10 games that get better with higher difficulty modes

Sometimes, cranking the difficulty up to hard mode or higher makes a game more interesting.

So today, we wanted to highlight 10 games that get better with higher difficulty modes.

Two things that keep in mind.

Number one, if you don’t play on hard modes,if you can’t, or you just don’t want to, you do you.

We think player choice is important.

Everyone should play how they want.

But we just wanted to
highlight some difficulty modes

that actually get creative.

So number two with that,

we tried to avoid some
of the obvious ones.

Yes, “Halo” on Legendary,

or yes, “Call of Duty” on Veteran,

great stuff, but talked about to death.

So let’s get started here with number 10.

The “Ghost Recon” series

was perfect for ramping up the difficulty.

You know, in the old days,
with the original game,

it made a very unique
game feel way more fresh.

The original 2001 game on Elite

made an already challenging
game even more difficult.

You’re managing multiple fire teams

and enemies that are
sometimes hard to spot,

and then you can go down
really, really quickly.

That extra difficulty just
made all those mechanics

so much more tense.

From the originals up until, I think,

kind of “Ghost Recon: Future Soldier,”

all of the games featured
higher difficulty options

that really just kind of
completed the experience.

“Ghost Recon” games, at that point,

were built to be tense, slower, accurate,

you know, just a bit
more realistic shooters.

And ratching up the difficulty

made you really play it the
way it was intended, you know?

Slow, methodical, thoughtful.

You could still headshot
enemies no problem,

so the game didn’t change all the rules,

but the stakes were higher.

You could die just as
easily, if not more easily.

So good luck not using cover in this,

it’s an absolute necessity.

Also, shout out to the
original “Ghost Recon” games,

we miss them.

Next, over at number nine, “Perfect Dark.”

Yes, the ’90s Rare-developed

Nintendo 64 first-person shooter.

On the harder difficulties,

things are, obviously,
just overall tougher.

You’re gonna die a lot more, of course,

and enemies are a bit smarter.

And you could actually
adjust a lot of this stuff.

There were modifiers if
we remember correctly,

which is pretty cool.

On top of that, though,

there are more objectives during levels,

meaning you would see and do a bit more

by playing through on the harder modes.

Rare’s other Nintendo 64 FPS, “GoldenEye,”

I also did a little bit of this.

It was just the early days

of encouraging multiple
campaign playthroughs

and just general replay value,
and it’s worth highlighting.

Also, it was just a really solid game.

I’m really just wondering what the heck

they’re doing with that new
one that they announced?

When we’re ever actually going to see it?

We’re probably gonna have to wait a while.

So at least we still have the original.

Now, next over at number eight,
we have “Resident Evil 7.”

The Madhouse difficulty

does a little more than
just make the game harder.

For one, item placement is different.

And assuming you’re playing Madhouse

a few playthroughs after your first one,

this might mess up your mental item map

that you’ve made up in
your head, you know?

There are more Antique
Coins going from 18 to 33,

but with more coins, comes
more things to purchase.

Just like with item placement,

enemy placement has also been changed.

So you’ll be in for a few new scares.

And enemies are, just in general,
obviously, more difficult.

Ammo is also more scarce,

which makes dealing with
more powerful enemies

a bit more problematic.

You have to be so strategic,
so accurate, and so on it.

Along with that, Jack Baker is
also way faster on Madhouse.

So when he shows up, you’d
better run for a safe room

as quickly as you can.

And just get used to him,

’cause he seems to show up a bit more.

And just like with
classic “Resident Evil,”

you can’t save wherever you want,

and you’ll have to use
blank tapes to save.

And checkpoints are
just way less frequent,

so good luck with that stuff.

Now, next, over at number
seven, we wanted to give props,

we wanted to mention something
a little bit different here.

“Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band.”

Remember when these
games were poppin’ off?

Man, that was a great time.

Especially if you had friends.

Now, these types of games had
plenty of difficulty modes,

and it was fun to jump into.

But the highest difficulty,
expert, was on another level.

I mean, you’ve probably
seen the viral videos

of people crushing the
game on wild difficulties.

Remember “Through the
Fire and Flames?” Yeah.

At the highest difficulty,

you’re basically hitting every actual note

of the instrument in
the song, in real-time,

and strumming the fastest
along with it, thanks to that.

So it can basically become
god-tier-level stuff to the point

where you’re almost actually
learning an instrument.

You know, at that point,
maybe you just should.

It’s also worth outing the other game,

the kind of spinoff game “Rocksmith,”

takes us to the next level.

Taking these gameplay concepts
and translating it over

to actually playing on a real guitar.

You know, taking at least some
of these gameplay concepts

and translating it over to
playing on a real guitar

that you plug into your video game.

So the hardest challenge on “Rocksmith”

is really the ultimate level.

Congrats. You know how to play guitar now.

(guitar rock music)

Next, over at number
six, the “Thief” games.

Just an incredibly underrated
stealth game franchise

from the classic PC days.

1998’s “Thief: The Dark Project,”

had three difficulty modes,

and the highest one
really ramped things up

in good stealth gameplay way

that really kind of paved
the way for the future.

You know, more objectives,
like not killing a soul,

not getting hit, leaving
absolutely zero trace,

actually having a certain
amount of loot you had to steal.

There was actually a numbered requirement.

And changing and altered
and new objectives,

which is always nice for replayability.

But it was important that these games

had these different things
for different difficulty modes

because then we got to see more of that

in games like “Hitman,”

where you get scored for
prioritizing perfect stealth,

leaving no trace, maybe
never taking a disguise,

not killing anyone.

That stuff is really important

for stealth game completionists,

and, thanks to games like
“Thief,” we have that today.

Next, over at number five,
let’s talk “Fallout 4.”

You know, for a game that’s all about

surviving in the wasteland,

I always felt like I was just kinda

making my way through pretty easily.

Yeah, “Fallout” has some difficult enemies

and some RPG stuff,

but it never really felt
like a survival experience.

And then, there was the
“Fallout 4” Survival mode.

There are a lot of drastic changes.

For one, you have to deal with hunger,

thirst, and exhaustion.

So you have to actually
sleep, drink water, and eat.

Along with that, fast travel is disabled.

The only way to save is
by sleeping in a bed,

so no quick save or no auto-save either.

Stronger enemies spawn more regularly.

You’re subject to fatigue.

And you need antibiotics or a doctor

to heal any specific illnesses.

Crippled limbs don’t auto-heal.

And if a companion is knocked
unconscious during battle,

they won’t get up after the fact,

you’ll have to actually
manually heal them.

But probably, one of the biggest changes

is that ammo has weight,

which is really, really annoying. (laughs)

Especially if you bounce around

between different weapons
that use different ammo types.

As annoyingly difficult as
some of this might sound,

it does seem like a
truer survival experience

that really just kind of fit

the world of “Fallout” very well.

It’s worth checking out,

even if you weren’t
super hot on “Fallout 4.”

(dramatic music)

(player grunts)

Now, next up, yeah, baby,

let’s talk about “The Witcher
3” on Death March difficulty.

Death March gives enemies
approximately 80% more health

and 230% more damage.

So this actually makes it so
being a god at the combat,

being able to be near perfect
with your swords and flawless,

is not good enough.

To succeed, you need to have that mastery

as well as playing 100% completely
perfectly like a witcher.

This is where it gets good.

It’s not just, you know,
make the enemies harder,

Death March requires you to have

intimate knowledge of witchering.

If you don’t know,

a witcher is kind of
like a magical Batman,

where they have tons
of tools and knowledge

and take to their battles
in a prepared state.

Witchers embrace alchemy and
use potions and decoction,

and special items to completely max out

and RPG buff the hell out
of every move you make.

From poisoning yourself to
cause more damage to an enemy

that draws your blood, to
using the right oils on swords,

all of it is absolutely 1,000% necessary.

You can’t wing it.

And even if you thought

you used this stuff to your
advantage in the regular modes,

you haven’t seen anything yet.

Managing Geralt’s toxicity level here

becomes like a whole job in and of itself.

You don’t wanna overdose, right?

And on top of that,

keeping your equipment from
breaking, managing food,

dealing with roaming enemies
that can one-shot you,

it’s a difficulty nightmare, sure,

but on a surprisingly
deeper, more technical level.

Next, over at number three,

the “XCOM” games have a little thing

called Ironman difficulty mode,

which is the hardest way to play “XCOM”

and it really makes the game harder.

It takes away the ability

to have multiple saves, for example,

which makes every move you make permanent.

And there’s no rolling back to a save

to fix something or save someone.

What this does is it heightens
every choice you make.

Every decision truly has to be tactical

and strategic on a higher level

than anything you’ve
done in previous modes,

and it really truly makes you
appreciate your teammates.

And frankly, that’s what
“XCOM” is all about.

And then, if you’re really nasty,

because we’ve mentioned
it in some videos before

it deserves a special mention,
shout out to the modders,

the Long War mod just
makes things even crazier.

If you’re looking for a true endurance run

in a game like this, look no further.

Now, down to number two,

let’s talk about “The Last
of Us Part I” and “Part II.”

“The Last of Us,” already,
it’s not the easiest game,

even on normal difficulty.

Naughty Dog either way
just did a really good job

of making the game feel pretty intense.

So when you switch to Grounded mode,

everything just gets turned up to 11.

Grounded mode is both games

and, for the most part,

has the same changes in
difficulty in both of them.

Enemies deal more damage
and are more aggressive.

Ammo, crafting, and upgrade
materials aren’t as plentiful.

The HUD is kept at a bare minimum,

or just gone depending on the game.

Listening mode is disabled,

which is a huge crutch that
you realize you rely on.

And items won’t shine in the environment,

so you have to be really perceptive.

But what this does is, again,

not just makes it challenging enemies

or less health or anything like that,

it actually just turns the game

into a true survival horror experience.

And it makes it way more stressful

than it already was, to begin with.

And down, finally, at number
one, “Alien Isolation.”

Nightmare difficulty
is something else, man.

You know, the alien that
stalks you throughout the game

is smarter, pretty much relentless here.

So you never really get
much of a break from it.

The other enemies’ AI
is pretty smart as well,

although it seems like the distance

you can be spotted is the same.

Still, it’s the alien you
really need to worry about,

specifically because you have no map,

which absolutely sucks.

And in this mode, the iconic
alien motion tracker is broken,

so it’s more of a liability

and just causes more problems for you.

So the way to really do this mode

is to always be on the move

and just do it the old-fashioned way.

Use your eyes, but, more
specifically, your ears,

and just hope for the
best to avoid the big bad.

Now, along with that stress,

of course, you’re also
managing way less resources.

Resources that were fairly abundant

on normal modes in comparison,

so it also becomes like an old-school

survival horror resource
management thing too,

which is great.

So, yeah. Good luck with that one.

It’s a game that’s quite a
few years old at this point,

but it still holds the hell up.

So those are 10 games

with some pretty interesting
harder difficulty modes

that we thought were worth highlighting

for specific reasons.

If you’ve got a favorite,

we’d love to hear yours
down in the comments.

Everybody loves to be challenged
and play in different ways,

so hit us up.

We’ll probably do a part two
and a part three of this video.

There’s plenty more to talk about,

so we wanna hear from you.

But if you liked this video,

clicking the like
button’s all you gotta do.

It legit helps us out. We’re
just talking games here.

But as always, thank you for watching,

and we’ll see you guys next time.