Difficulty levels in most games are pretty uninspiring. There are usually three to five options ranging from easy or very easy to hard or very hard. Some games mix up the names to relate them more to the subject matter. For instance, Doom uses terms like Ultra-Violence and Nightmare, which fit with the hardcore and action-packed nature of the game.
However, even when developers switch up the names of their difficulty settings, it doesn't necessarily make their levels unique. In most cases, the only difference between the highest and lowest difficulties is how skilled and resilient the enemies are. That said, some games have difficulty settings that actually alter the overall experience. Here are several examples.
8 Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Plenty of games have extremely high difficulty levels where you die in one or two hits. Yet, the Heaven or Hell mode from Devil May Cry 3, and some subsequent entries in the series, is different because the enemies have the same issue. Both you and them will perish in a single hit.
It changes the game completely, as the series has always been about unleashing large combos and even juggling enemies in the air in fast-paced battles. In this mode, it's about being strategic and striking when the time is right.
7 EA Sports FC 24
EA Sports FC 24
Released September 29, 2023 Developer(s) EA Vancouver , EA Romania Genre(s) Sports Platform(s) PS5 , PS4 , Xbox Series X|S , Xbox One , Nintendo Switch , PC
EA Sports FC 24 is primarily a simulation game, offering a quite realistic version of football—or at least, it does when regular players play the game.
When streamers or professional players get their hands on the title, it looks a little different. They use a lot more tricks and skill moves and play at a rapid pace. It makes EA Sports FC look more like an arcade game. You can have the AI replicate this by turning on Competitor Mode. It makes for a much harder and very different experience.
6 Minecraft
Minecraft
Released November 18, 2011 Developer(s) Mojang Genre(s) Survival , Sandbox Platform(s) Windows , PlayStation (Original) , Xbox (Original) , Nintendo Switch , Mobile
When it comes to unique difficulty levels, most of them add an extra challenge to the game. But there are some that make things a lot easier, such as the peaceful difficulty in Minecraft.
What this does is remove all the dangerous, hostile mobs from the game. So you won't run into skeletons, creepers, or zombies. You also can't starve, and TNT doesn't even hurt you. Therefore, the game becomes more about gathering resources and building things, which is among the most popular aspects of the game anyway.
5 Max Payne 3
Max Payne 3
Released May 15, 2012 Developer(s) Rockstar Studios Genre(s) Third-Person Shooter Platform(s) PS3 , Xbox 360 , PC
When it comes to third-person shooters, Max Payne 3 is tougher than the average title. This is especially the case when you attempt the New York Minute mode.
In this mode, you start every level with a one-minute time limit. Every kill you get adds to the time, and the goal is to finish the level before the clock ticks down to zero. There are some variables, such as headshots and melee kills, which give you more additional time than standard eliminations. You can make the mode even more difficult by attempting the hardcore version, where dying sends you back to the start of the game.
4 Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Released September 14, 2018 Developer(s) Eidos Montreal Genre(s) Adventure Platform(s) PS4 , Xbox One , PC
What's interesting about the difficulty settings in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is how customizable they are. You aren't just forced to pick an overall difficulty.
Instead, you get to choose how hard specific elements of the game are, including combat, exploration, and puzzles. Therefore, if, for instance, you're amazing at shooters but are terrible at solving puzzles, you can put the combat on very hard and make the puzzles easy. It allows you to tailor the experience more ly to your skill level.
3 Fallout 4
Fallout 4
Released November 10, 2015 Developer(s) Bethesda Genre(s) RPG , Action Platform(s) PS4 , Xbox One , PC
In Fallout 4, there is a survival mode, which transforms one of the best action RPGs in recent memory into a full-fledged survival game.
This means you must manage things like your hunger and thirst. You can also pick up illnesses in this mode that require antibiotics or a doctor to cure them. You even get fatigued by carrying too much. Overall, it's a more realistic experience of what it could be like to live in a post-apocalyptic world.
2 Resident Evil
The original Resident Evil game is a very scary one. After all, you are locked in a mansion with a bunch of hard-to-kill monsters, and you only have limited resources. The only way to make this worse would be to make all of those enemies invisible, which is the entire premise behind the Invisible Enemy difficulty in the remake of the game.
This makes things extremely challenging and disorienting, as you are never sure when you're going to get attacked. The fact that you don't have the ammo to shoot blindly or the health to take many hits makes things even trickier. It's a horrible situation to put yourself in.
1 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Released November 17, 2004 Developer(s) Konami Genre(s) Stealth Platform(s) PS2 , PS3 , PS Vita , Xbox 360 , 3DS , PS5 , PS4 , Xbox Series X|S , Nintendo Switch , PC
Metal Gear Solid 3 is often considered one of the greatest stealth games ever. It deserves that level of praise, as crawling around the jungle, choking people out, and blending into the surroundings is a lot of fun on the regular difficulty levels.
There's nothing regular about the highest difficulty, though. It's called European Extreme, and it makes stealth very intense. This is because it's an instant game over if you're discovered in this mode. So, you have to go through the entire campaign without being seen.
