Balancing difficulty settings has been a problem in the gaming industry ever since games decided to feature them. Hitting that perfect middle ground between challenge and fun is often Herculean task. but it looks like Square Enix is is going to let the player have more freedom over the difficulty of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, with highly customizable difficulty options designed to make the game more accessible/challenging to all kinds of players.
This new system will allow players to choose specific difficulty settings for the three main gameplay sections; combat, traversal, and puzzles. There are four unique settings for the aforementioned trio: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Deadly Obsession. While traditional options like easy, normal, and hard can be swapped at any time, once a player chooses Deadly Obsession, it applies to all three categories and they will be unable to change the difficulty for the remainder of the playthrough.
Given below are the entire list of difficulty options that will be available in Lara’s latest outing.
COMBAT
Easy
- Aim assist enabled
- Enemies have lower health and do less damage
- Ammunition boxes are plentiful
- Enemies have illuminated silhouettes
Normal
- Enemies have normal health and damage
- Ammunition boxes are rare
- Enemies have illuminated silhouettes
Hard
- Enemies have increased health, do more damage and locate Lara more quickly.
- No health regeneration in combat
- Ammunition boxes are rare
- No hit markers on the reticle
- Enemies are not highlighted in Survival Instincts
Deadly Obsession
- Same as hard
- No HUD icon when Lara is being detected by an enemy
EXPLORATION
Easy
- Obvious white paint on critical path
- Longer saving grab timer
- Base camps are lit
Normal
- Discreet white paint on critical path
- Normal saving grab timer
- Base camps are unlit
Hard
- No white paint on critical path
- Reduced saving grab timer
- No Survival Instincts during exploration
- Base camps are unlit
Deadly Obsession
- Same as Hard
- Base camps are unlit and require resources to light
- Game only saves at Base camps
PUZZLES
Easy
- Lara gives direct hints on next action to perform
- Interactable objects are highlighted in Survival Instincts
- Objects necessary to progress highlighted in blue during Survival Instincts
- Longer window of opportunity for timed mechanics
Normal
- Lara gives general hints on the next action to perform
- Interactable objects are highlighted in Survival Instincts
- Normal window of opportunity for timed mechanics
Hard/Deadly Obsession
- No hints are given by Lara
- No Survival Instincts
- Shorter window of opportunity for timer mechanics
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is set to release for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on September 14.