Bullets whiz over your head. You hear the sound of explosions all around and look to see your brother-in-arms lying next to you, dead. Taking a deep breath, you collect your thoughts and plan what to do next. You get ready to pop out of cover and lay down some suppressing fire when suddenly you hear that thud that always makes your heart sink in your chest. Quickly, you pick up the grenade and toss it back to the enemy.

 *Thud*

"Another one?!"

Again you return the grenade, only to be greeted by another, and finally, as you try to return the third, a fourth drops at your feet. It explodes before you can recover it or get away.

A little later, you find yourself deeper in enemy territory. A better weapon would be nice -- or maybe some ammunition -- so you opt to explore a little bit. You check out the bunker on your left, which yields nothing. Just then, you hear a noise from behind you, and you turn as a screaming Japanese soldier greets you with a push and a bayonet between your ribs.

You twist the controller in your hands and look at the screen incredulously. You had stationed five of your men outside that bunker. Why didn't the Japanese soldier go after the more immediate threat? Why didn't your fellow soldiers shoot him down? How did the enemy know where you were in the first place?

When the aritificial intelligence of a game (A.I.) seems to focus all of its attention on a single player for no apparent reason, I like to call it "player hate."

It's one thing to be the lone wolf, and thus the only thing for the A.I. to pay attention to, but if you're generic soldier Joe Johnson, why are you the only one wearing a neon sign over your head?

What are some examples of player hate?

When A.I. enemies throw grenades not only often, but infallibly and directly at you regardless of distance, that's player hate.

When you pop out of cover and nearly all the A.I. characters -- even those already engaging your allies -- turn and fire in unison at you, that's player hate.

When an enemy knows your exact location and seeks you out, despite never having seen you -- and despite the fact that your allies are emptying their clips into them -- that's player hate.

You get the idea.

We've all fallen victim to player hate in one form or another, and it's always frustrating, especially in games where dying only takes a bit of bad luck and two stray bullets. Does it have a place in game design, or should should game makers avoid it at all costs?

Developers should stay away from certain elements of player hate at all costs because they only serve to annoy and frustrate.

Unless some excuse exists for it (like being a god), the A.I. should never be omniscient. If they are, they should never act on their knowledge. If the A.I. hasn't seen or heard your presence, then the it shouldn't be aware of your location. If no one is looking as the player quietly dispatches a guard from behind, all the A.I. foes in the area shouldn't immediately turn and fire because their "dead-ally sense" is tingling. What is even worse is when the developers have hard-coded the A.I. recognize a button press or combination, so they can immediately counter or avoid it. If no real reason exists for the A.I. to know something, they shouldn't know it, or at least they shouldn't act on it.

In the same vein as omniscience, A.I. infallibility is something that developers should shy away from unless they have a good excuse for it. If they're firing a fully automatic weapon from the hip at 20 yards, the enemy should not hit the player with nearly every bullet. If they're throwing a grenade over 40 yards, they shouldn't be able to place it directly between the player's legs without fail.

Even on the highest difficulty, the player should have to first make a mistake before they pay a price. Players shouldn't have to endure a pattern of die-learn-repeat in order to avoid disaster. Instead, they should succeed through skill and ability alone.

When judging the value of player hate, it really all depends on the game that you're playing. In games where the player is especially powerful (e.g. Halo) or is a lone wolf with no allies (e.g. Doom), it makes sense to have unforgiving enemies since they only have one major threat to focus on.

If you're one member of a group, I can't see any reason that the enemy should focus solely on you. The player should have to bring attention to himself by getting dangerously close to the enemy, killing a few of their number, or wielding a large, loud, and dangerous weapon.

Stupid ally A.I. is also a source of frustration. Not only are they unable hit the broad side of a barn, your computer-controlled allies always give you away during stealthy missions. Moreover, they constantly suffer from Stand and Watch Syndrome ("Swiss" for short), which makes them seem more like props -- or sometimes even obstacles. Luckily, Left4LOL and its sequel have adequately fleshed out that discussion.

What games have made you feel the hate?