What was the worst that your AI companions failed you?

[ZedClampet]

Sometimes you love your AI companions. Some times you want to murder them.

Back when Atlas first came out, I had problems taking down a high level NPC galleon, and I decided the only way I was going to defeat it was to craft torpedo launchers and torpedoes, which are end game items and probably the most expensive and difficult thing in the game to craft. You have to travel to the Golden Islands, which are extremely dangerous, and farm mini-bosses, who can all easily kill you, and you have to farm these guys for days because they hardly drop the resource that you need. But I was determined to take down this galleon, so I farmed and farmed and farmed until I had enough resources to make a decent amount of torpedoes. I really had no idea how many I would need as there's no information, even on the wiki, on how much damage they do. I wasn't even sure it would work.

Finally, though, I thought I had enough and went off towards the galleon. The battle was fairly quick. The torpedoes made all the difference, and I still had a good number of them left over. After sinking the galleon, I went ashore to destroy the pirate camp. If I didn't do that, the galleon would respawn. The camp was a good distance from shore, so it took me awhile to get there. Right as I'm arriving, I hear explosions in the distance. I think my ship is under attack so I start running in a panic. The whole time I'm running, I'm hearing explosion after explosion. I finally arrive at my ship to discover that my AI crew was firing torpedoes at a sea turtle that swam too close to the ship. They weren't even hitting it. They were just firing one extremely expensive torpedo after another at this stupid turtle, who was swimming by like nothing was happening. By the time I got back on the ship and ordered everyone to stop firing, I only had a couple of torpedoes left. I was torn as to whether I should be furious or laughing my arse off.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I don't think there has ever been an instance of me liking an AI companion. The worst was my Housecarl in Skyrim. When I first started playing and I got the one in Whiterun, I didn't know any better, and I just thought you had to let her follow you around. So many times I was trying to sneak around enemies much more powerful than I was (early in the game), and the Housecarl would just run out there and start attacking, ruining any chance of sneaking by. Haha. It didn't take long for me to ditch her and go solo again.

 

[Colif]

sacred 2 escort quests...

damn fools would attack anything that was in sight of them and were useless, i can't remember any of them having weapons. So escort quests, you clear as much as possible in area before you take quest or you going to fail it.

I can't think of any other games I play with companions.

 

[Zloth]

The old BioWare games (especially Neverwinter games, if I remember right) were pretty bad about companions spying a group of enemies and attacking them, even while you've got your hands full with enemies right in front of you. I learned to turn their AI off.

X4 (and other X games) can get annoying with ally AI. They aren't really causing issues, like shooting you in the back or anything, it's just that they aren't as clever as you would expect. For instance, large capital ships going after a base will fly in close and pelt it with their turrets instead of using their high-damage, long-range weapons. (Though that might have just gotten fixed in a recent patch.) Even highly trained captains of trade vessels are much slower than you can be when piloting it yourself.

 

[Brian Boru]

I was torn as to whether I should be furious or laughing my arse off

Oh the latter… definitely the latter.
[Pls excuse shaky typing, still on floor]

I don't think there has ever been an instance of me liking an AI companion

I generally have good experiences, mostly from Far Cry games—just try criticizing Boomer sometime and you'll be shredded by a horde of pirates and frat boys.

Worst is probably in Civ games where you expensively bribe a nearby leader to join your war, and then they barely send a warrior before signing an early peace deal—or the worst, accepting the enemy as a vassal just before you're about to wipe 'em out. With friends like those…

I've had a few of those annoying situations where a NPC occupies a doorway and just won't shift—best go make coffee and return, grr.

 

[ZedClampet]

I've had a few of those annoying situations where a NPC occupies a doorway and just won't shift—best go make coffee and return, grr.

Far Cry is great for people standing in doorways. My memory on specifics is always hazy, but there was a base in the second area of 5 where there were a lot of interior rooms. Trying to get out of that place was often a nightmare. I sometimes toss a grenade to get everyone to scatter.

 

[Pifanjr]

Allies in Warhammer 2 are notorious for primarily being a burden. They'll take settlements you wanted a turn before you can take them, they drag you into wars you don't really want to be in and if you got multiple they might attack each other and you'll take a reputation hit no matter who you support. And since it's pretty hard to get an alliance with stronger factions, they don't really offer much help in wars either.

 

[Sarafan]

I can't murder Marcus from Fallout 2, because he murders me first with his Minigun. Marcus and his burst fire weapons have came to my mind first, but it's really, really hard to find a game with good companion AI. Does someone remember the awful AI of companions in Daikatana? It was probably the main element that ruined the game. There's even a mod which disables them completely.

When playing RPGs I prefer titles which offer me full control over my party. Neverwinter Nights is an exception, but not due to the fact that it offers good companion AI, but due to the fact that it's a really good game. The companions in NWN are bad, as mentioned above by Zloth. They're sometimes irritating so badly, that playing solo is not a bad option...

 

[Johnway]

A few spring to mind, but the one thats near the top was Resident evil 5. Whilst they weren't completely useless (they can sort of hold their own for a while) they were a massive source of irritation. I got hacked off near the start when they would lag behind get surrounded or get into all sorts of trouble and they die. Sometimes in the COOP sections where you have to fling someone to another location and if they get knocked down, you couldn't rescue them and it was an instant restart. Other times they would waste all their ammo fruitlessly to the point that i would restart the boss fight, stash all the ammo so they couldn't shoot and then restart the conflict.

But the biggest insult was when they died, it says YOU DIED. As if you were responsible for their lives oh yeah? if it was up to me i wouldn't have them at all. Also fix your crap inventory system and antiquated game mechanics you pricks.


Recent honorable mention goes to Dead Rising 4. Survivor Ai isn't that good to begin with in the DR series but DR4 manages to succeed this by making them so stupid that they get caught on the scenery and run on the spot. It results in me having the restart the mission and pray that they don't do it again.

 

[Brian Boru]

Far Cry

How could I forget? It's so bad it's become a ritual with each new Far Cry, just to confirm it till holds true.

Companion Hurk and his rocket launcher, guaranteed to kill you with either end of his weapon! Going strong since FC3, long may he continue

After our tearful reunions, I usually target him on an enemy boat and admire his chase down the river bank. 10 minutes later, a faint distant cry: "Help me bro, I'm bleedin' out here!"