“Absolutely disgusting”: Microsoft has a classic shooter generated by an AI and fans are appalled

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Microsoft has developed Quake 2 from its own generative AI model and fans find it anything but thrilling.

Microsoft has released a free demo of Quake 2 What makes it special is that it was developed by the in-house generative AI World and Human Action Model(WHAM), also called Mule, and can be played directly in the browser without installation.

The AI quickly reaches its limits

The AI replica of Quake 2 was developed to demonstrate the possibilities of Mule. However, the result is barely playable. Alow frame rate, apoor control, disappearing enemies, and frequent graphical glitches and unwanted teleportations spoil the experience. You can see game scenes here :

Images generated at runtime: The demo is based on a generative AI that generates the next images based on what it sees. The process happens while you play. For example, if the AI recognizes a particular room, it generates the image it expects next based on your commands.

However, this has numerous negative effects The game runs at a frame rate of just 10 FPS. The AI only recognizes the last 0.9 seconds, which means that only the last new images are used as a basis for generation. This causes opponents to simply disappear as soon as they are out of your field of vision for more than 0.9 seconds.

Furthermore, the game character will teleport if the room in which you are currently located is mixed up. This almost always happens if you look into dark corners for a short time.Users complain, for example, about being transported to the Shadow Realm. In our test, we ended up in an unknown, dark basement instead.

Are you curious?If the answer isYes, then you can try out Microsoft’s AI replica of Quake 2in your browser for free

Many fans are appalled

The use of AI in creative fields is undoubtedly a controversial topic, and this is no different. For example, Quake Dad on X:

This is disgusting and a slap in the face for all the developers out there.

The user Kala Elizabeth also points out the hundreds of developers who have been laid off by Microsoft and insinuates that Microsoft has not learned any morals:

This feels extremely distant from what you [Microsoft] said just four months ago about the crazy and devastating layoffs of developers.

The opposing faction, on the other hand, argues that this would only be research and therefore there is nothing wrong with it. This is also the opinion of X-user Maximilien Robes Many users also point out that the demo is technically impressive. For example, ssliceed

In an interview with Games Industry.biz, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed that he does not consider AI to be a threat to existing jobs. He even assumes that it could lead to more jobs in the industry. At least that’s almost always been the case in the past with new technologies. The head of the publisher of GTA 6 refrains from giving a more detailed explanation of his views.

What do you think about using AI in the production of video games? Feel free to write it in the comments!