Blogs Thoughts on Difficulty Settings

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/04/22/thoughts-on-difficulty-settings/

 

I always play the game on normal the first time around. If I really enjoyed the game then the next time I play it I will crank up the difficulty. Recently played Mass Effect 2 on normal..then again on veteran and now I'm on my 3rd (yes 3rd) play through on hardcore. Next time I play it will be on insanity.

Just wondering Joe, what class did you play through ME2 insanity with? Like I say I'm on hardcore and I'm using a Vangard and some of the battles have been a bitch lol.

 

I played as Infiltrator the first time around (Normal), then Soldier the second time (Insanity). I remember Soldier was by far the easiest in the first game and I wanted to be able to use all the weapons (since you can learn added biotic powers through research etc).

Insanity mode in Mass Effect is a bitch though, whatever the class. Rock hard, in fact. But then, that's the point, isn't it?

 

Thanks for the reply. I did my veteran run with a Soldier. Both normal and hardcore was with Vangard as I seem to favour that class. Perhaps I should play next as an Infiltrator or Sentinel. And yes, insanity should be frustratingly hard.

 

Civ4 on settler makes me cry...

Mind you, so does Deity.

 

Infiltrator is my preferred class, purely because I'm a sniper type of person when it comes to games. The sniper rifle, especially with slow-down, does unbalance the game a bit though. On lower difficulty it's constant one-hit kills with auto slow-motion. On anything above Veteran you're cut down by the time you've drawn a bead. Not a class I'd recommend for high difficulties. What you really want is Assault Rifle + Domination ability.

 

I found the Sentinel class easier than Soldier in ME2. Cranking your class power and tech armour up to full gives you incredibly short cool-down times on powers, meaning you can spam area-throw all over the place, which gets a bit hilarious.

 

difficult on e really and will very much depend on the game

Serious sam i played on normal (as its not overly difficult anyway)

dragon age i stuck on hard immedaitely

whist i would start skirmishes on RA2 on easy 1v1 then move to 1v7 on easy then 1v5 on 3 normal 2 easy then all the way through to 1v7 on hard ( and yes i did win)

 

I grew up on a Neo-Geo so im used to having games try to **** me sideways, rather then whine at the developers to make it easier I simply just got on with it, its certainly made me a better, more skilled gamer.

 

ive noticed on MW2 co-op the plane graveyard level on Veteran are SUPER accurate with assualt rifle on full auto from sniper distances. they know your there too and shoot through planes as you approach (maybe a bug that bit though)

 

I used to play all games on normal but since the introduction of acheivements, I find now I jump in straight at Hard so I unlock easy normal acheivements all in one go.

 

I normally play on easy but have started playing on normal since easy is sometimes a joke. Take fifa where players don't tackle, it just becomes a joke. Least on easy I learn the game before normal. I agree about half life 2, I've just started a replay of it on hard and its too easy. Crysis is a good example of difficulty. even RPGs, your difficulty is determined by time you put in leveling. Fallout 3/oblivion on normal was difficult enough until level 6ish when you had weapons and skill. After that it became too easy again.

 

Games like Crysis are just way too easy on the hardest setting (Delta) I played through once on normal, ever since its been Delta everytime. And when I got Warhead, straight to Delta, those games are just way too easy.

But one game I never did beat on the hardest settings was Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. Now that was hardcore. Barely beat it on Hard, but Very Hard was just too much for me.

 

I would say that difficulty settings make a difference in a whole range of titles. Try playing a RTS game such as warhammer on the hardest setting for the first time and you will get your ass handed to you, same with a fighting game such as Tekken.

 

Agreed, it's difficult to see what impact selecting the hardest difficulty setting has on HL2. IIRC from Ep 2, (some time ago now) the Antlion guardians do require more hits to take down. They must get 3x the health of the lowest setting or whatever.

Personally though, I've never played HL2 with a competitive mindset, prefering to just savour each episode -to string it out as long as possible, rather than racing through it. I mean heck, why not take in every pixel of their hard work. They make players wait too long to try to turn it into a two hour wonder.

 

I tend to play most games on Normal. I do remember playing the original Bioshock on 360 coming to a level with a lot of quite powerful splicers shortly followed by a Big Daddy. I'm not sure what mode it was but I got my ass kicked every single time. I put the difficulty down one setting though and ohmygod it was easy to the point of providing no challenge at all. I never could quite work that one out.

 

Hard - everytime. I iz hardcore you see

 

With Thief 3, I always used to try and get 100% loot, and all the special loot items and only sap the guards, never kill - and on top of all that, only to sap the guards i could absolutely not sneak past.

I thought how useless the guards must feel if, at dawn, the entire home/warehouse/what ever was devoid of all valuables, and only 18 out the total 20 guards were still awake and on duty!!

 

Halo on legendary.......an exercise in masochism.

 

FPS shooters are boring if they are too easy; I like having to hide behind cover and pick people off. So I normally stick to hard for them.

Most other games I start at normal and as I get better I increase the difficulty to keep it a challenge.