Games that do difficulty well

Thirith on 20/7/2010 at 11:36

Since there's a discussion going on in the Deus Ex forums about how games implement different difficulty levels, I was wondering: what games are there that do difficulty well? By this I mainly mean the following things:

* Enemies behave more or less intelligently according to the difficulty level. (Not: Enemies simply have more hit points and/or do more damage, although this can be part of it.)
* The game doesn't cheat (or at least not visibly) in order to make things more difficult for the player. (I believe that the Civilization games, as good as they are otherwise, do a bad job of this.)
* The game has a good difficulty curve and/or balances risk/reward well.

Clearly all of these are subjective to some extent, and well-implemented difficulty doesn't necessarily make a good game, nor does badly-implemented difficulty automatically make a game bad. (See Civilization.) I'm afraid I can't think of all that many games that do this well, but I'd definitely list System Shock because it allowed players to set the difficulty in a number of categories, which I wish more games did.

gunsmoke on 20/7/2010 at 11:44

Soldier of Fortune II has a highly customizable difficulty. Lets you set several settings individually to tailor the experience to whatever you like.

Koki on 20/7/2010 at 11:58

I think I'm fine with anything as long as it's not about increasing enemy HP because that's super lame(hello Bioshock, Half Life 2). And no dynamic difficulty, well I wrote a stupidly long post about that so I will say no more.

ANTSHODAN on 20/7/2010 at 12:20

One of the most interesting difficulty level differences I recall is Crysis.

I can't remember exactly, but I think on the 2 hardest difficulties enemies speak Korean instead of English - which makes a surprising difference when you are stalking around and as vulnerable (hp wise) as those difficulties make you. Not being quite sure whether they know exactly where you are, or have just spotted something in the bushes - well, it's tense stuff.

Aside from language, the difficultly also changes the A.I. nicely, so you find yourself surprised by enemy behaviour more often, and removes your crosshair and grenade warnings. All in all, it just requires you to be far more perceptive and careful and adds a hefty dose of realism. yay crysis

Malf on 20/7/2010 at 12:34

I love the Thief / Goldeneye approach of adding more objectives to make the game harder. More games need to do this.

I also really liked the difference in difficulty in Mass Effect 2, and Insanity is a completely different experience to Normal. Indeed, I honestly think it's a better experience.

I also think the 3D Bionic Commando got its difficulty levels perfect as well, and this was enhanced by the challenges which were both linked to achievements and in-game unlocks. However, it could also have really done with a New Game + mode.

And of course, Demon's Souls, while not offering differing levels of difficulty, is incredibly well-balanced.

Sulphur on 20/7/2010 at 12:40

I'm playing Crysis on Hard, and the Koreans are very much still crouching around calling me a Yankee coward or wishing I'd die like a fucking dog. Now, if I were a dog, and I were fucking, and I died while I was fucking, I'd think that all things considered, that'd be a pretty good way to go. /tangent

So yeah, the pure Korean switches on in Delta, and the crosshairs get turned off (though laser pointers compensate for that when you get 'em), and enemy alertness increases along with a decrease in the level of overall pounding your suit can take. It's actually a lot more immersive that way. I hope the AI changes, haven't really played on Delta long enough, but on Hard they still do stupid things like standing aside and gaping at the ocean or standing at attention next to a turret while their compadres get perforated into human-like variations on swiss cheese next to them.

mothra on 20/7/2010 at 12:52

I can't remember a recent game ( I played ) that I did not start on hard and finished without much problems. There was a time when hard or insane where frustrating, hair-pulling experiences worthy of their tags and it was GOOD. I have no problem finishing a game on normal, especially if it's not my "genre" like RTS/RPG. but nowadays even when you suck at a game it constantly tries to tell you you don't. I see that as an insult, others call it achievements. there are exceptions though. ME2 on insane is just that.

demagogue on 20/7/2010 at 21:01

I was going to say System Shock 2...

One thing I like about sims (like flight sims, IL-2 et al) is the ability to adjust realism features very specifically, which is a kind of difficulty setting.

I guess games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero are naturally suited to increasing difficulty.

foldy on 20/7/2010 at 22:25

Mega Man 9 & 10 alter the stage layouts and enemy placements depending on the difficulty setting. Mega Man 10 even adjusts boss' moves and attack patterns.

june gloom on 21/7/2010 at 00:12

Megaman 9 doesn't. Megaman 9 has only one setting: Raping your mom with a toilet scrubber.