If you talk to any one who plays videogames, they can tell you a time they triumph over a level that seemed impossible. They can give vivid details on how they felt and what they went through to reign supreme. Games provide a strong sense of accomplishment, make us feel like we can do the impossible, boost our low-self esteem to an all time high and help us learn from our mistakes.
For years a game’s difficulty has been a key element in game design. A developer would make a game challenging so the player would get his money worth. Please note that during the 1990s games were expensive ranging from $70-$100. That being said, playing a game on normal difficulty in the 1990s was challenging to the point where it felt hard. You were always at the brink of giving up but you never did, after a few trials and errors, you would complete the strenuous, nerve-wrecking level and it felt good. You felt like a god among men and nothing can bring you down. Those were the golden ages, the 1990s. Now modern games have lost that touch of difficulty.
I’ve recently been playing a lot of Metal Gear Solid; finishing the first game, I immediately inserted Metal Gear Solid 2. I was ready for challenging stealth missions and complicated boss battles. I encountered the third boss, Fatman (second boss for some people, I’m counting the first encounter wish Fortune as a survival battle), and the battle layout reminded me of Raven’s battle stage. I went for the ration first, just in case the battle doesn’t tip in my favor. As the battle relentlessly went on my health started depleting, I used the only ration I had which I picked up at the start of the battle. My ammo was low so it was time for a new strategy. As I ran around the battlefield, avoiding Fatman’s gunfire, I noticed another ration had spawned along with ammunition. I picked it up and used it, wondering why they were spawning. Again my health was low, I ran trying to avoid death, but another ration had spawned at the exact same location. After a while I wasn’t afraid of Fatman, but I knew I should have been, I attacked him head-on not caring if I was going get shot at or not. It bothered me how easy the battle was in the end. Playing the first Metal Gear Solid as you battle Raven, or any boss, ration would not respond during boss battles. You were forced to deal with the hand that was dealt to you, making use of the resources you had. The battle with Fatman was not rewarding as much as the battle with Raven. Unfortunately many modern games suffer from this.
Resident Evil is perhaps the game that experienced the biggest change in game difficulty. Take a look back at Resident Evil 1, 2, & 3 all three of those games were survival horror, they were hard even on normal difficulty. Entering a new room was a hazard to your life and brought fear of you dying. Now look at 4 and 5, 4 may have delivered some good scares but were you ever afraid of dying? With ammo hidden in every pot you never had the decency to say, “Shit! I may need to rethink what I’m doing”. Also, since the game provided a large amount of ammunition it took away the scare element the original Resident Evil use to deliver. If developers dumb down the normal difficulty setting it ruins the experience. When Diablo 3 was released, fans of the series complained the normal setting was too easy. Diablo 3 was trying to be accessible to casual gamers, but as a result they dissatisfied their large fan base.
We are gamers, we played games before, and we know how a game works. When we pick up a game, we expect a challenge, we want our money’s worth. Newcomers have the option to lower the difficulty. Veteran gamers should have the option, without feeling like a baby, to dip their toes in normal then dive into hard. I respect the videogame industry as a business. I understand the reason for making games shorter, but please don’t strip away our sense of determination. We, as gamers, need to know even if we fail at life, we can always stride in the virtual world. Don’t dumb down a game. Advance it. Developers please bring back the golden ages, where you knew a gamer wanted his money worth and expected a challenge.
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