it. They’re upset that the skins are too unrealistic and that you have to do side quests? Really? How do they think this thing is going to be paid for? I hate to defend EA but if you’re playing a really top quality game like this for absolutely nothing, not even the online access, I think the *option* for skins that are slightly out of the ordinary, but definitely not cartoon characters, is the least you can put up with.

And the side quest stuff? So what did you want? Just an absolute plain vanilla battle royale with nothing new in it at all? I’m afraid the answer to that, for most people, is that they really don’t want anything out of the ordinary at all. They just want exactly what they’re used to and will complain if they don’t get it, even if they haven’t paid a penny to play it.
KOF

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Imperfect classic
I’ve seen some posts on the Internet today celebrating Fallout 3’s birthday. I believe the game was released slightly later on in the UK.

I still have my original PS3 copy of the game that I purchased new. Even though I probably owned the worst version of the game (it kept crashing/freezing) I thought the game was so fantastic. Fallout 3 literally ate up hours and hours while I explored the Capital Wasteland.

Well done Bethesda and everyone who worked on the game. What a classic.
Michael Veal (@msv858)

GC: Its 17^th anniversary is on Friday in the UK.

John’s addiction
I have a few questions about Ball x Pit and I’m finding the game rather unexplanatory at times.

First thing: what is the difference between normal and fast when you’re on your character select screen? Secondly, what is the advantage of completing each of the individual levels with each character? And, generally speaking, what does harvesting all the materials actually do and how does it make you better at the game? I’m sure there are other questions I have so if you have any other uncertainties you can think of do let me know!

Otherwise thank you very much for the recommendation. It is definitely one of the most addictive games I’ve played in recent times.
John

GC: Fast mode just makes the game harder, with greater rewards. It’s also tied to the shrines you can build when you beat a level for the first time. For most levels you need to complete them multiple times, with different characters, to collect all the gears need to unlock the next stage. You’ll also never get all the blueprints on your first run. The materials you harvest, or collect, are used to construct the buildings described in the blueprints, which offer some very useful perks.

Top of the pops
This Saturday, 1st November, is the Metal Gear in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. In the spirit of that I thought I would name some of the best songs that created great and memorable scenes in the game. Spoilers if you haven’t played the games but are planning to. 

Metal Gear Solid 1. ‘Enclosure’ The Death of Sniper Wolf or The Death of Meryl. This song plays out when characters are about to die and have died. Great monologues from the performers. Death of Sniper Wolf helped enhance the legend of Big Boss, this scene had great character building. The scene ends with a haunting version of The Best is to Come, as Solid Snake walks into darkness.

Metal Gear Solid 2. ‘Who Am I Really?” This plays at the end of the game, after Raiden defeats Solidus Snake in New York. Raiden is in the streets of New York and Solid Snake meets him before he seeks a mission to find the La-li-lu-le-lo. Snake provides a great speech to Raiden about finding his own identity. 

Metal Gear Solid 3. ‘Debriefing’ This is when Eva double crosses you and runs off with the Philosophers Legacy at the end of the game. She made a tape for Naked Snake to listen to, and she provides a great monologue about The Boss and her legendary mission. It illustrates how much of a legend she is in that scene, as they recap earlier moments in the game.

Metal Gear Solid 4. ‘Sorrow’ This plays out a few times in the game, but I believe it’s best used when Old Snake gets through the microwave after major button-bashing, which exhausts the player, which is how Old Snake is feeling too. It was great connecting the player with Snake. The next scene has Otacon upload GW via MKII. This creates a video where Naomi has a monologue about the destruction of the Patriots via the upload, as it creates a virus to destroy the system. She talks about how the world is free from control and Old Snake can finally create a new life for himself. The song captures the mood of struggle, relief, and emotion.

Metal Gear Solid 5. ‘Behind the Mirror’ This is mission 46. This is the big reveal. A great scene when Venom Snake learns the truth via cassette tape. Bloody face and looking to the mirror, it connects the series, from the MSX games to the modern. Venom Snake has a smirk and smashes the mirror. He walks into darkness as you hear gun shots from a young Solid Snake in the background, which is the link to Metal Gear MSX.

Honourable mentions to Portable Ops’ Death of Elisa/Ursula scene, which plays a version of ‘Calling to the Night’ and the Peace Walker scene when Big Boss and the MSF shoot down the launch of the nuke, which then plays a rendition of ‘Heavens Divide’.
Metal Gear Rex

GC: For a second there we thought Major Button Bashing was a character name.

War reporting
I’m so glad the Americans’ GameStop and Trump have announced the console wars are over.

Now Xbox games are on the PlayStation I can’t wait for Spider-Man and God of War to come to the Xbox.

It won’t happen though, as Sony aren’t that desperate.
Cassius2K

Beyond five nights
I am thoroughly enjoying going through the Five Night at Freddy’s series, as it’s a nice quick game which gets you interested but in a way that appears simple, but then very addictive. Currently on the fourth game now and it is definitely something to invest in for those without so many hours to commit.

I don’t really have anything else quite like it and it’s a pallet cleanser for something different to the norm. Ultimately, it’s fun and utilising the battery properly, and the system’s power, definitely gets deeper as the nights go on; a very tactical and strategic way of using your reactions and listening skills, with the creepy audio and visuals.

But it’s also the retro daytime hours, with the basic graphics filling in the story, to make what you’re doing make more sense. The phone guy’s now very iconic vocal tutorials set up the atmosphere amazingly well too. Not forgetting, of course, the now infamous animatronics, which have become dead famous characters in their own right. Scott Cawthon has definitely nailed this point ‘n’ click survival horror type of game and has done wonders in getting content creators and their fans involved.

As you go from one game to the next, you learn how many Easter eggs for the game’s story you missed, which makes replaying games you thought you completed a must. So, it looks to me like I have only scratched the surface for Five Nights At Freddy’s, coupled with the film which was another reason to play the game, so as to understand the hype and become immersed in something new and different to my usual style of gaming.

So I’ll definitely be rewatching the original movie and well and truly looking forward to the new Five Nights film later in the year, with a heck of a lot more understanding as to why this series is so popular.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
2 million sales for Alan Wake 2 is tragic. I’ve got serious concerns now as to whether Remedy are going to survive. I don’t think any of their games have ever been big hits and it’s getting worse. Max Payne was probably the biggest they ever got, so the remakes may be their last chance.
Franky

Just heard that Shantae 7 is being made by WayForward! I’m sure most people won’t care but I love those games, although I wish they’d go back to using pixel art for them.
Lobbie

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Have you played Battlefield Redsec yet?

MORE: Games Inbox: Why is there no big PS5 exclusive this Christmas?

MORE: Games Inbox: Has Xbox lost the console war to PlayStation?

Comments


Add as preferred source