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"Difficulty"

6 months ago I wrote my first Gameaday winning post, Frustration. It was about how games can get really frustrating like No mercy which I have thrown out of my window several times due to frustration and I asked is there anyway developers can avoid frustration. Well 6 months later it finally hit me (and I have the bruises to prove it), AI.

No wait, don’t go, get your cursor off that future of gaming prime topics link! Much better. No this isn’t another boring topic about AI it is about their difficulty (I said move that cursor!). To be honest easy, normal and hard isn’t always enough, I am really good at Perfect Dark and found it easy (even Perfect agent) but my friend finds agent so hard he can’t do it! This has caused him to hate the game and to be honest I know if it was a little easier for him he would love it!

Perfect Dark though does have a mode that is perfect (boom boom) for him, the Perfect Dark option that gives the player the option to fiddle with the AI of the guards! Goldeneye did the same with 007 mode. The only problem with this you needed to do Perfect Agent or 00 agent in order to get it so not so good players can’t get them!

Many developers have increased the amount of difficulty levels recently with “extra hard” mode or “Beginner” but surly a percentage bar where you can set the AI’s ability in comparison to your own would be a lot more accurate? The easy, normal and hard modes won’t be gone though as in games such as Perfect Dark normal and hard require extra missions to be done so the level can be completed.

But maybe someone out there has managed to complete all Goldeneye levels in 00 agent except Aztec, just too hard and his dream of getting 007 mode goes down the drain. If only he could make the guards 1% easier he might do it. Gone are the days of reviews criticizing a game for being too easy or too hard! Now games can appeal to beginners and expert gamers so a wider audience can enjoy the same game! Rare might be onto something with the ability to fiddle with AI and maybe we should see more percentage bars in the options menu in the future!

Dringo

I won the Nintendo store PD tournament with 28 people it was easy.

I was by fact the best Goldeneye player in my group of mates. We had a HUUUUUUGGGGGGEEEE tournament consisting of about 30 people. It was organised by my mates uncle who was a Goldeneye lover and thought he was 'it'. He managed to get sponsers and set-up this tournament in a big hall in town. Many of my mates came along, as well as a majority of unknown people of which found out about the tournament because of its advertising. It was brilliant. Food, drink, chatting etc...

It was like a national tournament where people from all over the country came to compete. Well constructed league tables helped the tournament flow and keep its fairness. Each group had four people, the top two went through, then the next round, quarter finals etc...

Many supervisors were there to make sure the tourny went according to plan and that there was no cheating. It was purely competitive.

Each group consisted of 4-player matches. Three 4-player matches in each group with random levels lead to a winner of a match gaining 4 points, second - 2, third -1 etc...

There was a good range of different abilities there and it certainly wasn't easy.

So, here comes the gloating bit: I WON!!!! HAHAHA! A small, yet stylish trophy proclaiming: "Goldeneye Master". Purely exsquisite.

Well, anyone had any glory like that?

yer i found the beginning of air base espionage hard.

i find open levels (ie levels were u are outside) hardest. i find levels that are inside buildings or trains much easier as you can cover all the exits much easier.

You learn how to get through areas individually, it takes time but i thought how in gods name will i do carrington villa od Perfect Agent but after learning where everything is it became a breeze!

i just gave up on trying to complere PD on Perfect agent. I looked ahead of myslef and thought " i only just managed to do skedar ruins on easy, how da bloody hell am i gonna do it on perfect!?"

I have complete PD on Perfect agent but it took me bloody ages, it was damn near impossible, i don't believe that you did it without a problem, now that is impossible.

I still haven't completed Goldeneye. Still stuck on Control on 00 Agent. Just how do you keep Natalya from dying?

That damn woman...

Oh good-I thought it was just me!Games should be made hard to give an ongoing challenge. After all, which is worse:A game it takes you 5 hours to complete because it is so stupidly easy or a game which keeps you going for months or even years because it's extremely hard?

It's actuallyimpossible, unless you had the Invincibility cheat on. Or used an Action Replay.