F.E.A.R 2 was released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, both of which have laughably low specs by modern standards. When you have to create dynamic experiences out of a potato you are forced to get creative and that involves squeezing a lot of juice out of basic techniques.
Transformer based AI had to wait until the world's compute capacity reached a certain level to become feasible.
both of which have laughably low specs by modern standards ... potato
I have the opposite view, modern games require laughably high specs for what experiences they are achieving, look at what great dynamic experiences (games) can be achieved on older generations of gaming hardware.
Transformer based AI does not magically equal great dynamic experiences, good game design does. Sometimes a basic technique is more effective then a complex one.
Dynamic experience wise what is really the upgrade between ps3 call of duty and current day, aside from graphic fidelity that has increased there is parkour now. But mirror's edge shows that was possible at the time too. Seems it's just consuming a LOT more resources for not a lot of benefit. If you run a ps3 emulator with a modded game with high res textures & shaders you're still using 1/4 of the resources the modern re-release does.
squeezing a lot of juice out of basic techniques
"limitations breed creativity" I think this is one of the reasons why games on limited hardware are often better games, it requires the game designer to choose between prioritizing the game's core or other distractions like graphics.
Transformer based AI had to wait until the world's compute capacity reached a certain level to become feasible.