[jackinov]

Hey guys,

Friend of mine lent me his copy of MGS4 the other day but before I leap into it I want to know what difficulty level I should opt for.

I've never played a MGS game before, nor any stealth-action game for that matter, so I'm coming to this game as a complete "newbie" so to speak.

That said I'm not a completely inept gamer. I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer by any means, but neither would I put myself in the casual gamer category. I'd say I'm an "avid gamer", one who sees gaming as a hobby but, like anyone who plays a sport in their free time, welcomes, to a certain degree, the challenge that comes with it. Put it this way: Devil May Cry was too much for me (although I did persist through it) but, on the other hand, I've played through Uncharted three times, once on Hard.

With all that said, what difficulty setting is right for me? Do the lower difficulty levels turn the enemy AI deaf, dumb and blind or does it just allow you to take more damage/hits?

[Decadence1]

This is what it says in the official strategy guide mate.

Liquid Easy: is the lowest setting, and should be used by complete beginners who have not previously played an action game or who lack confidence in their ability. This is a great way to practice before taking the step up to a higher difficulty level.

Naked Normal: is a natural progression from Easy. It's challenging, but won't take away from your enjoyment of the game by making things too difficult or frustrating. This is a good choice for anyone not too familiar with the Metal Gear Solid games.

Solid Normal: is the Default Difficulty level. It's the perfect setting for your first playthrough if you've finished all of the previous Metal Gear Solid games, and relish a stern test of your gaming prowess.

Big Boss Hard: everything is much more difficult. To complete the game at this level you will need both a very good understanding of MGS4's gameplay, as well as a solid knowledge of enemy behavior. In this mode, you will almost always need to favor stealth over action. An excellent choice if you want to increase the challenge on a second playthrough.

I personally went for naked normal.

[jackinov]

Naked Normal sounds about right. I'll post back on my thoughts regarding the difficulty later but, for the moment, thanks.

[phil_75]

I'd never played a MGS game before (can't belive I missed out!) so I played on naked normal ( you will have to watch some videos for tips when it comes to certain bosses, I think I'd still be ther now) Then I played solid normal and now I'm playing Big Boss!

The game just gets better everytime! This is without a doubt the best game I've ever played!

[jackinov]

Originally Posted by phil_75

I'd never played a MGS game before (can't belive I missed out!) so I played on naked normal ( you will have to watch some videos for tips when it comes to certain bosses, I think I'd still be ther now) Then I played solid normal and now I'm playing Big Boss!

The game just gets better everytime! This is without a doubt the best game I've ever played!

Well I've only completed the first two acts and already I've notched up over 8 hours of play time. Man, this game is epic!

I'm trying to play through the game as stealthily as I can, and right now I'm glad I opted for the Naked Normal difficulty setting. The game is forgiving enough that if the enemy catches sight of you and you trigger the Alert phase it's pretty easy to get out alive. I'm pretty sure on this difficulty setting I could go through the whole game all guns blazing, but that would be missing the whole point of MGS. That's not the way Snake would want it!