Is it just me or is the game really difficult?

[Reon Kenedi]

I may just suck massive balls but the game just feels a lot more difficult even on easy. Well, against the robots it’s difficult.

In the thermal room there’s way too many of them! I found myself cheesing the section and running back to the H3VR mercenaries every time I did a part of the puzzle to try to survive, even on easy! Did anyone else find this section difficult, do I have to employ any strategies, anything I missed that could reduce damage, block bullets or something?

[Puffy]

I would take the lift up to the higher platforms and snipe them from there.

[Ayyobee]

Although it feels a bit cheap, I did that for the first wave and then use the teleporter between shots.

[Reon Kenedi]

Originally posted by Ayyobee:

Although it feels a bit cheap, I did that for the first wave and then use the teleporter between shots.

I guess that section just kinda sucks?

Any other sections like that?

[Felio]

The game is much harder than vertigo 1. I wish we had a "story" difficulty so low-skill folks such as myself could finish the series.

[Reon Kenedi]

Originally posted by Felio:

The game is much harder than vertigo 1. I wish we had a "story" difficulty so low-skill folks such as myself could finish the series.

Yeah. The amount of shooter enemies they throw at you can be wayyy too overwhelming sometimes.

[Reon Kenedi]

The maple syrup men are my favorite enemies now. They're actually fun to fight while also being easy to die to if not you act reckless.

[BloodRayne001]

It's much more difficult than V1. Which is why you can edit the difficulty mode inside a text file to make either yourself more spongy, or the enemies less spongy.

[Ayyobee]

Originally posted by Reon Kenedi:

Originally posted by Ayyobee:

Although it feels a bit cheap, I did that for the first wave and then use the teleporter between shots.

I guess that section just kinda sucks?

Any other sections like that?

I've just come to the next area and it leaves you to choose between two factions. I will say that either faction will be difficult so look for a lotta heallth fruit. The syrup enemies were also my favorite.

[No-Face $hiba]

Originally posted by Felio:

The game is much harder than vertigo 1. I wish we had a "story" difficulty so low-skill folks such as myself could finish the series.

there is an easy difficulty which makes the game a cakewalk

[Reon Kenedi]

I started on normal and after the thermal section, began playing on easy. I’d say the beginning sections are my least favorite but now I’m starting to have a lot more fun now.

I liked choosing between the communist rebels, or the religious castle people (I forgot the name of them lol)

[Reon Kenedi]

I also have issues with reloading sometimes. WIsh we had a way to change the horizontal axis of the ammo pouch. We can only move it up and down and I like reaching closer towards my hip than farther away.

Yes, there's an ammo backpack option but I find that works only sometimes and I like to alternate between the two.

[Mr.Bombastic]

I would like to point out that less then fifty percent of players have gotten past chapter six. The boss is unreasonably hard and the spot right before the boss battle itself where you have to wait for the system to unlock the doors is also unreasonably hard.

The set up for the system unlock phase doesn't offer a lot of cover, you're cornered and swarmed with enemies with a heavy that always seems to hold back until the little guys wear you down. Though I haven't yet beaten the game I've yet to experience such a spike in difficulty.

Yes I believe the game is too hard towards the end of the sixth chapter. But aside from that the game feels balanced, fun and enjoyable. But that first boss is unfun and unforgivable. It could kill me in two hits.

I really think the developer should do what I did and look at the percent of people that have gotten achievements and takes that drop off of achievements to heart. The game goes from eighty percent completion at tail gunner but drops to just less then fifty percent at the next story related achievement. That is a failure to design a boss worth defeating. To top it all off after beating the boss you're told to get out of the boss arena as the lava is already filling the room. If you happen to be on the wrong side of the room you have no hope of getting out of the room in the first try.

The developer doesn't need to remove the boss or change it drastically. They could remove the shield the boss has, reduce the number of grenades required to break the shield, reduce the health of the boss entirely. reduce the damage the fire breath does or just change these things based on the difficulty level that the game is set on. Maybe on very easy all of these things are changed and on normal, hard and very hard the boss would remain unchanged.

At the end of the day chapter six kills the fun for half of the people that play Vertigo 2 which means the developer receives half of the word of mouth they deserve. That means less sales and less chance for a sequel or big DLC for us.

TL;DR: Less then fifty percent of players have beaten level six. The game is empirically hard in chapter six in such a way that half the player base give up. This is a failure of balance and game design and should be fixed for the benefit of players and the developer.

InB4 some scrub tells me to get good.

[bronsky]

Yes, the game is definitely much more difficult than Vertigo 1. And you haven't met the stealth robots that stab you to death before you can see them and push your gun so you can't shoot back yet!
And it's true that the difficulty spikes could be less abrupt. Easy mode or not, the first boss is probably the most difficult in the game, maybe even before the level 10 bosses. Hitting such a wall surely discourages a large number of players, as evidenced by the numbers and many posts on the forum. And not everyone can or wants to use the console commands. I'm convinced many people don't even comment because there is always a smart guy answering something like "skill issue"...

[Skummeh]

Originally posted by Mr.Bombastic:

I would like to point out that less then fifty percent of players have gotten past chapter six. The boss is unreasonably hard and the spot right before the boss battle itself where you have to wait for the system to unlock the doors is also unreasonably hard.

The set up for the system unlock phase doesn't offer a lot of cover, you're cornered and swarmed with enemies with a heavy that always seems to hold back until the little guys wear you down. Though I haven't yet beaten the game I've yet to experience such a spike in difficulty.

Yes I believe the game is too hard towards the end of the sixth chapter. But aside from that the game feels balanced, fun and enjoyable. But that first boss is unfun and unforgivable. It could kill me in two hits.

I really think the developer should do what I did and look at the percent of people that have gotten achievements and takes that drop off of achievements to heart. The game goes from eighty percent completion at tail gunner but drops to just less then fifty percent at the next story related achievement. That is a failure to design a boss worth defeating. To top it all off after beating the boss you're told to get out of the boss arena as the lava is already filling the room. If you happen to be on the wrong side of the room you have no hope of getting out of the room in the first try.

The developer doesn't need to remove the boss or change it drastically. They could remove the shield the boss has, reduce the number of grenades required to break the shield, reduce the health of the boss entirely. reduce the damage the fire breath does or just change these things based on the difficulty level that the game is set on. Maybe on very easy all of these things are changed and on normal, hard and very hard the boss would remain unchanged.

At the end of the day chapter six kills the fun for half of the people that play Vertigo 2 which means the developer receives half of the word of mouth they deserve. That means less sales and less chance for a sequel or big DLC for us.

TL;DR: Less then fifty percent of players have beaten level six. The game is empirically hard in chapter six in such a way that half the player base give up. This is a failure of balance and game design and should be fixed for the benefit of players and the developer.

InB4 some scrub tells me to get good.

Those percentages are shockingly similar for a lot of games, but yeah the difficulty spike is significant there for sure. That said, after getting more accustomed to the enemy movements and the boss attacks, the entire game is pretty easy for me now if I use teleport to escape sticky situations. The biggest struggle for me was adjusting to that, as I hate teleporting while in combat. I actually got up to Saplord without needing to teleport at all during fights, but there it was kind of necessary on Hard Difficulty. Hit the weak spots with the revolver at range or run up to enemies and pop them with the shotgun. As for the bosses including the first one, just learn the scripted attacks and then dodge, shoot, dodge, repeat.

[Mr.Bombastic]

Originally posted by Skummeh:

Originally posted by Mr.Bombastic:

InB4 some scrub tells me to get good.

Those percentages are shockingly similar for a lot of games,

I have to disagree with you. The Achievements when charted out looks like other games sure but only at first glance. It's very rare to see such a huge drop between the second story related achievement and the third story related achievement. The other non story related achievements are possible to achieve by playing the same five levels over and over again.

The fact is that it's a poorly implemented boss. I understand that people want to be proud that they did something others can't do and people who struggle don't want to advertise that. Just be serious here. Yes I'm sure it's possible for half of the player base to beat. How many of that half had to turn on god mode. How many people would admit that. It's a real problem when the first boss gates half of the players from moving on. Especially when every following boss is far more easy to deal with.

The difficulty balance is off and I'll stand by that opinion. At least eighty percent of players should be able to get past the first boss with out any issue.