10 Small Details Video Games Still Can’t Get Right

8. Enemies Having Goldfish Memories

metal gear solid v gif
Konami

The cat-and-mouse nature of the stealth genre means that being seen and regrouping is part of the moment-to-moment experience (because if you hit a game over simply for being seen it would hardly be any fun), and that means these titles let you reset and try again without being kicked back to a checkpoint.

What we currently have is better than the alternative, but guards quickly going from being on the alert to returning to their regular patrol like nothing ever happened after a fight is always jarring. An enemy might catch you bang to rights, but then give up after 30 seconds of pursuit only to say "I guess it was my imagination" and return to their post (to get stabbed in the neck ten seconds later).

It's always those comments that are the most immersion breaking though. An enemy might spout that your presence "must have been the wind" despite seeing a half-naked dude with an eyepatch wielding an LMG inches from their face.

While we're here we might as well throw in enemy patrols not seeing anything unless it's right under their nose as well, or not being bothered about the corpse of their friend lying in the corner of the room. It's maybe a necessity to avoid frustration, but there must be a more elegant way of masking how dumb the A.I. is.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.