Naughty Dog Discusses The Last of Us' Dynamic AI

Naughty Dog’s upcoming The Last of Us will not succumb to the same issues that have plagued the stealth genre since its inception. Instead of forcing you to learn the patterns of enemy foes, the developer hopes to make you question the consequences of your actions. It intends to do that through dynamic AI.

The concept itself is actually fairly simple – when hunting in groups, enemies will be aware of each other and their surroundings. You might be able to silently pick off a foe, but when the gang regroups, it’s going to wonder why its headcount has decreased. “They’re going to start panicking,” game director Bruce Straley told Games Industry International.

“There are consequences,” he continued. “We’re trying to emphasize the reality of the situation that Joel and Ellie are in.”

One such element that will add to the game’s tense atmosphere is the inventory system. As opposed to pausing the action while you cycle through your items, the game will instead continue in real-time.

Straley said:

Our inventory system is living, meaning the game is still running. You’re not paused when you’re going into your inventory. So it’s just like you’ve pulled the backpack off of your back and you’re in there creating something live while the enemies are moving around the environment and coming to get you if you’ve engaged with them.

Elsewhere, responding to criticism that The Last of Us is too violent, Straley explained that the game is not unnecessarily dark:

It’s not just for the sake of blood and violence. We’re interested in seeing the best and the worst of humanity. So just because this is one faction that you’re meeting doesn’t mean that this is the world.

Naughty Dog released a new cinematic from The Last of Us at Comic-Con last week. If you haven’t seen it yet, you might want to redirect your peepers through here.