Playing this on hardcore atm. So far it doesnt seem to be that difficult. Still on early stages of the game though.

Its a great game so far either way.

Games with no HUD to me is better as long as I can figure out what to do

I jumped on Ranger Standard, as i remember the first Metro being surprisingly hard in weird spots, and didn't want to fuck myself over. That said, no HUD is AWESOME

Yeah, there was one part in Metro 2033 that was insanely more difficult than it ever needed to be, but couldn't you just switch the difficulty mid-game, beat that part, and then switch the difficulty back?

Yeah, I really prefer no hud as long as the game conveys the information I need. Far Cry 3 is really neat without it, but you can't see things like how much health you have left. :\

@artemesia: Far Cry 2 is done really well to me. I like games where you can just pull up a map in the world to see where to go, I wish 3 kept that in the game, kind disappointing that they went with more HUD in that game.

I like Ranger Hardcore personally. That said I wish there was a way to check how much ammo you have. As much as I appreciate the "immersion" of it all I think it'd be nice to still have an inventory screen that shows you how much kit is in your rucksack. Shit, just do an animation ZombiU style that shows Artyom (first or third person whatever) going into his rucksack and checking his inventory.

I mean really, it's frustrating as hell trying to count every bullet.

@oldirtybearon: I am playing the same way... I wish I could know whether I am shooting money or not... But I prefer to stab people and throw knive anyways.

@basm321: I agree, but there are some encounters (on the surface primarily) where stealth just isn't an option and getting your good buddy Mister Double Barrel to pitch in is a must. It'd really come in handy to have some semblance of an idea how you're doing or, like you said, if you're shooting money.

Finished the game today and as a game it is pretty good. Playing withouth the hud was an interesting experience.

Throwing knives are a pretty handy and cheap way to kill a lot of enemies pretty fast. The visuals on PC are gorgeous and these developers have a great eye for detail. It is just amazing that a relatively small team can make a shooter that is better than most of the games made by far larger teams with much more financing available to them.

I hope that Deep Silver will give these guys&girls a much larger budget the next time around. As they seem to know how to use it.

Ranger Hardcore, I don't see much of a difference to go down to ranger standard when you still can't see the ammo if you pull up the journal like in 2033. Bit of a pain to memorise the controls, but at least you hear the knife sound when you're close enough for stealth moves.

I'm 4 hours in and still haven't needed to use throwing knives because I've been doing a solely non-lethal run and it feels so satisfying taking out lights and knocking out dudes! :D

I was surprised you can no longer pull up your hand and look at your watch to see if you're being seen or how much time you have remaining. I liked that :(

@assinass: Dude, how do you punch guys?

Also, you get 100 monies if you start with Ranger mode, but I'm always carrying over 300 money-bullets at any given time, and nothing to spend it on, and can't pick up bullets cus I'm full all the time. What can you spend money on besides upgrades and ammo?

T is to check the watch, I think that's still in there. Although I'm playing The Swapper currently, so would need to check this.

E to punch, V to kill I think.

Just checked, it's not. :(

T changes the air filter. I don't think you can check your watch anymore, at least didn't find anything in the keyboard binding options.

Thanks! Can't believe I missed that!

I'm playing this on hardcore and enjoying it as well, but there are some annoying glitches (or intentional design choices, I can't tell) that make the game frustrating. On PC I can't check my inventory to see how many bullets I have or even figure out if I'm using pre-war bullets. For some reason I also can't access my night vision goggles even though I'm more than halfway through the game. There's also been numerous odd environmental non-interactions. Highlighted masks, filters, ammo, weapons that I can't pick up. The game is definitely much easier than 2033, the hit stealth kills almost break it.

Not showing button prompts for quicktime events is one of the worst desgin decisions I've ever seen (or didn't see).