10 Video Game Difficulty Modes You Must Complete Without Dying Once
Death comes at a heavy price in these games.
Difficulty in games is a fickle thing; whether it's the discussions brought about by every FromSoft release or the classic games of old that gave players a battering.
Back in the days of the NES and Genesis, games were often punishingly difficult so they would take longer to beat. There was only so much game you could squeeze onto an 8-bit or 16-bit cartridge Once you lost all of your lives, it was back to the start unless you had a password to spare. As the industry has hit the mainstream, there was somewhat of a reluctance to inject a level of challenge
Modern games have come up with new ways of punishing the player. With the concept of running out of lives having been confined to the annals of history, brutal difficulty instead manifests itself through specific modes reserved only for the most skilled or masochistic of players.
Here are ten of the most brutally punishing difficulty modes that allow no margin for error. If you've beaten any of these on your playthroughs, you can count yourself among the very best players in the community.
10. One Life - The Whole Game
Starting off the list, we have One Life; product of Steam user "Kefir!". Like many titles released on Steam Greenlight, its production values and overall competence are rather low, but it distinguishes itself through one key difference. It was released in 2015 alongside countless other small titles.
It takes the survival genre very literally, planting players in online matches with just one life to live. The obscure indie title locks you out of the game forever if you die just once. This could be other players, the infected or other environmental hazards. Think DayZ but you're not allowed to play again on death.
Perma-perma death is a tough proposition when you're asked to pay money to play it. One Life charged players $10 to give it a go; it's a low price, but all too easy to throw away. Ideally, One Life dramatically ups the tension of play, but due to its place as an indie title it's makes the least impact of the ten games.
With Steam Greenlight having closed and replaced by Steam Direct, the game will soon be unavailable for purchase. Still, for what it was, One Life was mildly innovative, though its central idea hasn't been adopted by any other companies.