10 Hardest Video Game Challenges (That Aren't Worth The Effort)
9. New York Minute Hardcore - Max Payne 3
Despite its aesthetic departure from the two previous games, Max Payne 3 was another absurdly entertaining action extravaganza, and one that threw the gauntlet to end all gauntlets down at players' feet with its New York Minute Hardcore mode.
In the series, New York Minute tasks players with beating each level before a timer runs out, extra seconds being gained by gunning down enemies.
Players who beat Max Payne 3 on New York Minute will then unlock the Hardcore version, where death will send players back to the very beginning of the game.
That alone makes the mode off-limits to all but the most maddeningly skilled of players, but what truly makes it not worth the effort is the tendency for players to be suddenly taken out by RNG headshots.
Given the chaotic nature of the game's gunfights, it's incredibly easy for an errant, near-unavoidable bullet to hit you in the head and instantly end your run.
Combine this with the fact that many of the game's cutscenes are unskippable without a mod and it's also fairly prone to randomly crashing, and you've got a ready-made recipe for player frustration.
Sure, you'll get an achievement ("The Shadows Rushed Me") out of it, but at what cost?