April 2017
In most games, difficulty does not vary the AI. The only things that change are max health and ammo, ammo pickups, and number of enemies spawning. Some difficulty modes may change the enemy health while some others also reduce number of saves.
If there is no actual AI incentive (i.e. the enemies are suddenly more alert and show more realistic behavior), there is no point in playing at higher difficulty modes. A player looking to relax and navigate the map after a log day’s work will find it frustrating far more than it is enjoyable at highest difficulty. Unless of course he is an “expert” in hand-eye coordination and key “mashing” (like the BOOM! Headshot guy).
However, if the AI is really next-gen and enemies become more aware/ alert with higher difficulty, then certainly there is a case to play in such modes (example: Far Cry series, excluding the enemies-can-now-shoot-through-walls epic fail). In such cases the game may give the player choice of whether to tweak health/ ammo variables too, or just AI.
A truly next-gen AI is one which “learns” how good the player is. But when mostly the objective is to make a more “shiny” copy rather than redesign, that would be too much to ask I guess.
It is really fun to play against advanced AI, but hard-coded AI does not make it “advanced”. Just a half-hearted attempt if all it does is reduce health/ ammo/ saves etc. A game is a game; to some it is about relaxation. They are not looking for a medal by being an expert in it.
Hello, new world! 