9 Video Game Hard Modes That Were WAY Too Easy
When Nightmare mode is an afternoon breeze.
Putting a game on Hard Mode should be a way for a player to challenge themselves, and usually it does just that.
There are countless games where the highest difficulty setting is practically designed to swiftly deliver misguided souls to a Game Over screen: Doom's Ultra Nightmare, Metro 2033's Ranger Hardcore and The Last of Us' Grounded modes, to name but a few.
The thing is, no matter how good a game might be, without any challenge it feels hollow and robs players of a sense of accomplishment, and as a result we find ourselves constantly fiddling with the difficulty settings to find our own personal sweet spot where challenge meets experience.
Except... what happens when Hard Mode really isn't that hard?
In theory, it shouldn't be a disappointment. After all, if you're better than the toughest challenge that the developers set for you, shouldn't you be proud?
Not always.
When Hard Mode is too easy, we're left feeling robbed and dissatisfied, especially after getting all geared up for a proper challenge.
9. Guitar Hero
The difference between Guitar Hero's difficulty settings is fairly straightforward. Easy only uses 3 of 5 buttons, Medium uses 4, Hard uses all 5, and Expert adds notes and chords designed to be more difficult for players to wrap their fingers around.
Yes, the whole point of Guitar Hero is to offer people who don't necessarily play an instrument an opportunity to get a few heads banging, but a mode labelled "Expert" in what equates to a guitar simulator perhaps could have offered something more akin to playing an actual guitar.
After all, anyone who has had even a passing acquaintance with playing a real guitar tends to find Guitar Hero's Expert mode pretty straightforward.
While there are certainly more than a few people out there unable to perform the dexterity of the digits that Guitar Hero's Expert mode demands, it really doesn't take an expert to master.
Still, let's not be too hard on Guitar Hero. After all, without it, we'd never have been given the opportunity to outperform the Devil himself in a guitar duel.