Poll: Are You Afraid of Higher Difficulty Settings.

[rawrnosaurous]

It depends on why i'm playing the game and what kind of game it is. If i'm going through Mass Effect for the 9th time i'm probably going to play it on the hardest difficulty. I tend to not play games on the hardest difficulty right away, it tends to suck all of the fun out of it if I have to fight just to stay alive.

 

[LooK iTz Jinjo]

Where is the poll I was promised?

OT No if I like a game enough I will play it on the harder difficulties it offers, especially if said game offers achievements/trophies for finishing it on harder difficulties.

 

[captaincabbage]

Meh, I'm not a fan of harder difficulties, my brain isn't hardwired to get a kick from it, unlike others.
I usually play on normal, so the AI isn't completely incompetent, to I do love hardcore mode when playing splitscreen CoD with my friends ;P

 

[Treblaine]

I'm not afraid of it, I certainly don't beat myself up over dying on high difficulty. It's something to aspire to, a new more challenging way of playing a game you like. For example I might first play the game a bit on Easy to get the hang of the mechanics, then play Normal to death and if I REALLY like the game and become so good at it that it becomes boring, then I try to master the higher difficulty.

But what I'm afraid of is a game difficulty (any) which I used to be good at all of a sudden become bad at. Makes me think I'm losing my edge.

 

[andeve3]

Nope, im hardcore and that is how i roll!

 

[similar.squirrel]

I've been playing Bulur for the past few days, and I had to switch to Easy because I was getting trashed with a monotonous regularity. Way I see it, if the game is not fun then there's no point in playing at your current difficulty.

 

[NapalmBob]

I usually just play through on the easiest difficulty first and then bump it up once I have finished it once, that way I know what to expect, and must games don't change much between difficulties. Now I'm in uni and have a part time job and drive around alot so I don't get as much downtime as I use to..

 

[Bibliotekaren]

I always go for the hardest difficulty the first time around (except in some RPG's, where the harder difficulties remove features that help make the game fun). Then when I finish, I go through it on the easiest setting to live out the dream of being an absolutely unstoppable god of whatever.

 

[Treblaine]

One thing I've noticed in many games (including Half Life 2) is that:

difference between Easy and Normal: enemies are retarded on Easy yet smart on Normal though seem just resistant to bullets and are equally as damaging.

But difference between Normal and Hard is: enemies just as smart, only become bullet-sponges needing two point-blank shotgun blasts to the face to take them down.

I see that as cheap difficulty. If anything it should be the other way around

As in

Easy = Dumb + Weak
Normal = Dumb + strong
Hard = Smart + strong

But the problem with that is you could spend millions of dollars developing super-impressive AI but most people may never see it as they never play any significant length on Hard mode.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

I have beaten Gears 2, Halo 3, and multiple others on their highest difficulty settings. The one I will not touch is the Insanity difficulty in the Mass Effect games. I just recently beat the first one on Hardcore, and even though I was playing as a Soldier, it still induced much embarrassingly high-pitched screaming. Insanity is, to use a TV Trope, "Exactly What It Says On The Tin".

ME2 Insanity is bastard hard for a while but actually gets ok halfway through the game. There are one or two godawful spikes but it's mostly not too bad.

Believe me, if you beat Gears 2 on Insane you can beat ME2. Did you beat it solo or with a buddy? Because it is fucking painful doing it solo (stupid Dom). It's not too hard with a buddy tho.

I beat it solo. I'm not a "master of the headshot" like the description says, but I am tenacious.
So, Insanity on Mass Effect 2 isn't too bad? Because I started playing as a Soldier (probably what made it suck so bad: Soldier class is crap in the second game) on Hardcore, and it tore me up early on. But if you think it's possible, then I may just give it a try.

 

[TPiddy]

I'm actually going through a personal dilemma. I want to try nightmare mode on Alan Wake, but at the same time I want to get most of the rest of the achievements I'm missing. This would require a very thorough search of the game environment, and on nightmare mode that could mean a major headache. I'm not sure I want to do it.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

So, Insanity on Mass Effect 2 isn't too bad? Because I started playing as a Soldier (probably what made it suck so bad: Soldier class is crap in the second game) on Hardcore, and it tore me up early on. But if you think it's possible, then I may just give it a try.

Yep, here's a few tips I found helpful:

Use Sentinel. The Tech Shields will save your ass very often, and Warp and Overload are the two most useful abilities in the game as enemies have so much armour and shields.

ALWAYS take Miranda for her Warp, Overload and team buffs (when levelled up she adds dmage and health to the whole team)

I usually used Grunt when fighting Collectors and Husks, his high health and charge attack are a godsend.

When overwhelmed by Husks, kite them in circles and keep firing. This is really useful on Horizon.

The Collector ship ambush will unfairly, cheaply kick your ass, but you'll do it eventually.

Very important:

Play it like Dragon Age.

What I mean is do not let your (very stupid) team AI do anything by itself, keep pausing and placing them in the best cover, and take their abilities away from them so only you get to tell them who to attack and when.

 

[Tolerant Fanboy]

Wary and respectful, but not scared. I see it not as some beast to be feared, but a challenge to be surmounted once my skills have been honed to a razor edge. Or a way to kill a few minutes if I just want to see my character get slaughtered.

 

[Tessem7]

I'm scared of nightmare difficulty in Aliens vs. Predator...

 

[Nvv]

I play games to enjoy them. If I can play a game on über-hard-legendary-badass difficulty and still enjoy it, I will (though that rarely is the case).
For example: I tried the harder difficulties in Dragon Age. I was able to do it after much dying and tactic overlooking, I just can't enjoy that so I turned it down to easy. Which was just laughably easy, but it allowed me to enjoy the story.

 

[aLivingPheonix]

In some games, yes. In Modern Warfare, for example, I didn't even attempt Hardened, let alone Veteran. I just kept to the Normal difficulty, and Recruit.

However, in Halo 3, I go on Legendary, and try my utmost best to be a badass, and go around beating Brutes to death with my gun.

Then I die, laugh my ass off, and try again.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

Nah. I don't need to beat a game on Hard to get a sense of accomplishment, so I usually just play Easy for one playthrough, then Medium if I feel like it. I start with Esay to learn the ropes so that I don't get completely, utterly and totally killed on a harder difficulty.

What I REALLY hate is when games leave unlockables and features that are NOT aesthetic andare fully functional inaccessible to those that play a game on Easy. What I hate MORE are games that mock people that play on Easy; that does NOT help my self-esteem...