Playthrough of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, starting a New Game on Give Me
Deus Ex (Hard) difficulty). This playthrough includes only the main game
and no side quests, except one that is essential.
Similar to Deus Ex Human Revolution, Mankind Divided continues on the theme of the dystopic future, this time its main setting being a bright and colorful Prague. The game is fast-paced and rich, with strong emotional moments, lots of exploration and very interesting secondary characters. The stealth system is highly improved: you can even play nearly all the story stealthily, and if certain conditions are met, even the final boss fight can be dealt with in an alternative, almost no-fight way.
Of all the games that I have played in high difficulties and crazy modes, even the most hardcore ones, the Akumu mode of 'The Evil Within' has to be, by very far, the toughest and most unforgiving. Set on the highest difficulty level of the game, this mode additionally has Sebastian die with the slightest hit. In the essence, what this challenge requires from the player is to go through the chapters without taking any damage. Aknowledging this, however, doesn't make the whole experience any less frustrating, given that even if you manage to dodge enemy attacks, you may very well die by accidentally stepping on a bear trap or because a seemingly fallen zombie unexpectedly waves its arm and scratches Sebastian's knee. What makes The Evil Within's Akumu the most insane of such challenges is that your window of safety is extremely limited, to the point that Sebastian may die if a zombie does so little as barely touch him. 'Akumu' means 'incubus' in Japanese, and after conquering this mode myself, I can assure you it is this way for a very good reason.
The game won't let you choose the Akumu mode on a New Game Plus, which means that the first time you play in this difficulty will be in a fresh New Game. That said, there are certain things to keep in mind as you go:
» You shouldn't waste green gel on upgrading Sebastian's life gauge, syringe-carrying capability or syringe recovery. It doesn't matter if your life is just one dot or one full bar; if you get hit, you will instantly die anyway. » Matches are vital. They are your best 'weapon'. They can burn enemies before they come to life, they burn fallen enemies in bunches, they can help keep a certain boss at bay. Upgrading them is cheap, so it's wise to invest in doing this before anything else. » The Agony Bow is a treasure. Even when it is not fully upgraded, it is probably the most effective weapon. Its Flash Bolts, Shock Bolts and Freeze Bolts are your best friends. Flash Bolts stun enemies so that you can kill them with stealth, Shock Bolts stop enemies in groups and you can burn them with a single match when they fall, Freeze Bolts freeze enemies and you can either smash them or wait for them to break on their own. And of course it's the seemingly humble Harpoon, which however can seriously hurt enemies and when it is fully upgraded it becomes a super powerful Fire Bolt that insta-kills whoever it shoots. » The Shotgun is essential. Maybe not that powerful when not upgraded, but it has great stopping power and it can keep enemies away when you are out of room to run. » The Sprint ability is life-saving, so you should start upgrading it as soon as possible. It is not necessary to boost it to the last level, but try to bring it up to a decent one. You definitely must be able to sprint long enough from a point and on.
Most of the situations in Akumu are as tense and as tough as they come, however there are certain ones that require much more caution, strategy and patience.
The Butcher Sadist (Chapter 1)
Not really a tough section per se, but it gets significantly more challenging in Akumu due to the part where you have to sneak past the Sadist in the hospital room and the storage area that is beyond it. In the lower difficulties, the path to the exit is clear and you can just wait until the Sadist looks away and run to the door. In Akumu however the path is blocked by crates. For some reason, Sebastian is not able to smash them yet (thankfully he gains that ability in the next chapter), which means that you need to have the Sadist get in the storage room and break them with his chainsaw without seeing you.
This is also the case on Nightmare difficulty (the hardest of the regular modes), so if you have completed this mode already, you more or less know how to move. When the Sadist smashed the crates, I threw a bottle inside the previous room, so he immediately rushed there, giving me time to get outside.
It is notable, however, that while in the lower difficulties even if the Sadist spots you as you are running for the exit, he will start chasing you but most likely won't hit you, in Akumu (and Nightmare as well) if he notices Sebastian, our hero is doomed to suffer a rather gruesome death by the dreadful chainsaw.
The Haunted Bunch (Chapter 2)
This is the section after the one where you get the cutscene with the two villagers that turn into Haunted. After you get past this part, there is this vast open area with a few ruined houses and several Haunted patrolling the field. There are way more zombies in Akumu than in the lower difficulties, and moreover they are much more agile and can sense Sebastian way easier and faster. A serious disadvantage for Sebastian here is that the pistol that he found earlier has very little ammo in it, but this is only a minor reason why you shouldn't use it. The main reason is that the slightest gunshot will attract the attention of all the zombies in the area and Sebastian will be swarmed. To make things worse in this part, accidentally stepping on a bear trap equals instant death.
What I did to get past this cursed section was to stealthily kill the three zombies that hold torches. Two of them are in the main open area, and a third one is patrolling in the garden of the lone house at the end of the path on the right side (it's the house that holds the map fragment). This way, I had three torches available to use against enemies. The torches burn them to death instantly and you don't have to waste any matches to burn the corpses afterwards. Just make sure you get away from them after burning them, because thanks to this mode's unforgiving mechanics, they are still able to attack you as they burn to death. Another thing I did was to move around carefully and stealth-kill whoever I could. I managed to lure an enemy or two towards a bear trap, then I carefully went up to them and set them on fire with a match. It's a bit tricky, however, because they can still hit you and thus insta-kill you as they wave their arms in panic while trapped.
The Village (Chapter 3)
This section is very demanding and it has several zombies appearing out of nowhere. To make things worse, there is a bonus Ruvik clone who is patrolling close to the exit gate. This guy goes down very easily, even in Akumu, as long as you don't allow him to spawn those deadly claw arms from the ground. On the contrary, the one who can really be a pain is the lone sniper on top of a balcony on the far left. This guy is more dangerous than the Ruvik clone, because he can get you randomly any given time. At some point, I had just disposed of the Ruvik clone and next thing you know, Sebastian was falling dead from the sniper's shot.
So I figured that it would be clever to kill the sniper first and clear that area, then go for the Ruvik clone: I explored the village carefully, collecting items and stuff; I visited the barn, both of its floors, the watchtower and all the areas up to the part where the Ruvik clone was patrolling. All this in the sneak position, to eliminate the possibility of an unexpected attack. Then I moved to the back of the barn, killed the enemies there and entered carefully the house with the lone sniper. Now this part was quite tricky and nasty, as the zombies that are in that house are able to surprise you in all the wrong moments. It all ended well though, and in the end I managed to exit in the balcony and stealth-kill the damned sniper.
After this, getting rid of the Ruvik clone was a piece of cake. Although for some reason it seems impossible to sneak behind him and kill him with stealth; he will always sense Sebastian and turn around before you have the time to attack him. It looks like only in Casual you can do this; some people claim that it is possible in Survival too, but I never got it to happen; let alone in Nightmare or Akumu. So I shot an explosive arrow on him and it was all over in seconds.
The Village Sadist (Chapter 3)
Unlike the Sadist in the butchery, you have to kill this one to move on. Explosive arrows work great to make him lose enough health, and then you can shoot a couple of Flash Bolts to stun him and sneak up to him tio finish him off with the knife. If you plan your moves well, you won't even have to worry about the random minions that will be coming along - the Flash Bolt will keep them stunned anyway.
The Blood Pool (Chapter 4)
This is the part where you drop after Sebastian decides to run after Ruvik and gets separated from Leslie and the doctor. In lower difficulties, you only have to deal with zombies (of several sizes) here. Since I had already completed Nightmare, I knew that I had to fight a Ruvik clone in Akumu as well. Thankfully, the clone waits on the other side of the pool, so I had the time to fend off several enemies with a grenade, and then I run to him, hoping to catch him while he was standing on the oil patch. What I did in my Nightmare playthrough, I did here as well: I hit him with the Shotgun while he was standing on the oil patch, before he had the time to spawn the creepy Laura hands from the floor, and he was set on fire immediately.
Saving Juli (Chapter 5)
This section in Chapter 5 is by far the worst up to that point in the game. The situation itself would have been significantly easier if you didn't have to worry about Joseph (thankfully the one-hit-kill thing doesn't apply to him). Because the game knows you are playing on Akumu, it will do its best to make things impossible for Sebastian, having nearly all the enemies attacking his partner, causing him serious damage.
The first sequence is probably the toughest, as Sebastian is on top of the balcony and Joseph is already surrounded by enemies below. What I did was to shoot a few explosive bolts from above, to rid of as many enemies as I could. I then jumped down and stayed close to Joseph, using mostly my trusty shotgun and burning the fallen enemies in groups.
After the checkpoint, several enemies come running, dynamite in hand. Sometimes Joseph will shoot them down before they get too close, but it's better to shoot them yourself too just to be sure. Other times the enemies will remain on the balcony and throw dynamites where Sebastian and Joseph are. This can be very helpful because the dropped dynamites can insta-kill other enemies that are chasing you (just make sure you are not near when the explosion happens). Incidentally I noticed that, after the checkpoint, Joseph would never get hit. Not sure if this was random or it's something intended by the game, but in any event it was very good news. It gave me enough freedom to run around, and deal with enemies hiding on the balcony.
When the next bunch arrived, I shot a Shock Bolt which electrified most of them, and then I burned them with a match. The remaining ones were dealth with with my pistol mostly. There was a stray one who started chasing Sebastian, dynamite in hand. I lured him on the balcony and kept on running. Within seconds I heard a 'kaboom!' as he was obviously killed by his own weapon.
Laura (Chapter 5)
As if Laura wasn't enough of a painful story by default, now in Akumu (like in Nightmare) there are no explosive barrels to make your life easier; you have to rely on the two torches, the several corpses and the two furnace rooms, hoping that she will be burned enough to die (for now).
Laura spawns in the middle of the room, via a corpse, once you approach that area. I always find it better to burn her with one of the torches at that point, to inflict more damage on her. I then run around and stand by each one of the corpses, using a match to burn the dead body as soon as she spawns. I also use the second torch when I get close to it.
As for the furnace rooms, the one on the left (when the exit is in front of you) is I think the most convenient; in the other one, Laura always manages to get me. In any event, as long as you start the furnace and make sure Laura gets burned once from its flames, you can run around in circles to lure her there once more; the flames in the furnace raise and fall continuously, so at some point, as Laura is chasing Sebastian, she will be burnt one more time, and hopefully this will be the fatal one.
The Burning House (Chapter 6)
This chapter is, from start to finish, what truly makes this mode what it is. If you manage to go through it in Akumu and succeed in completing it, you are essentially done with this difficulty. Although the rest of the game features several extremely challenging and frustrating situations until the finale, nothing can compare to the absolute and total nightmare that is Chapter 6.
First is the two-storey burning house, where Joseph has to dismante two consecutive bomb-trapped doors. The floor where you begin is probably the worst, as you have very limited space to move. There are also the two barrels you can use against the enemies, but you have to be careful because if you are too close when they catch fire, Sebastian may burn to death. And I have to state here that the lack of a checkpoint between the two floors is just plainly cruel and insane.
After several retries, I saw that when a certain number of enemies have appeared, no additional ones will show up as long as the last bunch stays alive. So I killed the first small waves, threw a grenade when the bigger one was about to burst in, and then shot a Flash Bolt to stun the remaining ones, until Joseph was ready to open the door.
The lower floor where the second part of this crazy battle takes place looks better because you have more space to move, but in fact it's a lot trickier than the previous room because the enemies arrive from several spots and can easily overwhelm you. What I did was to move next to Joseph and stay close to him for most of the time, trying to keep the enemies back as much as I could by shooting them down as they approached and then burning them. I shot Flash Bolts, Shock Bolts, whatever I could so as to make sure noone would get close to Sebastian and his partner.
The Ruins (Chapter 6)
This next part can be done really fast but it can also frustrate the hell out of you. You need to kill the four enemies that are throwing arrows from the tower as quickly as possible, because the longer they stay live, the more zombies will be spawning from all directions. I managed to get done with this part relatively quickly and with not so many retries. In fact my biggest problem was Joseph who would constantly get fatally hit, and far less the enemies that would attack Sebastian.
The Bridge (Chapter 6)
The next tough part is beyond the bridge, after Sebastian saves Joseph from the guillotine. While Joseph is turning the wheel to open the gate for what seems to be a century and a half, Sebastian has to fight off the incoming zombies. This section was a much more a pain than I expected it to be, moreso because every now and then a zombie would attack Joseph and hit him to death. I reloaded this part way more times than I did the previous one (though not as many as the burning house one).
Zehn and Neun (Chapter 6)
Next up, the two boys move on to the market place for some peace and quiet, which unfortunately doesn't last for too long, as a few steps further Sebastian will have to defeat the cute twins, Zehn and Neun. I don't know which is which so I will just say the first and the second. The first twin is easier because he moves more slowly and you have the time to prepare your attacks better. I used a Flash Bolt to stun him and then shot him with a couple of Harpoons and the Shotgun, and when he fell on his knees, I finished him off with the pistol. The second twin is way faster for some inexplicable reason, and he is also significantly more resilient. I stunned him with two consecutive Flash Bolts, used the Shotgun to make him fall and killed him with the pistol, like I did with his brother.
The Sentinel (Chapter 6)
The Sentinel in Akumu is very gross and disgusting because not only it will insta-kill Sebastian if its attack is successful, but moreover the result of such an attack is that Sebastian will be in pieces all over the yard. To avoid witnessing such a macabre scene, I first threw two grenades in the bushes where the Sentinel ran to hide after the cutscene. When it emerged outside, obviously dizzied by the explosions, I had the chance to shoot it with the Shotgun a few times. It then hid in another bush, so I shot Shock Bolts in there to hopefully stun it. I then shot it with the Shotgun a few more times and I have to say I was surprised to see it go down so quickly.
The Keepers Room (Chapter 7)
I don't know if it was because I had gone through the impossible trial that was Chapter 6, or because Chapter 7 is indeed much easier, but I had no real issues with this level, and the Keepers in the room where you are trapped after Leslie runs away is quite easy to deal with. These Keepers don't need a lot of ammo to go down, and can be successfully stunned with a simple Harpoon if shot at the right time; then you can finish them off even with the pistol, although Explosive Bolts are definitely faster. And of course you can always freeze them to gain time. Normally I wouldn't have included this part in this list, as it is so easy in Akumu; but it deserved a place because of the poison timer which moves a lot faster in this mode, adding a bonus challenge to keep you on your toes.
The Babies Cave (Chapter 8)
While Chapter 8 is a promenade even in Nightmare, it is doomed to surprise you in Akumu because of the notorious 'babies': those tiny human-like creatures than spawn in a cave about midway through the chapter, and their bites which pass unnoticed on all lower difficulties, but can be fatal in this mode. What I did to pass this part was to trigger their appearance, and then to start running around, crushing them under my feet and hoping that I wouldn't get bitten by a stray one in the next flooded part.
Ruvik (Chapter 9)
When you enter Ruvik's estate, he will make sure to chase you relentlessly, turning the whole place blue and chasing you around the house. In Akumu difficulty, he chases you for much longer, and he can also teleport much faster and block your path as you are trying to run away, resulting in Sebastian's death. There is not a specific trick to go past these sequences, just be ready to run away as far as possible when the screen turns blue, and don't stop running until the colours are back to normal.
The Trapped Circus Room (Chapter 10)
This is the dark room very close to the start of the chapter, where you have to move to an upper floor and grab a battery, then go to a room on the ground floor and insert it so as to open the exit. There are several alarms in the room connected with tripwire, so it's recommended that you sneak around carefully and dismantle them; also kill the lone zombie who is patrolling in the room. Once you get in the small corridor, the alarms will sound anyway, and in the main room the huge blades will start rotating, with a beautiful but creepy circus musing playing in the background. Up where the battery is, you need to take care of a group of zombies waiting, as well as two snipers who are guarding the balcony on the opposite side. You can shoot those two from inside the room just before your own balcony, and Sebastian won't have to worry about getting hit.
Once you get back down, you will have to sneak under the blades, trigger the appearance of two zombies from the last room then go back and wait for them. If they won't get decapitated by the blades, you can easily kill them when they reach you. You then need to carefully go to that last room, shoot and burn the zombies in there and insert the battery to open the door.
Update note: During my recent Nightmare/New Game/No Upgrades/No Keys playthrough, I found out that you can actually lure almost all the enemies in this room, including the ones on the upper floor, towards the rotating blade, where most of them will get decapitated as soon as they enter the creepy circus area (check my video of this section here). It is a strategy that proves to be life-saving in Akumu mode, given than the only enemies you will seriously need to be careful of are the snipers on the high balconies, whom you can quickly shoot, however, before they become a threat for Sebastian.
Laura (Chapter 10)
Where to begin with this cursed lady. When Laura attacks you in Chapter 10, she has obviously undergone a huge revamp as she is more vicious, a lot tougher, and way faster than during your first meeting with her. Although killing her can be very rewarding in several ways, I prefer to let her be in the higher difficulties because not all the world's ammo seems enough to dispose of her, even if you use all the corpses and all the flames in the rooms to burn her. Before arriving at this part, I had already upgraded my Harpoons to make them Fire Bolts, with which I shot her a few times to keep her away.
The most frustrating part is by far the last one, because not only you have to shoot that many switches to stop the flames, but you moreover have to worry about the several traps scattered on the floor and walls, and all this with Laura breathing down your neck. Using all sorts of arrows that can keep her at bay or stun her for a few seconds (Shock and Freeze Bolts) helps a lot to maintain your sanity at that point until the exit is flame-free so that you can run to the elevator.
The Construction Site (Chapter 11)
I found this part to be a real pain in Nightmare, but when I got to it in Akumu, it didn't seem half as bad. And of course after the unforgettable Chaprter 6, it proved to be as lot easier than I expected. This section has predetermined enemy spawns, which means that if you know your game and are prepared well, you shouldn't have serious issues with it. Stunning the enemies as soon as the shutter opens and then freezing them before they have the time to get out is a good way to deal with the first groups. The biggest problem is caused by the two snipers, but there is a trick for both of them: you must not let the first one reach the balcony above (that is: kill him before he gets there) and as for the second one, find a safe spot (preferably very close to the shutter from where the enemies spawn) and shoot him from there; it may take a while, but you will know that Sebastian will remain unscratched. The zombies with the guns and the explosive bows are more dangerous but if you hide from them they will come out, allowing you to treat them with a Shock Bolt then burn them where they'll drop. There was one lone shooter who wouldn't leave the shutter, but I shot a Flash Bolt close to him which stunned him, then I run towards his spot and taught him a lesson.
The gondola part, however, is unforgiving, considering there is no place to run and you cannot hide anywhere. Shooting the enemies on the leg to make them fall in the chasm seems to work; and those who are too far away from the edge, you can shoot them with the Sniper Rifle or the Fire Bolts - if you have any to spare. It took me several retries to go through this evil sequence, but eventually I did it.
The Flooded Streets (Chapter 11)
What makes this section so much more challenging in Akumu (as in Nightmare) is that now there are no hanging bodies to shoot in the water, which means that the Shigyo will only have Sebastian to occupy its jaws with. Thankfully there are several spots in the water where you can stand (railings, cars), allowing you to catch your breath before moving on. The toughest part is the last one, in the canal just below the building where Juli is. Normally there are several bodies to shoot, but in Akumu there is only one, hanging by the timed gate. You need to swim from car to car and watch the Shigyo's routine before jumping in the water again, until you get to the last car from where you can shoot the body and swim quickly through the opening gate.
The Mannequin Factory (Chapter 11)
Unlike in the lower difficulties, where you have two slowly moving and usually absent-minded Traumas patrolling the corridors of the gas-filled mannequin factory, in Akumu there are instead mannequins set on moving mines which stroll around blocking your path (with that lovely but creepy circus music in the background), ready to explode as soon as they get close to you. You can do as much as watch their route and run forward when they are moving towards the opposite direction, and just hope they won't suddently bump onto you.
In the next part of the factory, where on the lower modes there are zombies where the keycard it, in Akumu there is noone; but there are some sly guys walking around the corridors, dynamite in hand, and if they see you they will light the dynamite and the whole place goes kaboom. So it is recommended that you try to stealthily kill them, moreso because as soon as you unlock the exit, a whole bunch of zombies will burst through. Since you cannot use a firearm here, the Flash Bolt will be your saviour, stunning the enemies and giving you the necessary time to escape.
The Heresy Chase (Chapter 12)
The Heresy takes advantage of its size to intimidate you and try to impose itself on you, but it's exactly its size that you can take advantage of to defeat it. There are a few spots in the bus that it cannot easily reach with its huge hairy legs, you just need to make sure its attack is not headed towards that direction. Also when it is about to attack the place where you are, you can sometimes run and stand directly below it, where it is hard for it to reach you (well, unless it spits its disgusting goo on you). Use a grenade or a Shock Bolt to elimitate its maggots everytime they appear and keep in mind that you may need to waste a couple of Magnum shots on it, to make the battle end faster.
Returning with the Hemostatic (Chapter 12)
While on lower difficulties the appearance of the car with the mounted gun is a literal blessing, as you can dash to it and kill the enemies from your advantageous spot, this same car in Akumu is a curse: it is impossible to run to it without getting fatally hit, so you have to find a way to kill the guy (?) who is operating the gun. There is a safe spot behind the pile of wrecked cars from where you can aim at him with your Sniper Rifle and shoot him on the belly area, which will kill him in one or two shots (depending on how much you have updraded your weapon). Once he is dead, you can freely run to the car - but don't jump onto it yet, you don't want to be overwhelmed by enemies. Lure them a bit away from the car and throw a grenade towards them, which will kill most of them (sometimes all, if they are close together). Then you can jump to the mounted gun and shoot the next bunch of enemies, being very careful of those who carry guns and dynamite, as they can send Sebastian to the next world before he can even blink.When the coast is clear, run to the bus, simply ignoring the rest group of incoming enemies.
The Hotel (Chapter 13)
The Hotel is not extremely difficult in Akumu, it is just very tricky. The Ruvik clone, who appears twice, doesn't make things any easier. There are also much more enemies patrolling in the rooms, and it is recommended that you kill all of them before proceeding, because you need to stay focused as you dismantle or shoot the bombs and traps. I used Freeze bolts for the clones and mostly Fire arrows for the zombies, and generally avoided to equip weapons that make noise, so as to not alert the other zombies that were lurking about. In this seqience too it is wise to move patiently and deal with the enemies one at a time.
The Flooded Platform (Chapter 14)
This is the section close to the start, after you meet the first Ruvik clone and go through a couple of shutters. There is a platform with a train car in a flooded railway and yet one more clone patrolling outside. The first thing you need to do is get rid of the Ruvik clone. Stand close to the entrance and shoot him with the Sniper Rifle to instantly kill him, and the gunshot will alert the snipers from inside the car. This is something you want at this point, so as to lure them out to start looking for you, which will give you the chance to shoot them down from your safe spot without waking anyone elst. In Akumu, there are invisible zombies lurking in the water, so to avoid alerting them you need to walk stealthily on the platform slowly dismantling the alarms and get in the train car at the same pace - if you don't make noise, noone will be alerted.
Next up is that mine-trapped train car and a zombie waiting inside, so throw a grenade to make some of the mines explode, then try to kill the enemy before he gets close to you or manages to hit you. Once inside the train car, shoot any remaining mines and quickly jump out.
Inside Ruvik's Eye (Chapter 15)
This is the large, creepy arena where you get transported after the confrontation with Ruvik in the hospital's corridor. This place looks intimidating, but if you note from where the enemies spawn and have a strategy for it, it can be quite easy. It is not recommended to run around shooting at them because more often than not it will be Game Over before you know it. It is better to find a high spot (preferably the place from where the first bunch spawns) and wait for each group there. They won't be able to attack all together, giving you time to deal with them one by one. Moreover, some of them won't even attempt to climb up where you are, allowing you to kill them at your ease. When the Ruvik clone appears, stay at your high place and shoot the clone with your Rifle. He will die in one shot and Laura's claws (assuming they haven't reached you) will disappear for good. When another wave spawns from that same place, shoot them with a Flash Bolt to stun them and then with a Freeze Bolt and let them break into thin air. And when the Sadist shows up, stay calm at your spot until you have killed at least most of the enemies that are slowly getting up to you, and then run up to the Sadist - doing so, will make him put away the Rocket Launcher and equip a chainsaw - and shoot him with the Magnum. He will drop dead within seconds.
Ruvik (Chapter 15)
All the stages of the boss fight with Ruvik are relatively easy compared to all the insanity you've been through in Akumu, but he is featured here because in the final part where you are lying down and you need to shoot him just once as he is about to eat you, he moves much faster than in the lower difficulties and you must be extremely quick and accurate when you shoot him because if you miss, Sebastian will become his lunch. This is not only a matter of reflexes, it is also a matter of luck; maybe it's more that than anything else.
CONCLUSION
Playing 'The Evil Within' in Akumu is guaranteed to make you a better gamer, but you must be prepared for quite a few nerve-shattering sequences. Once you conquer Chapter 6, you can be sure that the rest of the game will seem almost a walk in the park, but there are still several demanding sequences awaiting, making this mode one of the most hair-pulling, mind-boggling, limit-testing, challenging and fascinating that you'll ever experience.
What was I thinking when I started a Handun Only challenge on Professional difficulty of Resident Evil 6? I have absolutely no clue. It is not that the game is not doable overall in this insane mode, it is that all you are doing is shooting like mad anything that moves around you. But OK, all is well when it comes to standard enemies - even bosses go down at some point when shot enough times. What about choppers, though? Yes, I took the choppers down with handguns. Not only it was nearly paranoid, it was also ridiculous. Hitting a helicopter with a handgun makes your weapon feel like a peashooter, to say the least.
The worst part is the chopper on the roof while playing as Chris. It takes ages for the helicopter to even start catching fire; and when it does, it takes what feels like centuries to go down in flames. And then there is the chopper outside the floating restaurant, which shoots missiles like there's no tomorrow. Don't even get me started on that one. Thankfully, things are much better when you play with Piers, because his handgun can transform into an automatic gun, which makes the whole process far easier and quicker. The rooftop chopper with Jake in his campaign isn't half as bad, because the helicopter can be shot down by Chris while you are just helping out by shooting from the safety of your lone rooftops. Additionally Sherry's handgun when you play as her is similar to Piers's weapon, as the amazing Triple Shot can shoot three bullets at the same time, therefore each shot is way stronger than that of a standard handgun.
Of course I used the infinite ammo skill. Hardcore gamers may not like this, but it is a perk offered by the game. Not to mention that without infinite ammo, you can barely go past one chapter and a half.
Unlike the main Resident Evil 4 game, which has perfect programming and literally follows your gameplay style, Separate Ways is on a completely different pace. To begin with, Ada's controlling is not as smooth and flowing as Leon's. This is something that you can't really see in a regular playhtrough, because when she has a shotgun, for example, she can shoot the tougher enemies like a pro, or throw a hand grenade to eliminate a large number of them, and never have to worry about them getting too close.
Secondly, Ada is supposed to be faster but I don't know where this rumor came from. I guess it's her slim figure that tricks into seeming as if she is moving swiftly, when she actually isn't. In practice she is dragging her feet compared to Leon, and although she is able to slide among the villagers easily, she becomes quite awkward in the Island section, when having to deal with those extremely vicious and resilient soldiers; and especially whenever she is about to get attacked. I suppose that's because she was mainly trained to be the good spy that she is, therefore she is a stealth expert; but when it comes to combat, well, let's say this is not exactly her field. There is no axe, arrow, stun rod, iron chain or plaga head that she won't bump onto, even if you lead her to a different direction. Moreover, when an enemy is charging towards her to grab her by the neck, most of the times he will succeed as she seems unable to react for a few seconds. If you like Ada and want to keep liking her, don't try to play Separate Ways in Blacktail Only + No Damage if you are not prepared for it. You will hate her for the rest of your life.
Ada has only one handgun available, and that is the Blacktail - a quite reliable weapon with good performance. It already has some of the basic upgrades, but Ada can't tune it up more, meaning she is stuck with its level three firepower, which is 2.0 - less than half of the firepower that the fully upgraded Blacktail has in the main game, which is 4.5. This significantly raises the number of bullets that Ada has to waste for each kill, which practically means that if you want to not find yourself with an empty handgun in the difficult parts of the mission, you have to be cautious with your ammo and use your knife whenever you can.
Chapter 1 is ridiculously easy, as you can literally ignore most of the enemies while you wait for the cutscene with Leon to show, then maybe kill a few of them to trigger the Insignia Key's appearance on the rooftop of the house.
You can follow a similar strategy in the next part, with the crazy chainsaw lady on the bridge posing no real threat, as she can be easily killed from a distance. All the enemies that show up outside the church can also be ignored, and then it's a matter of minutes before the chapter is over.
Chapter 2 is yet one more walk in the park - even the terrifying Gigante can be left growling in rage in his cave (although I did have to stun him once to be able to leave, as he kept kicking Ada's ass every time she tried to run away). Don Diego goes down quickly if you choose to fight him, and the Bella Sister is just a dessert in the barn.
Chapter 3 is tougher, but not that bad after a little practice. The hardest part is, like in the main game's Chapter 3-3, the Garrador cage; only that the SW Garrador seems to be more clever and he is able to sense Ada much easier than the one that Leon had to face. This part was a pain in the neck, until I found out by chance that you can actually kick the Garrador to the ground, which gives you enough time to slash one lock and run outside before he completely recovers. I wish I had known that when playing the main game in handgun only + no damage mode.
Chapter 4 is where you are called to put your patience to the test. You can run past the very first section without killing anyone - it's a bit tricky, but feasible - but the party starts as soon as you get to the harbour. Saddler's warship is full of angry soldiers, who have the annoying ability to run extremely fast and hit Ada even when she seems to be too far away from their reach.
The industrial region part that follows, however, is even worse: the enemies are so many and they are so hard to kill (not to mention the plaga heads, which seem to be made of steel) that you are guaranteed to curse the hell out of poor Ada. And unlike the first chapters, here running away isn't the best option, as the enemies will follow you wherever you go, and next thing you know, you will find yourself among a whole army of them.
Chapter 5 is another painful story. You can just storm past the first wave of enemies but when you get to that small tower where you have to stay for several minutes until the exit unlocks, with numerous soldiers dropping from the ceiling, it's your worst nightmare. Not only you don't have room to move around, but moreover the soldiers attack all at once, and if you are 'lucky' enough to trigger even one plaga head mutation, you are most likely doomed to get scratched by it, as you have no place to hide; and don't get me started on how the plaga heads tend to stagger towards Ada when they get hit, most of the times hurting her.
The next part with the two JJ's is not as bad as it may seem; one of the big guys stays in his place all the time, so you can easily find a safe spot and shoot him without him reacting at all. The other will start looking for Ada as soon as he is triggered, but if you have already gotten rid of all the archers in the area, you can lure him around and shoot him carefully a few times until he is down.
Krauser, who is already heavily wounded by Leon, is very easy to kill with the knife. The problem is to actually catch him in a position where he can be successfully slashed without hitting Ada back, which isn't easy, as he hates her with a venom and he is far more enraged now that his mutation has progressed.
Saddler, who is way creepier in this version than in his final mutation in the main game, is extremely hard to kill with the Blacktail, but again you have an alternative: the glorious knife, which can rid of him incredibly fast. Like in the main game with Leon, you need to keep as close to him as possible, because this way he will only be able to perform just one attack against Ada; this attack will kill her instantly if you don't dodge in time, but if you are careful and press the correct buttons each time while slashing him, he will be eliminated pretty fast (it took me 21 slashes). Watch my video here to see how I did it. Just make sure you react quickly, because otherwise he will crush Ada's head on the floor in what is, quite possibly, the second most apalling one-hit-kill attack in the whole game, the main plot included, after the decapitation. The man (?) badly needs a dictionary to look up the word 'chivalry'.
CONCLUSION
Separate Ways in Blacktail Only + No Damage mode can frustrate you like no other with its last two chapters, but you will be more than rewarded when you have killed the final boss Saddler using only your mighty knife. Ada may not be as effective as Leon is with the handgun, but she is fun to play with, as long as you are patient with her and get to know when it is a good idea to run like mad and when it's better to keep cool and fight back, no matter how many enemies are breathing down your neck.
You can't really see how hard a game actually is unless you try to play it on a high difficulty level, using only a standard weapon like a handgun - and if you are up for a bigger challenge, attempt to go through it without taking damage. If you are an avid gamer like me, you most probably have already tried - and hopefully succeeded in - doing all the above.
Although the games of the Resident Evil series were not the ones that I started with to play in such 'modes', so to speak, Resident Evil 4 was the first of the saga that I did play with just a handgun and losing no health. As impossible as this may sound, in fact it's a lot easier than it seems, although it is an extremely intense and challenging experience that is definitely not recommended if you don't know the game well enough.
The best handgun in the game to try this challenge is the Red9 - this stylish, vintage weapon which is powerful enough to get rid of enemies quickly, while at the same time being very light, so as to have minimal recoil. It's only downside is that it doesn't have much piercing power, making the fights with shield-carrying enemies a lot trickier. The Blacktail is extremely reliable and has a lot more piercing power, but is not as precise as the Red9. The Matilda is an excellent automatic handgun that you can use successfully against almost any sort of enemy or boss, but as it can fire several consecutive shots, it can easily eat up your ammo, no matter how much of it there may be in your inventory.
In my Professional handgun-only / no-damage runs of Resident Evil 4, I play on a New Game Plus, which allows me to have a fully upgraded weapon in my hands, while having collected as much ammo as possible from previous playthroughs. It's a luxury that I allow myself, so as to carry out the challenge while not depriving myself of the fun that the game offers. It is definitely much more challenging to attempt a handgun-only New Game run with the non-upgraded default handgun, but I will leave this to the super extra hardcore gamers for the time being.
So far, I have played the game with three of the available handguns: the Red9, the Blacktail and the Matilda. Although the different characteristics of these guns significantly change the way certain sections can be played, there are some cases that are always a pain in the neck when you play in this custom mode, no matter your weapon of choice. The list that follows features these cases, which are presented in order of appearance and not in order of difficulty; their difficulty may vary as Resident Evil 4 is not the same every time you play it. Also note that this report covers only the three aforementioned handguns (Red9, Blacktail and Matilda) which are the most powerful of their kind.
1. The Cabin Fight (Chapter 2-2)
This section is actually the first serious battle of the game. You can breeze through the areas up to then, but this part can be seriously nasty. The main problem here is that the handgun, even if it is the powerful Matilda, doesn't have the stopping power of a shotgun, so when there are multiple enemies attacking, there is no way to keep them off with a shot. You have to face them one by one, which is a bit impossible, since they are approaching from all directions. The best way to deal with this part is to leave all the hard work to Luis and just randomly shoot a ganado when he gets too close.
2. The Pools Room In The Castle (Chapter 3-1)
Now this is where the real fun begins. Not only you have to deal with shield-carrying enemies, strategically placed archers and numerous standard monks (some of which mutate into those gruesome head-chopping plagas when you shoot them) all at once, you also have to make sure Ashley is kept safe. Which is extremely difficult given the conditions, as you cannot hide her in the only available closed room: monks spawn in there too, and they can easily catch her or - even worse - hit her and even kill her. The best way to make it through without getting hit, is to quickly shoot the archers and the first set of shield-carrying zealots, and then run around with Ashley, shooting whoever else gets in the way. As soon as you make it to the closed room at the far end to trigger the crank with the pressure pads, you are safe for a few seconds; then it's better to order Ashley to stay in one of the corners while you wait for the enemies to arrive from the entrance or the hole in the ceiling. Of course there will be more shield-carrying monks to spice things up, but at least now you can hopefully deal with them one at a time. When it comes to turning the crank, which lowers the set of stairs and triggers the group of monks holding scythes, run like mad in that closed room (hopefully Ashley will follow Leon and she won't crouch amidst the monks in terror), and wait for them to show up, shooting them quickly as they appear through the door. The last part with Ashley turning the cranks on the ledge to raise the bridges is not that bad, as the monks that appear up there wanting to catch her are moving slowly (except one) and you can kill them or at least stop them before they are able to reach her. The sly zealots hat show up to attack Leon can be a pain though, so it's a good idea to keep an eye and get rid of them as fast as you can.
3. The Garrador Cage (Chapter 3-3)
This section can be extremely easy with a little luck and good timing, but it can also frustrate the hell out of you - which is most likely to happen. Surprisingly enough, the biggest problem is not the Garrador himself, but the monks that are in and around the cage. The good part is that, unlike all the other cases involving Garradors, here you don't have to kill him in order to proceed. A clever strategy is to ignore the Garrador and shoot the archer monk as quickly as possible. Next thing should be to kill the monk who is just outside the upper lock of the cage, as he can easily hit you when you get closer, then slash that lock with the knife - as any Resident Evil 4 player knows very well, Leon's knife is super powerful and it's actually a weapon that you can strongly rely on for a handgun-only playthrough. If you feel the Garrador is getting close, stop and move elsewhere in the cage to distract him, then run and slash the lock again until it breaks. Run out as soon as it does, then out of the room and don't look back! Alternatively, you can outsmart the big guy and kick him to the ground, making your escape much easier and safer.
4. The King's Grail Room (Chapter 4-1)
From where to start about this room! Literally a nightmare when you play with a handgun, as you only have a limited space to move, and the knights are constantly chasing you around. Your best bet is to stop moving at some point so as to lure them into thinking that they can attack you, which will hopefully make them stop and try to hit you while you will be already running away, so as to shoot them from a distance. Shooting their heads reveals the hidden plagas which take more shoots to be destroyed than the plagas of the standard enemies. Moreover, the second trio that shows up when you kill the first, have these horrifying head-chopping plagas that show absolutely no mercy.
5. The Garrador Twins Room (Chapter 4-1)
Close to the end of Chapter 4-1, is this room in the clocktower, which is guarded by two Garradors and several monks. The real issue here is not so much the two Wolverines, but the monks that show up, forcing you to attack them and therefore attracting the attention of the twins. It may be tempting to limit yourself to the lower section of the room, so as to not trigger the extra monks that appear as soon as you move up the steps, but if you do that, you won't have much space to move and the huge claws of the Garradors may randomly hit you. So it is better to go up the stairs, trigger the monks and kill them, then use all the spaces of the room to run and hide, shoot the bells to distract and lure the twins, and generally do whatever you can to have them turn their back to you so that you can shoot their plagas enough times to defeat them.
6. The Novistador Cave (Chapter 4-2)
This may be one of the most frustrating sections of the game, even in regural gameplay. These huge bugs are quite possibly the most annoying creatures of the whole Resident Evil saga. Not only there is a horde of them in that cave, but they can also attack in several ways (including jumping on Leon's shoulders and kicking him back, grossly chopping off his head or spitting a disgusting goo that melts half the skin on his pretty face), appear from inside walls or even emerge from the floor; and although you can insta-kill them if you shoot them at the right spot, if not you have to waste several bullets on each of them. I found it best to kill the first wave from the entance corridor, then run in the right cave and hit the switch there, run back to the entrance and exit to the previous room, then get back to the cave. This way, the game keeps that last checkpoint so I won't have to repeat the whole process if something goes wrong on my way to the other cave. Sometimes, and depending how the bugs will react, you may find it possible to just run to one cave without killing anything, return to the entrance and exit to the previous room, then get back and run to the other cave and hopefully go for the exit with the bugs breathing down your neck. This is not always easy to achieve, but from time to time you may be lucky enough and have it happen.
7. The Lava Pool Room (Chapter 5-2)
This is the part that I always fear when starting a handgun-only playthrough of Resident Evil 4. In a regular run, the Shotgun is your best friend in this section, shooting down the enemies while you run like mad towards the control room, then having Ashely operate the wrecking ball as you shoot and kill whoever gets close. Things are dramatically different when you use only a handgun: the lack of stopping power unfathomably increases the difficulty level of this part. I found it best to have Ashley wait above the room instead of jumping down with Leon, and deal with operating the ball myself. As long as you kill almost nobody there, no more enemies will arrive from where she stands, so she will be safe. The enemies in the main room rely strongly on the fact that they can attack in a group, so the best strategy to deal with them is to make them scatter by running around, which seems to distract them somehow. Also it's better to try and dodge an attack instead of stopping to fight. You might want to neutralize the archer though (it's the guy with the red scarf covering his head) as he is the only one who can hit you from a distance (random thrown axes don't count, as they are very unlikely to hit you if you are constantly moving). As soon as the ball breaks the debris and the door is revealed, order Ashley to follow you and run to the exit. Don't wait for her and don't look back. For some mysterious reason, she will jump down from the ledge and arrive safely by your side just in time to leave the room.
8. The Bulldozer Ride, Part 2 (Chapter 5-2)
This very brief section can seriously play with your gaming nerves in numerous ways. It is the second part of the bulldozer ride, just after you hit the lever that raises the platform - elevator, leading to the upper section of the road and the end of the chapter. This part is nothing like the first one, where you just stand on the bulldozer and shoot the enemies as they approach at your ease. Here the enemies attack all at once from all directions and they are much more hostile and vicious than the ones in the previous section, and their HP is also bigger. As if this wasn't enough, several of them mutate into plagas. This part is piece of cake when you have a Shotgun, but the handgun, no matter how powerful it may be, can do very little to help you here. You can only hope that you will be lucky enough to not have that many mutations around you, as they can also hit Ashley very easily.
9. The Camp, Part 2 (Chapter 5-4)
A rather nasty part, with three mounted machineguns, dozens of soldiers attacking from everywhere possible and - where the hell is Mike? On Professional difficulty, the firepower expert pilot disappears as soon as you enter that area, and the best case scenario is that he will remember to shoot one of the towers when you are already done with this place and are heading for the exit - in other words, too late. The worst part in this section is the mounted machine gun which is close to the exit, as the guy who operates it cannot be easily shot from a safe spot, and will most likely hit you as you are about to give him the final blow.
10. The Prison Yard (Chapter 5-4)
The last major battle area of the game is quite memorable, with plenty of soldiers and a huge JJ mercenary leading the dance. Getting to the locked gate as soon as you can triggers almost immediately the appearance of the soldier who is holding the exit card, whom you can hopefully kill fast enough and pray that you will be able to run through swarms of enemies to put it in place and operate the two buttons that open the door. You may or may not want to deal with the JJ, depending on how courageous you feel.
Of course there are a lot more situations that can put your patience to the test while going through a 'no damage' playthrough with handgun only on Professional difficulty. I just featured those that gave me the hardest time in all such runs.
BOSSES
If you know Resident Evil well, you also know that the bosses in the series are relatively easy to deal with, and the Resident Evil 4 ones are no exception; which is why none of them was included in the list above. There are several ways you can defeat them without frustration in a handgun-only playthrough, so let's take a quick tour!
The Pueblo Gigante
In a handgun-only Pro playthrough on New Game Plus, your handgun of choice is fully upgraded, so dealing with that first Gigante is a walk in the park. Shoot him just a few times, and he will be stunned, then run onto him and slash his plaga. Repeat this two more times and he is done.
The Outskirts Gigante
After the cabin fight is over, you are prompted to choose between two routes, one guarded by villagers and another by another Gigante. It is recommended that you choose the Gigante in a handgun-only run, as the villagers are way too many and there are the Bella Sisters among them, to make your joy complete. If you choose the Gigante, you have two options that are equally easy: either shoot him and slash his plaga like with the first Gigante (he too goes down very easily) or, alternatively, shoot the rocks that are high up to block him in the two consecutive areas while you make your way through to slash open the gates, grab the exit key and - hopefully - the handgun ammo from the cabins. If you time it right, he won't be able to catch up with you at all. This second method is the one I also used in my Professional-New Game-No Merchant playthrough.
Bitores Mendez
With your fully upgraded handgun, you can defeat mr Mendez in no time. Just make sure you never stop shooting, and that he doesn't have the chance to scratch you with his claws during his second creepy mutation.
The Prison Garrador
Not really a threat; just hit the bells to lure him onto them and shoot his back; repeat until he breaks them, then watch him carefully and shoot his plaga when he turns his back to you or whenever he sticks his claws on a wall. I found that if I walked instead of running, he couldn't easily sense me, and I had more time to plan my next move. When you hit him enough times, he will die.
The Verdugo
This insanely strong boss has a very weak point, which renders the confrontation with him very easy when used cleverly; he is vulnerable to nitrogen. If you use the nitrogen canisters to stun him, you won't have to fight him and therefore the boss fight is practically non-existent. Kick a canister when he gets near, but do not kick him while he was frozen. I know it is tempting, but trust me, you want him to stay frozen for as long as possible. Every time you hit the Verdugo with nitrogen and he freezes, it takes a while before he gets back to normal ("well, normal is the wrong word", as Lara Croft would say), by which time you can move close to another canister and kick it to release the nitrogen gas as soon as the Verdugo gets close. When all canisters are used and you have to wait a bit more for the elevator, just run around the corridors dodging any attacks, until it arrives. Watch this video where I fight and kill him with the Red9 and this video where I use the canisters to keep him frozen until the elevator arrives.
The Gigante Twins
This adorable duo that enters theatrically in the second part of Chapter 4-2 is way stronger than its Pueblo brothers, but this doesn't mean that it is hard to kill with a handgun. Just make sure one of them falls in the lava trap, so you only have to deal with the other. Shoot until he is stunned then slash the plaga on his back and repeat until he dies. If you don't want to waste ammo on him, use the ladder to climb up to the ledge; when he follows you to swing the construction, jump down to his feet, slash them a few times, then climb back up the ladder. You can repeat this as many times as needed until his plaga is revealed. Run onto his back to slash it, then repeat the process with the ladder. Do the same thing again and again, and eventually he will die. It takes a while to do it this way, but if you are playing with the Matilda, it is vital that you conserve your ammo for the later levels. Moreover it's a relatively safe method, as long as you climb back up the ladder in time, before he has the chance to kick you or grab you.
Salazar
Our little midget has grown up and became an impressive built-in flower monster at the end of Chapter 4-4. The fully upgraded handgun works wonders against him however; just be ready to dodge the attacks of his tentacles and don't hesitate to run like mad as soon as he opens that huge mouth that resembles a carnivorous plant, as it will insta-kill you.
U3
This gigantic creepy creature is very annoying but it shouldn't be much of a problem in the battle with a fully upgraded handgun. Actually the hardest part is the first in the cages, as the U3 has the nasty habit to block your way in the most inconvenient time and place (especially in the last cage). Once you get on solid ground, just shoot it or slash it whenever you can, dodge its attacks and run. During the first part of the fight, it's better to shoot it in the face, as it is more effective, but after it mutates again, try to shoot its rear (that huge, red, sting-like thing) and it will go down much faster than you think.
Krauser
It is useless to try to attack Krauser with the handgun; it takes ages to even wound him a bit. However Jack has a very strong weakness, and that is no other than Leon's knife. Whenever Leon hits him with it, he is unable to resist. Knowing this, you can do the whole fight with the knife and if you practice a bit, it's incredibly easy and way faster and safer than any other gun. The first stages of the battle should be no problem; it only takes a few slashes every time to make him throw a flash grenade and disappear. In the last part, he will mutate his arm into a huge, lethal wing with which he is moreover able to cover his upper body, making it impossible to hit. Run carefully up to him when he is not about to attack, aim for his legs and start slashing them. Make sure you do this when he is close to a wall or near the edges of the platform, so that he cannot easily move away from Leon. Try to keep him down on his knees while you slash away, and very soon he will 'die'. Watch my video here.
Saddler
Lord Saddler looks intimidating, and your instict may tell you to run from him, but in fact keeping him in close quarters is the best strategy. If Leon moves away from him, Saddler will go berserk (he is nothing but a perverted and degenerate old man, as it turns out) and you will be unable to stop his attack unless there is an explosive barrel nearby to cut off his momentum. Shoot the eyes on his legs - there are four of them; the two front ones need to be shot twice to break, while the rear ones only need one shot - and attack his big mouth eye every time he falls. Once all the leg eyes are broken, the main eye becomes shootable, so shoot it and slash it until he is defeated. Watch me killing him with the Red9 in this video; you can also watch how I kill him with the Blacktail in this video, and how I kill him with the Matilda in this video.
CONCLUSION
Playing with a handgun only on a high difficulty level can be frustrating, but it helps you understand the mechanics of the game and subsequently makes regular (that is, with a full organized inventory) playthroughs end up much easier than you may have found at first. Using the same gun against all enemies - from minor ones to bosses - gives you the chance to see how strong each kind is, and hopefully come up with better strategies to defeat them. It also feels much more realistic to have your character run around with just one gun in his hand and plenty of ammo, instead of a huge inventory of heavy weapons that are impossible to carry at once.
