- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Honestly, I don't see why everyone views the Library, even on Legendary, as such a difficult level. If anything, it's the easiest level ever, mostly because of the sheer stupidity of the Flood AI. No tricks, no suprises, just en-masse, straightforward attacking. No ducking or covering or throwing nades like the Covie AI, but sheer overwhelming numbers.
Many people believe that to beat Legendary, you've gotta make mincemeat out of every NPC that pops up on screen. They write up all those guides on how to beat The Library, but none of them are effective mostly because they focus on destroying everything on the screen.
On the contrary, it's just easier to simply run right through certain parts, guns ablaze than it is to stick around and actually fight. Grab a shottie, a pistol and you're all set.
Another interesting thing about the AI is that they don't attack unless you're within their range of view, obviously. They also clump together near their spawn points. Using these two facts, then, when you're trapped in the two rooms, for instance, you can hide behind a pillar on the far side, close to the spawn shafts. Wait a while for ALL the flood to appear, then shoot two rockets...it'll effectively wipe out most if not all of them.
As for the flood in numbers, it's easier if you get them to trickle right into your shotgun one by one. Ironically, the library's got all those nice corners to work around and the flood just come straight forward one by one right into your waiting shotgun.
Then again, I'm also one of the people who figured out VALVe's clever little Prison-Turret uber-standoff in Half Life 2. In short, I overanalyze game AI.