What difficulty should I play in ?

[Kintaro]

As the time nears when I start gaming for the first time ( the retail version ), I wanted to ask the more experienced users as to which difficulty should I choose:

 

As I understand, saving in Normal and Hard is identical, correct ?

 

And second, the manual states that there are different "mission briefings" for the three difficulties. Now...how well done are the mission briefings in normal / hard mode ? Any differences ?

 

Sorry for the questions, but I don't want to miss out anything the first time I play it ( always the best time ). I do not care so much about the actual difficulty with enemy A.I, EXP, starting equipment and medic treatment.

[Biggles]

I would play in 'Hard' mode. This is actually more like most game's Normal.

 

When playing in 'Normal' your damage is increased and the damage the enemy does to you is decreased. You also get told what clues you are looking for on each map. Your soldiers magically heal themselves.

 

So play on Hard... it's a more satisfying experience, and at least if you get frustrated there is an easier level to drop down to.

[ShadowHunter]

If you don't want to miss anything at all, play on normal. It shows all the objectives you can do in each mission so you have more chance of doing everything :wink:

[Kintaro]

Thanks you two.

 

So...another question: What is the exact difference in the mission descriptions between normal and hard ? Do I miss cool cutscenes, voice overs and dialoge when playing in hard ?

[ShadowHunter]

You won't see the objectives in hard and impossible modes, the enemy is smarter (somewhat :roll:), and they get stat boosts

[Alaeth]

You won't see the objectives in hard and impossible modes, the enemy is smarter (somewhat :roll:), and they get stat boosts

Well... not entirely true. In Hard mode, you don't get to see the objective details, but you'll still know if you haven't finished one because it will show up as "Unknown Objective" or some such.

 

Only after you find a clue/person/whatever do the details become clear in Hard mode. Which really makes no sense to me... why are we going to location X if we don't know the reason? You'd think HQ would give you some breifing rather than just "Go here... you'll figure out what to do." /shrug

[Kintaro]

Arrrg.

 

So, last question, there are no mission briefings at all in hard mode ?

 

Are those mission briefings done well in normal mode ? ( voice-over, cut scene wise )

 

What do they show, for instance ?

[Biggles]

Mission briefings in this game are handled a bit differently to other games.

 

Because each tiem you play each 'mission' is different, so there are no real 'briefings' as such there would be no way for the game to know what to brief you on.

 

Instead you receive intelligence and reports based on what you found in earlier missions. These reports fill out the story and let you know what might be the next best location to go looking.

 

Within the missions themselves you sometimes get cut scenes and plot stuff. These are done with the game engine, and happen on all difficulty levels.

 

What we mean hen we say you don't get told your objectives is that in a mission you can click on an objectives button to get a run down on tasks required and what you have completed. In Normal mode this reads like a shopping list... find this clue, rescue this scientist, capture this badguy etc

 

BUT.. on Hard or Impossible your 'list' is a lot less informative. You know from your journal that you are seeking information hee and there's likely to be someone or somethig useful. But, as in real life, you have no idea what! All your objectives are question marks and only get filled in as you complete them.

 

I hope this helps.

[Kintaro]

Thanks Biggles ! Seems I will try Hard then, as it seems its only difficulty matters !

 

Btw...can you destroy clues, by accident for example ?

[ShadowHunter]

No. But you can "accidently" kill a person that you're supposed to capture... :twisted:

Sometimes clues will disappear when you blow up the floor where it's at, but that's just a bug :roll: