Ranger Hardcore is the worst

[Mattchester]

A month ago I replayed the first two games on Ranger difficulty and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, probably even more than on release. So picture my surprise when I started playing Exodus on Ranger Hardcore and after 5 hours of frustration, rage and nearly throwing my controller at the TV had to start a new game on a lower difficulty. A part of it is me using a controller instead of mouse + keyboard, sure, but it's far from the main issue. Ranger mode in Exodus is simply broken and while you probably can finish the game this way, it turns it into an excrutiating experience that only a masochist could enjoy. It boils down to a couple issues.

1. Damage: Ranger makes you way more vulnerable than in previous games. I've been 1-shot from 40 meter shotgun blasts. Basically anything bigger than a mosquito can kill Artyom in 2 hits. Yeah, the guy who survived countless gunfights, falls, fires and an actual war.

2. AI: The second an enemy sees you, you're basically dead, because they can go from a bored guard on patrol to John Rambo with pinpoint accuracy in about 5 miliseconds. They can take a perfect long distance sniper shot with an AK 1 second after they raise their weapon, it's ridiculous. Because of this, most enemy encounters are about luck, not tactics or even reflexes.

3. Metro tunnels are full of obstacles and corridors to use as cover. Not so much outside, where most of Exodus takes place. You can get caught behind a single piece of cover with no way out. It makes shootouts more frustrating and cheap than suspenseful and fair.

4. Autosave: I'm now using quick saves and I still absolutely hate the autosave function in this game, so the idea that I'd have to rely on it later in the game seems insane. It just doesn't work. There seems to be no logic as to the time or place when it activates, but the game sure loves so save the worst situations possible. Like 5 seconds after raising the alarm or right before a pack of angry mutants tears you to shreds with little to no chance of survival.

5. Scripted moments: Some lienar moments and boss fights are nearly impossible to pass without taking some damage, do I can't even imagine passing them on RHC. Maybe after 40 retrys and a ton of luck, but again, where's the fun in that.

6. Stealth: I've seen some people reccomend avoiding any gunfight and going full stealth when playing RHC. I'm sorry, but this is first and foremost a shooter, and a damn good one. How is ignoring the main part of the genre and a well-designed semi-realistic combat system "the way it's supposed to be played"? That's like playing GTA and saying you can't drive cars.

All in all, the Ranger mode in Exodus is the worst case of artificial and punishing difficulty I've seen in a while. It makes the game unbalanced and basically demands you to play it like Thief, only without the complex stealth mechanics and gadgets that would make such a playthrough fun.

[EvilKlown]

Honestly you said it yourself.. "well-designed semi-realistic combat system". On RHC it gets rough, like it should. I mean you're 1 guy against the world full of enemies. All guns are pointed at you, do you expect something else?

Stick to the shadows and don't use your light unless you need to. Use silencers and choose your fights wisely. Not everything has to die, that's actually never been the focus of the Metro games.

If you can sneak by without engaging the enemy then maybe it would be best to do that, otherwise move slow, steady and stay low. Pick your shots as well, if you don't have a perfectly clear shot then wait or relocate.

As for any boss fight type of instance, use cover as much as you can. Make use of your throwables and if you have a chance to return to the train before such a situation, be sure to gear up for the expected fight.

Good luck :D

[S W I F T • L I G H T I N G]

Yep, all right.
For fun better playing with easy-difficult mode.

[Waiting to Visit Japan (^.-)]

Originally posted by Mattchester:

after 5 hours of frustration, rage and nearly throwing my controller at the TV

Based on your reaction, the problem is not the game.

[Jig McGalliger]

I'm good with the current RHC, the AI isn't too easy like earlier games. This isn't CoD, not all your problems are solved with a gun. Hardmode is supposed to be hard, there are easier modes for those that can't handle it.

[savetheracoons]

Originally posted by Waiting to Visit Japan (^.-):

Originally posted by Mattchester:

after 5 hours of frustration, rage and nearly throwing my controller at the TV

Based on your reaction, the problem is not the game.

I beg to differ im expiriencing this game in ranger hardcore trying to steak through the volga with 1000+ hours in stealth games and i now know that hes not lying i also have the urge to chuck my controller at the tv

[CRAGNAR]

I just beat it on Ranger Hardcore. Some parts or frustrating because you cannot save scum, but I found them to be fun too.

When you can't just shoot the blind ones and got to run it gets tense. Or when you have to clear out the entire bandit camp and you can't save.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Definitely the time to do the bad endings for sure.

[`Creative]

I've completed it on RHC.. was it difficult? Yes.. Is it something to complain about? No..

I love it when a game developer actually creates a difficulty that lives up to its name..

Too many games dilute the difficulty their "hardcore" or "nightmare" modes.. The harder a mode is, the less "fun" it should be.

For example in 'The Volga' level where you have to steal the tug boat and sail to the bridge, you either have to kill everyone on/off-board that boat, or stealth through it. The choice is yours, though "logically" the choice would be to stealth through it, to avoid the challenge of a 1v10 gunfight. I found ample opportunity to shoot people, and where it wasn't the most logical course, I didn't.

You are wrong to say ' this is first and foremost a shooter'. This game places a lot of emphasis on the 'survival' aspect (particularly in ranger hardcore). So while you can choose the 'shoot em up' route, it is not always the best choice - and the game has been balanced to reflect that. It's not a CoD game where killing/destroying everything that moves IS always the choice.

It's also fundamentally important to keep in mind, that this game was developed by a European dev team, they have a different way of storytelling and way of developing a shooter. It's something to be appreciated, and is what drew me to the Metro games. You'd be setting yourself up for disappointment, expecting a game like this "to be like" western shooter games.

[A Pebble]

You're not wrong. I finished the game on Ranger Hardcore a couple years ago and I remember it being SIGNIFICANTLY more tedious compared to 2033 and Last Light.

The part that I remember the most was in the desert part of the game where you have to run down a straight path to kill a sniper in a big tower. The guy constantly 1 shots you as soon as you peek from cover... Then once you get up to the tower and the reinforcements show up, the guys down below kill you almost immediately with their perfect aim and lack of cover. I died at least 30 times on that section until I finally got lucky. The previous games were so much better in the difficulty balancing regard.

[SpiralOut69]

I never had this much trouble and I've never played this game on lower difficulty than the highest. It's a stealth game, not a run and gun shooter. Especially on the highest difficulty. Yeah it is annoying sometimes when you get 1 shot but that's realistic, which is the point. If you're getting caught that much then that's your problem. The AI and difficulty is fine.

[SpiralOut69]

If anything the stealth really isn't that hard. You can stand 10m in front of a guy out in the open, and if it's sort of dark, they won't see you, but in reality it's not that dark out and you can see just fine.

You can suppress nearly every weapon in the game and it'll be as silent as they are in the movies, the guy 20m away won't hear you shoot his comrade or hear his body drop to the floor. You can use throwing knives with perfect accuracy, always hitting your target, and they instantly die without making a sound if you hit them in the leg.

This game still has so many unrealistic things working in your favor that when I play I actually use self imposed rules and don't abuse any of these features, or use them at all. Tikhar/Helsing are the only silenced weapons I use, throwing knives only to the head/neck or not at all... actually try to use cover when I stealth.

Metro has never been a COD run and gun shooter. Lower difficulties sure. The whole point of Ranger Hardcore is ammo and resources, including healing supplies are scarce, autosaves are less common, quick saving is disabled, and safe hideouts are less common. The game literally tells you all this. All of those things are counter intuitive to taking every engagement, wasting tons of ammo, taking damage and taking risks. I go through the whole game never using full auto. It's dumb to complain about those features when you chose to play the mode with those.

[MacAttack]

Originally posted by Mattchester:

A month ago I replayed the first two games on Ranger difficulty and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, probably even more than on release. So picture my surprise when I started playing Exodus on Ranger Hardcore and after 5 hours of frustration, rage and nearly throwing my controller at the TV had to start a new game on a lower difficulty. A part of it is me using a controller instead of mouse + keyboard, sure, but it's far from the main issue. Ranger mode in Exodus is simply broken and while you probably can finish the game this way, it turns it into an excrutiating experience that only a masochist could enjoy. It boils down to a couple issues.

1. Damage: Ranger makes you way more vulnerable than in previous games. I've been 1-shot from 40 meter shotgun blasts. Basically anything bigger than a mosquito can kill Artyom in 2 hits. Yeah, the guy who survived countless gunfights, falls, fires and an actual war.

2. AI: The second an enemy sees you, you're basically dead, because they can go from a bored guard on patrol to John Rambo with pinpoint accuracy in about 5 miliseconds. They can take a perfect long distance sniper shot with an AK 1 second after they raise their weapon, it's ridiculous. Because of this, most enemy encounters are about luck, not tactics or even reflexes.

3. Metro tunnels are full of obstacles and corridors to use as cover. Not so much outside, where most of Exodus takes place. You can get caught behind a single piece of cover with no way out. It makes shootouts more frustrating and cheap than suspenseful and fair.

4. Autosave: I'm now using quick saves and I still absolutely hate the autosave function in this game, so the idea that I'd have to rely on it later in the game seems insane. It just doesn't work. There seems to be no logic as to the time or place when it activates, but the game sure loves so save the worst situations possible. Like 5 seconds after raising the alarm or right before a pack of angry mutants tears you to shreds with little to no chance of survival.

5. Scripted moments: Some lienar moments and boss fights are nearly impossible to pass without taking some damage, do I can't even imagine passing them on RHC. Maybe after 40 retrys and a ton of luck, but again, where's the fun in that.

6. Stealth: I've seen some people reccomend avoiding any gunfight and going full stealth when playing RHC. I'm sorry, but this is first and foremost a shooter, and a damn good one. How is ignoring the main part of the genre and a well-designed semi-realistic combat system "the way it's supposed to be played"? That's like playing GTA and saying you can't drive cars.

All in all, the Ranger mode in Exodus is the worst case of artificial and punishing difficulty I've seen in a while. It makes the game unbalanced and basically demands you to play it like Thief, only without the complex stealth mechanics and gadgets that would make such a playthrough fun.

Your second to last point is why you are having so much trouble.

"I'm sorry, but this is first and foremost a shooter, and a damn good one. How is ignoring the main part of the genre and a well-designed semi-realistic combat system "the way it's supposed to be played"? That's like playing GTA and saying you can't drive cars."

You can't play Metro with this mindset. While it is a FPS game, it wasn't designed (especially when playing on Ranger Hardcore) to be played like your typical FPS. There are sections in Exodus that MUST be passed with stealth unless you want to struggle all night fighting 20 enemies. Stealth through areas whenever possible and only engage enemies that you know will not alert their squad/group.

You could cheese the game a little more in Last Light and 2033 in Ranger Hardcore, but not so much in Exodus. The gunplay in Exodus may be the best out of the series, but it's not the focus if you can believe that. The game teases you just as much with gunfights as it does with stealth, yet the stealth is the "easier," more beneficial option.

Yes, the game is still frustratingly hard regardless of stealth or going guns blazing. It has its quirks, and there could be tweaks made to the levels to improve the flow in RHC mode, but it is totally doable. I have beat Exodus several times on Full Dive RHC, each attempt becoming slightly easier with practice. Don't give up.

People like to say Dark Souls is "the hardest game ever," but maybe that's more of a meme now. I always counter by saying "try playing Metro on RHC or Descent 3 on Insane Difficulty." lol

Just my 0.02.

[sorrow]

ranger hardcore isnt even that hard lmao. It should be the standard difficulty tbh. I started my first and only playthrough on RH and didnt regret it.

[Sunsphere11]

RHC is definitely less well balanced in Exodus compared to the previous games (and I play with a stealth focus). However the only part of the game I was really regretting activating it was Caspian. The size of that map made re-doing lost progress extremely tedious.

[Dracul]

RHC enemy auto aim is pretty BS - few things are as annoying as getting repeatedly headshot by a guy wielding a stock SMG from across the map. And heaven forbid they actually have a sniper rifle. That thing comes with wall hacks.

Oh and getting instantly headshot by a gatlin guy, no spin up for those boys!

[galan]

Anyone having trouble with RHC should look at walkthroughs by patologTV.