10 Video Games That Made You Pay For Essential Features
3. The Intended Difficulty Setting - Metro: Last Light (2013)
Adding extra difficulty modes is an effective way of generating extra levels of challenge for players after rolling credits on the main game. After completing Resident Evil 4 Remake, for example, Resi fans can test their skill on Professional difficulty where limited saves and tougher enemies will test the skills of even the most accomplished players.
While difficulty modes are typically already included in the base game, there are times when extra modes are added post-launch, with Amnesia: The Bunker expected to include a Shell-Shocked mode soon.
What's not expected, though, is for publishers to charge an additional price for difficulty modes.
This was what happened in Metro: Last Light when it included its Ranger difficulty setting as a pre-order bonus before releasing it as a DLC pack.
By making the gameplay more realistic by removing HUD crosshairs and limiting how much Artyom could carry, this mode was for hardcore survivors. But it was the fact that this setting was advertised as the "intended" way the game should be played that caused backlash.
If fans wanted to play this game the way the developers envisioned, they'd now need to pay an extra $4.99 to do so. Artistic vision shouldn't come at an extra cost.