As larger studios start to use generative AI more and more frequently, it begs the question: are any of these uses actually fun?
Although generative AI has been commercially available for several years at this point, it is only now that we’re frequently seeing them appear in major titles. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 received backlash thanks to its AI assets, mainly in its 680 campaign calling cards. Another game, Galactic Civilizations IV ,allows players to generate portraits of alien species for their custom empires. This approach is more of an opt-in, allowing players to avoid necessarily running into AI-generated images in game if they don’t want to see it. Despite this, the player reception to this feature remains icy. The most highly rated (negative) review on Galactic Civilizations IV says: “The other thing is the heavy use of AI. The portraits just look weird, the text is clunky and clearly generative LLM slop, and it just feels off. Like how AI feels.”
So far, it seems like major studios want to use generative AI to replace art assets in an otherwise traditional game. This seems like the least interesting or ethical use case to me. I think text-based large language models has far more potential in video games than image generation does. Ever since 2020, niche text-based adventure games such as AI Dungeon or Novel AI have been fun, if gimmicky games that made use of AI. But even though these outcompete their non-AI predecessors in player choice, they run into the memory and writing quality issues that all large language models suffer from. Even so, I think they’re more on the right track. LLMs might not qualify as competent game masters, but they can make for passable NPCs. In the game Suck Up, you play as a vampire trying to convince AI NPCs to let you in their house so you can drink their blood. From videos on YouTube, the game looks quite fun. But even this title, as most AI-driven games do, has a mixed rating on Steam.
It’s clear that there’s something lacking with generative AI still. Depending on who you ask, it’s a few more years of fine tuning, or the work of a passionate human hand. If you ask me, developers that use generative AI are over-reliant on it and use it as a crutch rather than to support a cool design decision. We’ll see if that changes.
What about you? Have you enjoyed a game that uses generative AI? Let us know on the Boss Rush Discord.
Featured Image Credit: Activision
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