Video games often challenge us and test our reflexes, but often in a way that leaves us
feeling like the odds aren't completely stacked against us.
Then there's Hard mode, which offers a completely different experience altogether, testing the
limits of both our skills and our sanity.
Here are some prime examples of titles that become truly punishing ordeals when the difficulty
is cranked up.
The Last of Us
Nothing in gaming fills you up with adrenaline quite like being crouched down in an abandoned
building and being deathly silent as you listen for the telltale signs that Clickers are on
the prowl in Naughty's Dog's masterpiece The Last of Us.
Thanks to your finely tuned survival skills, you can hear where threats are coming from
and approximately how many there are.
But Grounded Mode makes the game that much harder by taking away your ability to listen.
On top of that, you also take more damage from attacks and your user interface is simplified,
meaning you can't see what your health is or how many bullets you have.
Your only chance at getting through this tedious difficulty setting is being super-patient
and memorizing the paths that enemies take, but even then, it's a nightmarish slog.
Doom
Some speedrunners and dedicated gamers have figured out how to conquer 2016 Doom's Ultra
Nightmare mode without dying, and you should probably be studying these gamers' every move
before taking it on, because Ultra-Nightmare mode makes you start from the very beginning
whenever you die.
Yep: you could spend five hours playing your heart out and being smart about your kills,
and still end up back at the beginning because of a single misstep.
Brutal.
Furi
If you want a hack-and-slasher that's got elements of shoot 'em up/bullet hell games
in it, Furi is your game.
You can dash, slash with your sword, and fire off rounds with your gun.
A majority of the game's action takes place during boss battles that test your reaction
times and your ability to memorize boss characters' attack patterns.
In Furier Mode, however, those patterns are changed, and bosses become faster and more
punishing.
"I'm going to smash you to pieces.
No regen from this."
The big bads also drop less health and have additional attacks that can catch you off
guard.
There are also projectiles and waves of attacks in this mode that spread out to each corner
of the screen to the point where you can barely see.
One poorly-timed dodge or dash and your health will disappear in chunks.
Max Payne 3
Hardcore mode lives up to its name in Max Payne 3.
With enemy bullets taking Max out with just one or two hits and a drastically limited
Bullet Time meter, you'll have to carefully plan each and every attack or suffer the consequences.
But it's when you combine Hardcore mode with New York Minute that things get interesting.
Not only does the hybrid difficulty level enforce all the same restrictions as the regular
Hardcore setting, but now each level also has a time limit.
Oh, and just to make things worse, there's absolutely no room for error: like Doom, dying
in New York Minute Hardcore sends you back to the beginning.
Not the beginning of the level — the very beginning of the game.
Sniper Elite 4
While the first three difficulty settings feel firmly like a video game, Sniper Elite
4's Authentic Mode strips away all the trappings in order to deliver as realistic an experience
as possible.
Authentic mode introduces a life-like ballistics system into the game, meaning gravity will
affect a bullet's trajectory at long ranges.
Enemy soldiers will also be hyper-aware, and a single shot will give away the sniper's
position.
That means the player will have to be extra-stealthy and make sure that every shot lands.
Plus, in Authentic mode, aim-assist is disabled, as is most of the heads-up display.
The only help you'll get setting up your shot is your scope's crosshair and a wind monitor
— a punishingly realistic scenario.
Ninja Gaiden 2
If you're up to the task, you can prove your shinobi skills in Ninja Gaiden 2's Path of
the Master Ninja mode.
Getting through this near-impossible mode takes a lot of grinding and taking advantage
of attacks that grant you invincibility during their animations.
Augmenting your weapons and buying healing items should also help in the fight against
enemies that are faster, stronger, and capable of dishing out more projectiles than ever
before.
If you've got the time and dedication to level up your skills, you'll be slashing your way
towards the Archfiend in no time.
But, more realistically, you'll probably end up chucking your controller into the TV in
frustration ...
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