We’re not sure we understand why Microsoft has made this atrocious AI-powered version of Quake 2 available to the public.
Look, we’re not ones to stand in the way of progress but this version of id Software’s late 90s classic is unplayable. It’s flabbergasting that a demo this bad would be showcased to the world in such a state.
“This bite-sized demo pulls you into an interactive space inspired by Quake 2, where AI crafts immersive visuals and responsive action on the fly,” the official blurb from the Redmond firm reads.
“It’s a ground-breaking glimpse at a brand-new way of interacting with games, turning cutting-edge research into a quick and compelling playable demo.”
So, how does this all work? Well, it’s using machine learning to translate player inputs into the images you see on screen, vaguely resulting in a poor impersonation of one of the snappiest shooters ever made.
Effectively, the demo has been trained on thousands and thousands of hours of Quake 2 gameplay footage, and it tries to reproduce that. Within less than a minute of play, we encountered inconsistencies like enemies appearing and disappearing, and the level layout changing whenever we looked up and down.
That’s without even mentioning the fact that the “game” is running at less than 5fps in a resolution that would make even the PSP blush.
