Challenging Video Games

[archeryguy1701]

I guess I'm a freak. I own Halo 2,3, COD3,4, various Tom Clancy games, etc-and I've never finished any of them. I never even tried H3. I pop the game in, run the tutorial and go online. I hate playing against the computer-it feels hollow to me. I like to match wits with others. When I lose it maddens me(actually, it NFL2Ks me-LOL) but when I win the endorphin rush is the best. I just don't see the point in going through the motions against the computer because I've played so many games over the years that before I even start I KNOW that at some point I can beat the computer-so why bother? Against humans I never KNOW the outcome-I can only hope for the best.

I definately have to agree with this. Going back to RTS', the experience entirely changes against a human. Versus the AI, the only way to bea the enemy is to build a super-massive force and steamroll the opposition because they have huge armies, all flanks covered, reinforcements right where they need them, and I've always thought the computer has had an advantage (yes, I'[m one of those parnoid ones). When playing against humans, I can actually use strategy. I played Rise of Nations against one of my friends a while back. I sent a medium sized infantry force knocking on his front door, and then I sent all of my artillary units on the outer edge of the map and started killing his city from behind. That never works against the computer. Speaking of this, I think I should start doing CnC3 online. Could be a good time.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Maybe we should submit our choices for most difficult game ever and have a poll or something?

 

[Arrqh]

Ikaruga wins by default

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
Nonsense.

With games like Abadox, Battle Toads, Double Dragon III, Cybernoid, Super C, The Lion King (Sega Genesis), Super Star Wars, etc. out there, Ikaruga just doesn't cut it.

Besides, that vid was on "hard" mode, all the afore mentioned games didn't have difficulty levels. On normal, Ikaruga isn't all that difficult.

 

[firehawk12]

Oh fuck you Battletoads...

 

[captcalhoun]

i like some challenge but when i get incensed at re-playing stuff i know it's too hard.

i've completed Quake 3 on the 1-3 levels of difficulty and can't beat Xaero at the end of the 4th. goddamn rail-whore.

i completed UT2004 on the lowest setting, but can't beat Malcolm to complete it on Average.

Serious Sam 2 i'm playing on Normal and completed the 1st and 2nd Encounters on the same.

i played CoD and CoD 2 on easy and in places that was hard enough.

the Delta Force series, have no difficulty levels which is insanely annoying on some levels which are really hard, especially on Black Hawk Down and BHD: Team Sabre as there are only limited save-game spaces...

i finished Halo on Normal

Need For Speed Underground's drift mode drives me potty (no pun intended)

i'm currently playing NFS Most Wanted and so far, i'm only losing races when i make a ridiculous mistake like crashing...

 

[gh4chiefs]

I don't mind a bit of a challenge, but when they make difficulties for the sake of it, such as not allowing you to save,

That's probably my biggest pet peeve in video game design and probably causes me to end up hating/not finishing games that I might have otherwise liked if I COULD HAVE JUST SAVED before the hard part.

 

[archeryguy1701]

^Or after the hard part. Nothing gets my goat more than finally getting through the tough area, only to have so little health/ ammo/ troops/ etc and getting wiped out by what is normally an easy enemy.

 

[TheBrew]

^
Nonsense.

With games like Abadox, Battle Toads, Double Dragon III, Cybernoid, Super C, The Lion King (Sega Genesis), Super Star Wars, etc. out there, Ikaruga just doesn't cut it.

Besides, that vid was on "hard" mode, all the afore mentioned games didn't have difficulty levels. On normal, Ikaruga isn't all that difficult.

Do people think Super Star Wars is really that hard? I didn't think that it was that bad. Empire Strikes Back on NES was waaaay harder.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I don't know. I've never actually played it myself.

I've just heard a lot people talk about it over the years. Most people complain about the Jawas, but I don't know what they're talking about, so I just say "ooo-TEE-dee!" and be done with it.

 

[Mistral]

a challenging game : Star Control on the Genesis system. arcade spacecraft battles combined with strategic maneuvering and resource management. Easy to pick up-hard to master.

 

[DanTheGrey]

I'm somewhere between wanting "normal" and "elite". I want it to be complex/interesting enough to replay (note: complex <> interesting) but I don't want to be sitting on level 2 or 3 practically ready to pitch the controller at the nearest fragile object because of some insane boss or being expected to remember some 15 step combo, or because the machine basically cheats and unless you're one of the developers, you know *exactly* what to do.

Long story short, I don't play as many video games as I used to. Oh and AI's that are challenging because you're not an AI and they all gang up on you (e.g. Master of Orion III) get tiresome very very quickly for me.

 

[D Man]

One of my all-time favorite games has always been Yoshi's Island on SNES. The game's not bad if you just run through it, but getting 100 points everywhere is a killer. Now I have it on the GBA, and I sure want to hurl it across the room every once in a while. Then I try the stupid level again.

 

[Spot's Meow]

^I have that on the DS now, and while it's not overly difficult (so far, I'm not even close to finished), I've noticed one big aggravation - the game lets you go back if you want to and gives you the illusion that you can do so, but you inevitably jump up a wall or something and find that you can't return because of something blocking your way. Unless you've played the level before it's hard to know when this is going to happen. This can be frustrating in a game that requires you to follow different paths sometimes.

 

[FordSVT]

Depends on the genre. Action or strategy games and fighters I usually start at a normal difficulty and the ramp it up if it's too easy or I enjoyed it enough to want to play it again. Racing game I like to keep as authentic as possible, so I always keep a minimum amount of driver aids (usually just traction control but no ESP) and I use a manual unless it's a game where it's not worth the hassle, generally the more "arcadey ones".

FPSs like HL2 and Halo and Bioshock I play on the hardest difficulty level possible. I'll toot my own horn here and say I'm rather good at them, so normal is usually too much of a breeze to bother with.

 

[Aragorn]

Halo 2 on legendary was next to impossible for me, so I gave up. But Halo 3 on legendary, we had four-player co-op and just blew through the game because someone could always run away and hide so the rest could regenerate and keep on going.

 

[Delsaber]

"Challenging but not maddening" sounds right up my alley. Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne is a perfect example, even if there were times where it kicked my ass harder than I would've liked.

 

[mrcoaster]

I usually go with "Elite" if there are four difficulties. Normal may be too easy, so I want a bit more of a challenge. Still, I don't feel the need to do Legendary much. Even with stuff like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, if I can move up in difficulty, that's fine, but I never find myself in a "I must move up and be Expert and get the Uber Super Duper Combo Gold Star Awards on every song!" kind of mood.

#1 is have fun.

 

[Orac Zen]

I'll start on the "normal" level and play the game through. Then I'll try the other difficulty levels to see what differences there are. It can be fun to play with cheats, too; killing the baddest baddie with the feeblest weapon might take ages but for some warped reason it amuses me to be able to do so. The point of these things is to have fun, after all.

 

[StolenThunder]

I tend to complete games on the hardest difficulty level.. but single-player gaming in action-based games doesn't appeal to me so I invariably do them co-op.