10 Unique Video Game Difficulty Modes That Will Break You

As a member of the survival horror family, the late Dead Space series (RIP Visceral) periodically puts players’ backs against the wall to see how many limbs they’ll sever to get out of a tight spot. Dead Space 2 had “Hard Core” mode that had Resident Evil inspired influences which Dead Space 3 also included, but added in a Classic and Pure Survival mode as well.

In Pure Survival, enemies do not drop straight up ammo or med packs, only giving resources like tungsten, somatic gel or scrap metal upon death, meaning the player has to craft all items themselves at workbenches. This forces players to stock up and make sure their items last until the next “safe” area where they can retool and rearm.

Classic mode restricts the player by only allowing them to use weapons that were available in the previous Dead Space games, removing the ability to alter weapons, and disables co-op. All New Game+ modes default to hard for that extra element of challenge, as well as their respective modifier.

Completing each mode also has its own reward, like unique weapons and powerful upgrade circuits.