Borderlands 2 enemies are smarter than before, says Gearbox

According to Gearbox Software, the enemy AI is one of the many facets of Borderlands 2 that has been vastly improved since the original.  The lead AI programmer at Gearbox Software recently sat down to reveal some of the intricate details about the new enemies in Borderlands 2, and how the team put the tech together to make them smarter than ever.

Like the original game Borderlands 2 will feature a number of different enemies and countless variations on each.  While Gearbox starts out with around 20 standard enemy types, add in the variations and that count ratchets up to around 300 different enemies that can be found in Borderlands 2.

Better use of buffing mechanics and elemental attacks will likely give you a much greater challenge than in the original Borderlands, and some enemies will work in tandem with each other by combining forces.  Using a behavior tree “that acts as a set of AI Legos” , the AI team at Gearbox boasts that there are countless variations that you may encounter in Borderlands 2.

For those waiting patiently for Borderlands 2 to arrive in September, a run-down of the basic enemies and their functions was recently published by Joystiq.    For our take, check out our Borderlands 2 Hands-On Preview from E3 2012.